Photo Credit: Freedom Ranch Homestead
For years, Brooke and Chuck Anderson had one, big dream: upend their comfortable Raleigh, North Carolina, life and become homesteaders.
Originally, they wanted to put off their homesteading hopes until retirement. Then tragedy struck.
“My dad passed away from COVID,” Chuck explained to Business Insider. “It was like, ‘What are we waiting for?’ Life is short. … We knew what we were going to do, and those kinds of life events just change your timeline a bit.” So, they packed up and moved to rural Virginia to make their longtime dream a reality.
In 2020, they purchased 285 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The property was completely empty. They built everything, from their log cabin home to their chicken coop, from scratch.
While it involves a lot of hard labor, this lifestyle fulfills them, allowing the Andersons to be more self-sufficient and sustainable. “I still go to the store to get stuff,” Brooke said, “but we’re in a position where we don’t have to do all that if needed.”
At the time of their initial interview in 2023, they had 35 chickens, cattle, a garden, and fruit trees. However, it didn’t all work out. Since they were more focused on building shelter, weeds overtook their gardens. Wild animals also pose a constant threat to the chickens.
Needless to say, homesteading is a huge lifestyle change with tons of difficulties. It involves either going partially or completely off the grid. You provide your own food, water, shelter, energy, clothing, etc. Many homesteaders opt for solar panels and other renewable energy sources (which Chuck and Brooke said was a future goal).
While you need a lot of money at the outset, homesteading can actually help you save in the long run. Once you become entirely self-reliant, you’ll eliminate the need to spend on resources, leading to reduced consumption and a slower pace of life.
You know what else benefits from that? The planet. Consuming less leads to less waste. For example, by mending your old clothes instead of tossing them, you keep one less garment out of clothing landfills.
However, not everyone can afford to buy land, much less 285 acres. Homesteading is a really dramatic lifestyle change that most people will not make. However, if it piques your interest, there are ways you can incorporate elements of homesteading into your own life.
Growing your own food is one. If you have a backyard, you can convert part (or all) of it into a vegetable garden. That way, you’ll save money on food and become more self-sufficient in the process.
Ultimately, that’s the idea at the heart of homesteading. Whether it’s learning to sew and mend your own clothes, grow your own veggies, or use renewable energy sources, you’re doing what you can on an individual level to make life more sustainable.
Despite the difficulty, these homesteaders said they have never regretted their choice. Just take it from Chuck: “This place becomes part of our DNA. We just want to be here, and it’s so peaceful.”
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