How to Get Started on Your Homestead

It’s no secret that food prices are continuing to increase. I know you can name a food that is a staple in your home that is two, three, four, maybe even five dollars more than it was a few years ago. Inflation is ravaging our personal wealth and wreaking havoc on our cost of living.

Add all of the issues with industrial agriculture, and we have super expensive eggs that you can’t even get because all the chickens died of bird flu. Can’t get your favorite cheese for your gorgonzola cream sauce to go on your steaks? Well, it’s because they had to vaccinate all the milking cows which hurt production!

Come on!

Look, I’m no expert, but if one out of every three families in the country had egg-laying chickens, it would put the entire egg industry out of business. There would be no shortage!

Now, I realize that this is not going to happen with all the millions of people who live urban lives that prevent the scope of such an endeavor, but think about the security of not running out of eggs, milk, cheese, cream, butter—the list goes on and on.

And I haven’t even touched on the quality of our food and the price gaps between conventional and organic, cage-free vs pasture raised, and all that stuff. When did eggs just stop being eggs and milk just stop being milk. Now we have almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, all these types of milk that aren’t milk! Not to mention the nutrition in our food has plummeted over the last century.

But, John, what can we do about it?

I’m glad you asked.

Meet the Professionals

Shawn and Beth Dougherty are homesteading legends. They are the authors of The Independent Homestead—a wealth of knowledge lost to the majority of our population, things our ancestors knew—and they travel the county speaking at homesteading conferences and helping private homesteads thrive.

When they purchased their land in the 90’s, it was terrible. It had been abused, had all its topsoil sold to the county for a road project, and then it was mined for slate. There was no way it was fit for homesteading, but they put their expertise to work and now it is a beautiful, lush homestead producing over 90% of all they eat. In the same way I’m an expert in firearms training, they are experts in homesteading.

Internal Inputs vs. External Inputs

Shawn and Beth pursue a homestead high in internal inputs and low in external inputs. An internal input is a solution to a need the farm has that is sourced directly from the farm (i.e. grass/hay for your livestock). An external input is a solution to a need the farm has that is sourced outside the farm (i.e. buying feed for your livestock from a store).

It’s clear that having a farm high in external inputs creates an unsustainable operation. You’re often having to pay more money for your eggs than if you bought them at the store, but if you’re able to support your chickens through internal inputs (i.e. pasture time, old cow’s milk, farm-grown barley, kitchen scraps, etc.) then you are essentially receiving free eggs from those chickens.

Regardless of whether your food production is based on internal or external inputs, there are benefits to producing your own food.

Why Grow and Raise Your Own Food?

One of our producers at Warrior Poet Society, Ben, raises chickens in his backyard. He doesn’t have acres and acres of land, yet he has decided to produce the eggs his family eats. Why? Because he wanted to own the means of production. Even though the production is high in external inputs, he always has a supply of eggs, even if the store does not.

He can trade eggs for other goods like bread, jam, honey, meat, veggies, fruits, soap, and anything else within his local community like a farmers market or church network. He’s part of the community solution and has taken back some of his self-sufficiency.

A self-sufficient people are a free people.

You should consider homesteading not just because it will provide healthier and sustainable food for your family but because it makes you free. You can have all the guns and ammo you want, but if you have to rely on a broken supply chain to feed your family, what are you going to do when that goes down? How many people will trade their arms for food when Big Government comes to “save” you, demanding that you meet their conditions (i.e. firearm confiscation, etc.)?

It can be daunting to start with food production. That’s why we love the Doughertys and have created a series on our Warrior Poet Society Network to help you explore what homesteading can look like for you and your family.

Again, you don’t need acres and acres. You can do a lot in a half-acre backyard. Especially when you're able to follow step-by-step reccommendations, straight from the experts themselves.

Conclusion: What You Can Do to Get Started

In HELP MY HOMESTEAD, Shawn and Beth visit homesteads across the country to share their expertise, and they start with my setup here in Georgia. I’ll admit, it hurt a little, but they’re helping us move forward in the best way possible for our homestead, making sure we have the right animals, that we’re cultivating our pasture well, and maximizing internal inputs for sustainable farm production.

Each episode provides new insights into homesteading that are beneficial for both the beginner and experienced homesteader: from what food to plant, to what animals to raise, from the relationship between the animals and the land, and how to butcher a cow; we cover so much in this series.

So, whether you start with a garden, chickens, honey bees, or a milking cow, HELP MY HOMESTEAD will help you start right because that’s the key to success—starting right.

Remember, Train Hard. Train Smart. And become self-sufficient.