The decision you made to homestead will change your life forever. However, this lifestyle can also have a positive effect on other people. Homesteaders have many unique opportunities to pass on their knowledge, share resources and benefit the local community.
For example, many towns and cities host farmers markets where you can network with other homesteaders and sell extra produce. Some areas also offer educational opportunities to share what you’ve learned with people interested in gardening or starting a homestead of their own.
Caring for your community goes both ways. You’ll have positive connections within your community in the case of a major disruptive event. Instead of the potential for looting and violence, your community will be primed for cooperation and mutual sustainability.
The more you pour into your local community, the more you’ll receive. You’ll make new friends, learn more skills and participate in something bigger than achieving your personal goals. Helping your locale can be as simple as giving away a jar of canned apples and as complicated as hosting farm tours on your property.
What About Self-Sufficiency?
One of the main goals of homesteading is to become self-sufficient. This one term attracts thousands of people to the homesteading movement each year. Self-sufficiency ties into the American ideal of being able to forge your own future with enough hard work and determination.
A strong work ethic is a worthy attribute and something to aspire to. Taking responsibility for your own life is also admirable, and preparing to take care of your family regardless of future events is wise. However, it’s very easy for some homesteaders to take the idea of self-sufficiency too far.
People are intrinsically social creatures, and it’s very difficult for them to survive completely on their own. A very simple illustration of this is marriage — when couples team up, they have an easier time managing responsibilities because they can work together to tackle the same set of problems.
The same thing is true of larger communities. Although you could potentially grow your garden, mill your wheat, build your home, run a cattle farm, raise bees, tap maple trees, generate electricity, doctor yourself and your animals, educate your kids and weave your own clothing, it would be incredibly challenging to do all this alone.
Benefits of Community Mindset
Imagine instead that you invest in a garden and a few cows. Your neighbor raises bees, and the couple down the road runs a massive blueberry farm. The family that lives behind your property raises horses and has veterinary experience. Farther down the road, your neighbor grows microgreens and has walnut trees.
If you and your neighbors all work hard at what you know, your community can enjoy a little of everything — all with much less pressure on the individuals who live there. However, this exchange can only happen if you’ve been intentional about building relationships with each other.
Community is just as important in an urban setting. Unfortunately, most modern Americans don’t know their neighbors. They work, shop and build friendships far away from where they live. This means many Americans don’t even know their neighbors’ names, never mind their skills or life goals.
However, there are many ways to improve connections in an urban setting. Meet like-minded people by participating in farmer’s markets and attending community events. It’s important to put yourself out there and talk to people, even if you’re an introvert. New relationships will lead to opportunities to enrich your life and empower others to meet their goals.
How Your Homestead Fits In
There are several ways you can leverage your homestead to benefit your community. For one thing, many people are interested in learning the skills you practice every day on your property. You could donate some of your time to a friend, teach classes or volunteer with an extension program to share your knowledge with others.
You can sell organic food to the community if you grow excess produce or raise meat. Some homesteaders also sell seeds, vegetable starts, preserved food and firewood. You can offer your services in construction or livestock care or help organize a community garden project.
Although connections can make your life easier, their primary role isn’t to reduce your workload. Before sharing anything with others, you have to put in time on your own property. Participating in the community makes it even more important to faithfully work toward your personal homesteading goals. Without a working property, you won’t have the abundance or expertise to share meaningfully with others.
The more time you spend investing in your homestead, the more you’ll have to offer to your community. However, don’t wait until you’ve achieved an ideal state before you start giving back. Homesteading is a process, and many people can benefit from learning more about the reality of the journey.
Start With Humility
People thrive through interpersonal connections, but relationships can also be challenging. Those who are interested in sustainable living have much in common. However, they can also have a wide range of political, religious and personal beliefs.
You’ll need to have a humble mindset to positively connect to your community. If you’re unwilling to learn from others, no one will be interested in learning from your experiences. It’s very important that being right is not your primary goal to have unity and build relationships.
Some people are drawn to homesteading because they enjoy solitude and want to reduce the personal interactions in their lives. However, extreme isolation can harm your mental health and even shorten your life. Your homesteading experience will be much better if you make the journey with other people.
Many homesteaders can draw on family knowledge for running a farm or raising livestock, but others may be completely new to this lifestyle. Humility ensures that everyone is welcome and paves the way for a healthy exchange between experienced and inexperienced individuals.
Let Friendships Grow
Homesteaders are busy folk. Because they have so many responsibilities, they don’t have much free time to devote to developing new friendships. The best way to expand your circle of homesteading friends is through consistent, positive interaction and finding ways to serve others.
For example, most homesteaders won’t have two free hours to talk to you about their skill set and how they run their property. However, you can establish friendly contact at their produce stand and bring them jam you’ve made from their berries. Supportive feedback, return visits and genuine connections are always welcome.
Relationships don’t spring up overnight and they can’t be forced. The best way to offer friendship to others is by focusing on their needs and being sensitive to the pressures they face. Over time, you’ll build enough trust to create a deeper bond and bring together a community of like-minded people.
It’s OK if some of the people you connect with don’t reciprocate. Not everyone is a good fit for each other. Locating the right people will go much faster if you know what you’re looking for before you get started. For example, the best people are generous, kind, honest and choose problem-solving over complaining.
Share Knowledge
Homesteaders accumulate a priceless amount of knowledge. The skills you’re learning come through experience, and that’s something you can share with others to make their homesteading and sustainability journey much easier. Teaching often leads to genuine relationships and new opportunities.
If you have an area of special knowledge, consider teaching a class to share what you know. You could create digital material, host a small group of people in your home or volunteer through a program in your area. Start small and see where it takes you.
You can also consider offering an unofficial apprenticeship on your property. If you need an extra hand and know someone who wants to learn your craft, consider trading your expertise for some of their help. You can also swap knowledge with other homesteaders by teaching each other new skills.
Most homesteaders love talking about what they do, so this is an easy way to positively impact your community. It doesn’t need to be a big commitment, and you don’t have to know all the answers. Sharing what you’ve learned could be incredibly valuable to someone who’s starting down the same road.
Barter Products
In addition to gaining knowledge, all your work yields abundant produce, healthy animals and thriving orchards. If your property is being fruitful, there are many ways you can use the extra food to benefit your community.
For example, some years, you may find yourself drowning in tomatoes. Others, you may have more pears than you can possibly eat. Take whatever you have in excess and see if you can trade it with another homesteader for something they have too much of. You can also sell excess food at a produce stand or give it to family friends.
The same goes for preserved food. If you have 30 jars of strawberry jam in your cellar, you might want to consider trading it out for something different. You can take the extra jars to the farmers market, dole them out to friends or trade them for another product like cheese that you haven’t been able to invest in yet yourself.
Offer Services
There are also many positive ways to trade services within your community. For example, if your neighbor likes to hunt and you have processing equipment, you can offer to process his meat for part of the cut. Some homesteaders also swap labor to save money and help each other during different times of the year.
In addition to teaching, you can also open a berry patch and sell produce to your community. Some homesteads offer events with farm-to-table meals or grow flower fields for photoshoots. Others raise ducks and chickens to supply a local store.
Whatever you choose to do, start with how you can fill a community need. Usually, these services can bolster your finances, supply machinery and add support in areas where you lack experience. For example, you could lend your dehydrator to your neighbor in exchange for a turn with their meat smoker.
Trading services also means offering support during difficult times. It’s an amazing experience to come together as a community on behalf of someone you care about. If your neighbor hurts his back, you have an opportunity to harvest his tomatoes until he recovers. The community support behind this act is worth a lot more than saving a single crop.
Give Tours
Many people will be interested in seeing what your day looks like and how you’re managing your property. However, it can be frustrating to have people show up on random days, wanting to meet you and asking questions. Allowing constant visitors can also be dangerous, as it opens the door for anyone to enter your property.
Some homesteaders offer property tours to avoid an influx of interested people. That way, there’s a specific time allotted to walking people through your property. This service can also be a significant source of income and help support your next project.
Property tours are an excellent way to teach people more about the realities of homesteading. They’re also an opportunity to promote your booth at the farmers market or any other small business you’re running. They can help you make new connections and encourage beginning homesteaders.
Letting people tour your property isn’t for everyone. However, it is a tangible way to benefit your community that only takes a few hours and can include you completing necessary chores. More adventurous homesteaders could even consider letting visitors help with some of the work for some real-life experience.
Live Generously
Running a homestead requires the same mindset and effort as running a small business. It takes vision, hard work, dedication and a learning mindset. However, generosity is also an important part of the equation. Like running a company, homesteading is more successful when you do it with and for others.
Together, homesteaders can share each other’s strengths and accomplish much more than any single individual can do by themselves. A strong community means expanded resources in the present and protection against times of stress in the future.
Building a community takes time, but it’s worth the investment. One of the easiest ways to start making connections is to serve your neighbors with your homestead. You can share your experience with others, sell excess produce and trade services to enrich the lives of others.
Use this guide to find ways to start investing in your local community with your homestead. Connecting with the community takes time. However, the benefits of giving back can’t be overstated.
Author Bio:
Jane is the editor-in-chief of Environment.co. She is passionate about sustainability, gardening and homesteading.