The accidental homesteader

Recently I have been wanting to have a garden and because of that I've been doing a lot of reading and research. One word keeps coming up that I find intriguing. That word is homesteader and in my case urban homesteader. Loosely defined it can be viewed as a simple living lifestyle, incorporating small-scale agriculture, sustainable and permaculture gardening, and home food production and storage into suburban or city living. I didn't realize that many of the life choices I've made were so in line with the homesteading mindset. These were purposeful choices I made because of how I want to live, but I not conscious of embracing any one idea. It's ironic that I didn't get it because the essence of my life and who I am is "home". I love being at home and pursuing simple domestic arts. I try to think about my impact on the environment. I try to cook from scratch, I try and reduce, reuse and recycle every day. In my mind it's just how things should be. Don't get me wrong...I love gadgets, technology and stuff! I like to eat out occasionally or buy something new. But, apparently and overwhelmingly I homestead.
So, what does it take to be a homesteader you ask? Well I can list some activities I do and while not all encompassing or inclusive it gives you an idea of what it means to be a homesteader in my world.
Baking Bread
Cooking from scratch and using whole ingredients
Sewing clothing, crafts, household items and useful things
Knitting useful items
Growing own kitchen garden whether indoors or out
Canning and Preserving fruits, vegetables, meats, soups, stocks
Making my own cleaners
Shopping thrift
Reusing, reducing and recycling

I would also like to try my hand at candle making and soap making but, haven't gotten around to it yet.
None of the activities I listed above are hard or particularly time consuming. I look at it as just something I do. If you're reading this and you're hardcore homesteading you probably think I'm not doing enough, but I guess my point is that we can all make small changes in our lives that move us closer to the earth. Happy Homesteading!

Chic and cheap in 2009

I really pride myself on knowing how to stretch a dollar and I started thinking about my long term goals for my life and my home. I'd like to have a chic home...but I don't want to spend a lot to get it. I started thinking about the compacting/simplicity movement. I thought I'd do a modified version of that for 2009 and use it as a central theme in my decorating pursuits this year.
So what will my decorating compact with myself be? Well first off, not to buy anything new in 2009. I will borrow, barter, or buy used. If it is absolutely necessary to buy new I will try and purchase fair trade and items that minimize the ecological footprint on our environment. Whenever I do need to purchase an item, I will try and buy it used if it is available and it is a safe product to purchase used. I will shop my garage and fabric stash thinking of way to reuse or recycle items. I hope that by thinking in these terms it will not only challenge me to think outside the box decoratively, but also stay within a realistic budget while creating a unique and one of a kind environment.

A simple holiday

I haven't been online much this week as you can tell. In fact I've been hard at work crafting. I've been talking about how I want a scaled back, low key holiday. The funny thing is as part of a very consumer driven society sometimes it's hard for me to stay focused on that. So I thought I'd develop some rules to live by
1. A want
2. A need
3. Play
4. Read
So far, so good, right? Sounds like it should be simple. Yet, it's not. Coming up with thoughtful, not "crap" stuff is pretty hard...especially when you have four very different children to get gifts for. So, let's start w/O. I haven't figured out the want yet, although I might do a Barbie since she absolutely loves Barbie. I think the quilt is the need...well, sort of. For the play, the dollhouse and the read...a book of fairytales. Then there's S. as a tween he's got very specific ideas about what he deems a good gift, lol. But, I think I have him pretty well figured out. It's just not terribly frugal though. There's E & M. I'm not above regifting. So the other day I found a huge and I mean huge...probably at least a $100 worth of leggo for $5 at a thrift store. I'm going to get a nice big rubbermaid container and put them in and use my labelmaker to make a clever title for them such as "M & E's imagination kit". I've picked up a bunch of Thomas the tank stuff and sock yarn from A.C. Moore on sale. I did get a game for E. yesterday. I think he'll love it. I'll probably do the crayon roll & portfolio set if I get time, but that will be something extra.
I'm starting to feel like coming up with clever ideas is harder than just going shopping. But...I forge on. I'm almost done with one of E.'s socks. I hope I can finish before Christmas. I see on Ravelry where people finish socks in a few days...uh yeah.
Well, I just thought I'd check in, now it's back to my list.