Today I just want to chat with you about something that is near and dear to my heart: homesteading for everyone. You may have heard this many times before, but anyone can homestead anywhere! Even college students!
Now, that means that not all homesteads will look the same, or have the same level of self-sufficiency! Instead, homesteading for everyone means that whoever you are, whatever you do, you can adopt some principles and routines that will make you more self-sufficient, healthy, and environmentally conscious. Today I want to tell you specifically about some things that I have done over my past two and a half years in college, as well as some other ideas that I've heard or thought of but haven't tried yet! 1. Reduce waste! The first tip I want you to walk away with is to reduce your trash output, especially paper products. Chances are, if you live in a dormitory with shared bathrooms, those bathrooms are equipped with paper towels to dry your hands with. After the first semester of my freshman year, however, those paper towels were drying out my hands too much, making them cracked and chapped even more than they would normally be in the winter. I also began to realize how much paper I had thrown away just over one semester. I realized I needed to change, so I started keeping my own hand towel in my cubby in the restroom. We each had a cubby on the wall to keep our shower stuff, toothpaste, etc. in, so I kept a hand towel and a small container of hand soap for myself in my cubby, out of everyone else's way. There were a few times I forgot, but after a while it felt really luxurious to dry my hands with a nice soft towel instead of the rough, dry paper. You could also get some earth-conscious soap or even something locally made to keep in the restroom along with your towel! 2. Use your schedule to your advantage Every homesteader needs to manage their time wisely, but college students face extra time-management challenges! Classes at odd times, awkward two-hour breaks in the middle of the day, and 9pm group project meetings are just a few of the not-so-uncommon events on a student's schedule. It is hard to have a routine, but keeping a flexible, forgiving homesteading routine is better than none. For example, my laundry/cleaning day is Tuesday this semester. I don't have a set time of day that I do my laundry and cleaning, since I never know what's going to come up that day! I just try to make sure that I use my time wisely and get the tasks done by the end of the day. I've even been known to time my laundry so that it is in the dryer for an hour while I'm at class! That way when I walk back in the building and pass by the laundry room after class, I can just pop in and grab the clean laundry out of the dryer. For you, it might be starting a batch of bread dough in the morning, and letting it rise while you are at class, then baking it in the break between your afternoon classes. The point is, be creative and make your schedule work for you! 3. Container gardening Now, I must confess, I haven't done this one much so far. In my apartment I currently have an aloe vera plant and a basil plant. This is because I don't have a very big window and there's not much sunlight that comes through it. But if you have a nice, sunny window in your dorm or apartment, or maybe even a patio, I would encourage you to USE IT!! Sure, you won't be able to grow ALL your own vegetables, and it might not be necessary if you have a mandatory meal plan at your school. But just being able to spend a couple less dollars at the grocery store, or eat fresher vegetables than those in the dining hall, is totally worth it. 4. Summer is your best friend Plant a garden in the summer!! Use those golden weeks before school starts to preserve some food to eat during the school year! I even used the first few weekends in the school year to can tomato sauce, which I have been eating with pasta a lot. My grocery bill would be so much higher if I didn't have homemade pasta sauce and applesauce in my pantry! Some of the other things I've preserved are corn, spaghetti squash, and jams/jellies. This next year I'm looking at even canning potatoes. If you live far away from home and don't have a ton of freezer space, I would encourage you to can or dehydrate your food instead of freezing it. Since I go home on the weekends, I have the blessing of keeping preserved produce in my mom's chest freezer, and grabbing a couple containers of it each weekend, as needed. I also keep a few cans of different produce in my pantry at the apartment. 5. Compost!! I am so passionate about this one. Now, this one may be hard to do if you don't have your own compost pile, or the city you live in does not have a composting program. If neither of these things are available to you, I would check around and try to find a local community garden that might be willing to accept your compost. Me and my roommates just started composting this semester with a fancy, stainless steel compost bucket. It even has a charcoal filter in the lid to control odors! If you have a place to take your compost, I would certainly keep a compost bucket in your kitchen (or in your dorm, if you don't have a kitchen of your own). It's just one more way to use your food waste for good and make a little difference for the environment. 6. Cleaning products Now, if you live in a dorm, you may not worry too much about cleaning products. But if you live in an apartment, like I do, they are a part of your everyday life. My roommates and I generally try to buy earth-friendly dishwasher and laundry detergents, but I also enjoy making my own laundry detergent! Recently I also tried making homemade dishwasher tablets, but I need to do a bit of tweaking with how big I make them and the other products I use with them. But that's a different story. I'm just saying to look at the cleaning products you buy, and if you find a good recipe on Pinterest that you could use to make an alternative product, try it out and see how it works! Making your own products not only reduces the chemicals used in your space, but also all the packaging it comes in. This is also a good option if you have sensitive skin or allergies, because when you make your own you can control and eliminate certain scents, soaps, and dyes. 7. Have goals This one may sound a bit random after all the more practical tips I've already listed, but having goals and dreams that you are working toward gives your homesteading journey purpose and direction. My roommates and I put up a "vision board" in our living room this semester, filled with pictures and quotes that represent things that inspire and motivate us, as well as the aspirations and goals we have. Some of the pictures in my portion of the vision board include a pantry filled with canned produce, a spinning wheel, a cabin out in the country, and a knitting stitch I want to try. These pictures have a deeper purpose than to brighten up our living room and tell our visitors something about ourselves. These pictures inspire us, and they remind us of what we want and where we are going. It is an important skill to be able to picture how you want your life to turn out in the future, then keeping your current goals consistent with that vision. It may look different to you. You might put your goals in the form of a journal, a drawing, a poem, or a list. However it works best for you, I can't tell you enough how important it is for an aspiring homesteader to visualize their goals and dreams. These are just a few of the ways I incorporate a homesteading mindset and lifestyle into my busy college life. I hope you are able to use at least a couple of these tips in your own homesteading journey! I would love to hear your ideas about this topic in the comments below. Don't be afraid to be creative, Nicole
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AuthorI am a college student who loves being creative and resourceful. I have passions for knitting, subsistence farming, Scripture memory, and anything creative! I hope this blog will prove to be a good creative outlet for me, and inspiring for you! Archives
January 2018
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