How to Start Homesteading: Planning the Plan

The first step to developing any new homestead is determining how it’ll be done.

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Wondering how to start homesteading? Learn how to understand your necessities for living off the grid and how to begin planning.

Several months ago, we at TeraVolt Energy had a conversation with Ogden Publications Publisher Bill Uhler and Editorial Director Marissa Ames about the Mother Earth News Sustainable Homestead project. Ogden cultivates some vacant acreage behind the company headquarters in Topeka, Kansas. Staff members have discussed different options for using the space, from community gardens to a totally sustainable homestead. For those of us in the renewable energy world, that means living “off the grid.” We all agreed that regardless of how long it might take to bring a sustainable homestead from concept to completion, it’d present a great opportunity for us to share ideas with readers.

Before building any homestead, it must be planned out. This is the first in a series of articles about what should go into a homestead plan. Plus, expect some first-hand experiences from Hoss’ days on a farm in the Ozarks and from the three years he lived in Alaska.

How to Start Homesteading: Setting Priorities

Imagine you’re dropped off in the middle of the wilderness. Your only supplies are what you can carry on your back and maybe on a horse or all-terrain vehicle. How do you begin establishing a place to live? In a normal survival scenario, the priorities are water, food, and shelter, and this idea can translate into starting a homestead too.

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