Minimalism On A Mobile Homestead

Just Getting The Gardens Going

Living big with less is a way of life on many tiny homesteads. Here, with gardens going in all around the trailer, a small orchard in the back, lots of wild open areas to forge for the best leaves and fruits, and several large community garden plots, make this all a living reality. When putting all the avenues together, we were able to provide about 75% of our needs by the second year.  No matter where you live, you will most likely only be able to provide about 33 to 50 % of your total needs that first year. 

In this environment we were able to forge for pecan leaves, wild grape leaves, fig leaves, about 6 different berries, and 4 different fruits. Every area has its own specialties.  Most of our medical needs were covered by making medicinal teas, Elderberry syrup, and a steady supply of raw garlic and ginger from the garden.  By making extra teas and spices, we would sell them to a spice house, getting money for other needs. We were also able to trade for spices and teas. Then there was a farm with bees that we could trade tea for honey and other needs. 

There are always places where you can buy cloth on sale and make what you need for the home and closet. Any extras are easy to sell in RV parks, as they always buy and trade a lot. By the third year, we are usually providing about 90% of what we need. Since our little homestead is mobile, we seldom stay longer than three years at this time. As a travel writer, my goal is to travel and write. I do not like to be in one spot too long. 

If you have a tiny dwelling, one important need for a homestead, is to have a shed for food storage, and an outdoor kitchen to can, dry, and freeze food. I always have electric in my sheds and I have a very small freezer and lots of shelves. By the end of fall, the shelves and freezer are full. 

Even though I do start over a lot, I never start from scratch. I always keep all my trees and some of my plants in pots. These go with me, as does any food storage, my portable shed, greenhouse, and outdoor kitchen. Homesteading is a mentality and size is not the issue, but rather what you are able to do with what you have. I have homesteaded large spreads, and they have their own challenges. Back then we kept a lot of animals, so we needed the room. We also needed land for our hay field, which was necessary for out animals. We also grew a lot of good pasture. Times and needs have changed as the children grew up. Now we have a web of homesteads of all sizes, all over the nation. This also allows us to do a lot of trading among ourselves, as a family. In this way, our food is organic, fresh and Kosher.  With everyone forging their own areas, we have a large variety of forged foods and medicines to trade among ourselves.  

Whatever your size, whatever your lifestyle, whatever your needs, if you want to develop a homestead, you can. Live big with less, and be as self-efficient as possible. Aim high, but be happy at whatever stage of life you are at. From our homestead to yours........

Shalom Shalom

  Marla Silva @ floridagypsy   

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