[Premiere] Quitting Homesteading IS a Mistake, DON'T Make Their Mistake
Our heritage is FULL of families who homesteaded; the problem isn't the homesteading, the problem is the approach, perspective, and lack of creativity... for starters...
Fear got many people into homesteading, and it's the exact reason most of them are walking away.
Five years ago, homesteading felt like the beginning of a movement.
Now Marketplace is full of chicken coops, freeze dryers, incubators, and canning supplies, and I've been noticing the shift.
People who once posted daily about their gardens haven't planted one this year.
Some are openly saying they're done.
Others have moved on without much explanation. [0:00] Introduction
[3:44] The fear behind the 2020 homesteading boom
[6:13] Butter-canning at 2AM, and what it taught me about homesteading
[7:54] Why biting off everything at once burns new homesteaders out
[10:28] The sunshine-and-rainbows myth versus losing livestock and storm-wrecked gardens
[14:26] Why anyone can homestead, and the gatekeeping that says otherwise
That got me asking why so many jumped in around 2020 only to walk away a few years later.
Fear is a strong motivator.
Empty grocery shelves pushed millions of people to learn skills they'd never considered before, and I think that was a good thing.
Once fear fades and life gets comfortable again, most people drop the lifestyle… but Gubba and millions of others are still out here living it.
The goats still yell at me on Saturday mornings.
The weeding never ends.
Canning butter at 2 a.m. is a real thing that happens.
There's also a comparison problem worth naming.
You can't see the family money, the inherited knowledge, or the nanny behind the picture-perfect homestead you're measuring yourself against.
This episode is my honest read on
why people quit
what the ones who stay have in common, and
why starting small in your kitchen matters more than trying to run a full operation on day one
You’ll learn…
[0:00] Introduction
[3:44] The fear behind the 2020 homesteading boom
[6:13] Butter-canning at 2AM, and what it taught me about homesteading
[7:54] Why biting off everything at once burns new homesteaders out
[10:28] The sunshine-and-rainbows myth versus losing livestock and storm-wrecked gardens
[14:26] Why anyone can homestead, and the gatekeeping that says otherwise
Related Video
11 Easy Things You Can Do Today to Start Homesteading (From Anywhere)
Starting the homestead lifestyle is easier than most people think.
Somewhere along the way, we got sold the idea that homesteading requires acres of land, a farmhouse, and cows at sunrise.
It doesn't.
The version most people never hear about starts in a kitchen, with a mason jar and a bag of scraps you were going to throw away.
So many of us feel a pull toward a slower way of living right now, and there are real reasons behind it.
Grocery prices keep climbing.
Empty shelves still sit fresh in our memory. Ingredient labels read like a chemistry experiment.
The systems we depend on feel more fragile than we were told they were.
The skills Gubba started with are small and practical.
Homemade broth easily comes together from kitchen scraps.
Sprouts grow on a countertop.
Sourdough, fermentation, freezer jam, canning, homemade cleaners, and beeswax candles all fit into a normal week.
A rotating pantry gradually builds itself two items at a time.
None of it requires perfection.
None of it requires land. It only requires starting.
You’ll Learn…
[0:00] Introduction
[3:58] How the system profits when you stop cooking from scratch
[5:53] Turning kitchen scraps into nutrient-dense broth for pennies on the dollar
[8:14] Growing sprouts on your countertop with just a Mason jar
[10:05] Why store-bought bread tastes like chemicals once you bake your own
[13:21] Sauerkraut, slowness, and the forgotten power of fermentation
[14:56] Freezer jam, rhubarb-pink lemonade, and why canning brings peace, not fear
[20:09] Homemade citrus vinegar cleaner and beeswax candles that double as prep
[22:13] Remembering the masked Walmart arrows and never being caught unprepared again
[26:33] Why the people coming to take your preps won't make it up the driveway
[28:49] Four generations lost these skills, but yours is taking them back