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| What is the diffrence between farming and homesteading? I have been on a around farms my life. My husband and his family farm aound 2500 acres. Mostly cash crops. I raise poultry (my first year) and we garden and I can and freeze everything in site.
Any opinions are appreciated.
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| IMO: Homesteading is independant of scale. It means producing as many of the necessaries of life as possible. Clearly this is more practicable as one's land area increases. Farming is the production of crops or animals to sell for cash. It's often just a living. Wheat farmers, for instance, don't generally eat their own wheat even - let alone grow anything else for their own consumption. Ship the wheat away and import wonderbread. Potato farmers with Ore-Ida in the freezer. Etc, etc. |
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- Posted by hannahholly 8bTX (My Page) on Sat, Apr 24, 04 at 12:34
| I agree that homesteading is generally thought of as providing food for yourself (to whatever degree you feel necessary) and for trying to be either independant of or less dependant upon things like public utilities, consumer products, social programs, etc. For some this means living off the land completely, like pioneers, while for others it means a compromise between providing for oneself and family and buying ready-made products and services. I think most homesteaders fall into the latter catagory. I have only a little over .5 acre here, but I manage to provide a good portion of my fruit and vegetables, all my eggs, and about half the meat I consume. I have opted to have some 'modern conveniences' like electricity, computer, pickup truck, phone, etc., but I have made some modifications of most of those. For example, my refrigerator is a small 'dorm' type, and I have a small chest freezer as opposed to a large full sized refrigerator (I used to have both a big refrigerator and freezer but got rid of the big refrigerator). I have electricity but am extremely frugal with it. I hang my laundry to dry, have no lights on during the day, heat with wood, etc. I have public water but again use it very carefully. In other words, homesteading is trying to provide what you can for yourself and not be too dependant upon 'the system'. |
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| Our farm/homestead; http://www.rocketroberts.com/farmerjoe/farmerjo.htm Only about 1/4 shown due to 'byte'limitations.Five tractors,many implements,welders (stick,MIG,gas),plasma cutter,compressors (3),air tools,etc.Located in Western Mass. |
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