2) I Bet You Didn't Know This About the Word, 'Homestead'.

 

'Homestead' 

Predates Homesteading act of 1862 

Forget everything you think you know about homesteading!

The words homestead and homesteading isn’t even originally American and dates way back in Europe including the United Kingdom, which wasn’t actually united back then. Sometimes you have to look back to move forward.

Let’s explore that then.

I'd like to open your mind to a totally different idea about what homesteading actually is, where the word actually comes from and what it meant then. You’ll learn how to say hello in a very old language and gain some bragging rights.

Since the creation of the Homesteading Act of 1862 in America, the information is freely available on the internet but generally, it included land up to 160 acres and the claimant had to subsist on that land for 5yrs to claim the deeds to it.  

Those who subsisted off the land were homesteaders. That technicality evolved over the generations since to include smaller parcels of land and usually meant growing crops and or rearing animals and the things done in the house associated with the land. That’s what we all come to think of when we hear ‘homestead’.

It has evolved into something much more to do with aesthetics and lifestyle than farming. 1862 is not when the term 'homestead' originated though.

According to etymonline.com (an online dictionary), homestead in Old English was Hamstede, meaning home, town or village, a place. In other languages like Danish it was hjemsted (there’s a (–) on top of the ‘e’ so 'Hyemsted' and in Dutch, heemstede (as in 'hear', swap the r for an m ),all meaning the same thing.

How old is Old English? According to Wiki, it was spoken between the 5^th and 11^th century AD. Britanica.com says that Old English is also called Anglo-Saxon which was spoken and written in England up to the 11^th century but it must have been spoken for longer as the evolution of languages is a slow thing.

‘New English’, meaning the language of the King James Bible and Shakespeare, was then spoken from the late 14^th century and by the 17^th century. Don’t shoot the messenger. That's what it said! So the word ‘homestead’ way predates the American Homesteading Act of 1862. It’s one of those words that are both noun and verb

Oh, and as to saying Hello in Old English...

I found this really amazing YouTube channel called Leornende Eald Englisc (Learn Old English) and Kevin teaches viewers the language. I’m a Tolkien fan so ancient languages are fascinating to me.

Anyway, to say hello in Old English would be Beo gesunde. The ‘e’ has that (–) above it and is pronounced Bayo and the ‘g’ has a dot above it and pronounced yesunde. The ‘u’ pronounced as ‘er’ without the r or like the Welsh ‘y’. I know, too much!!! Just go watch Kevin’s channel but your life is now forever changed!

You’ve learned that the word homestead is way older than 1862 and not even originally American and you’ve learned how to say hello in an ancient language.  You’d think that’s the end of the commentary but wait...

Just hold your horses. I did say that to look or move forward we sometimes need to look back. Having done that my aim shifts to helping you see that in view of the original meaning, homesteading can mean something closer to what it has been evolving and de-evolving to between that 19^th century idea and today.

I think I’ve discussed this in the past but just to bring it into relevance with this article; Homesteading has evolved to include suburban and city settings wherever we live and have community.

It means not just growing crops but all useful and edible plants and maybe raising animals if you have a little land. Even a flat (apartment if you are not from the UK) can be a homestead if you have an allotment, extended family or friend’s garden to cultivate or a community garden to bring produce home from. And then you use that produce in your home by storing, preserving or even processing it into something you could sell.

Homesteading used to include turning your harvests of whatever kind into an income as well but now the income you generate from your ‘homestead’ can include any work you do from home...Like the online content creation I'm creating.

That’s immensely inspiring to me because as you know from my YouTube channel , the cottage homestead lifestyle has always been my dream. It didn’t look like we were destined to have it but I make my dreams a reality by choosing to make it happen right where hubby and I are and in the situation we are in.

No technicality of any word or idea is going to stop me having my cottage homestead in the suburbs, not even being in social housing. Because of my current understanding of homesteading, I feel completely vindicated and justified in calling our home situation a Cottage Homestead.

Is it a perfect set up? NO! And it has taken years to get to where we are but it’s OUR council house cottage homestead and thankfully we are in secure tenancy so we are privileged to be able to settle as long as we never breach our tenancy agreement.

That brings me to a point where I can say that from here on out, I’ll be sharing ideas about MODERN  SUBURBAN HOMESTEADING which may be far more digestible and desirable to most of today’s generations longing for a return to that lifestyle yet rooted in our 21^st century conveniences. It’s a perfectly relevant idea in a move toward more environmentally sensitive, socially ethical and cost of living directions.

Put whatever label you want on it, I don’t care. The desire and trends I have seen for the past decade are toward Boho, Country, Cottage core lifestyles and back to nature. There's also a NEED to counter the negative narrative and politics of all the chaos in the world and nationally, threatening our mental  if not temporal survival.

Turning your home and garden (if you have one) into a mini homestead simply for some peace of mind and sanity in a crazy world can literally be an arc in the storms of life and be a lifesaver.

It’s what I’ve been doing for around 30 years in all of the houses we've lived. So if YOU are feeling a pull toward that kind of life, or you just want to grow your own, this is the place to come for conversation and hopefully inspiration.

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I would love for you to connect with me on this topic. So do get in touch in any of the comments sections of the varied platforms I am sharing on.

Until next time...happy homesteading.