The Basics

Hi! My name is Hannah and I consider myself an Urban Homesteader.

To me, being an Urban Homesteader means that I:

• Strive to be more self-sufficient
• Grow (some of) my own food
• Cook the majority of my meals from scratch
• I reuse everything – this includes fixing/mending what I can instead of buying new
• I live in the suburbs/city

If these things interest you, then we should be friends! I invite you to follow along as I learn by experimentation.

Why I’m Experimenting & Not Following Directions

The honest answer is, following directions is boring!

There are many aspects of general life in which I highly recommend following directions:

• In School
• At Work
• Legally

But I just don’t think learning the basic skills to garden, cook and “homestead” need to be some of them!

At this point in my life, I am just looking to build the skills I need to be more environmentally friendly and self-sufficient while chasing those little hits of dopamine. I am not trying to provide all of the food for my household nor am I trying to make a living off of homesteading.

I learn best by failing! I have found that all of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in my life have come after falling flat on my face OR by having a win so great that the average success seems less than exciting. I try to follow directions, but I am always wondering WHY don’t other methods work and I usually can’t find the answer so I try them. If I fail, I know why folks don’t recommend the other methods and I can explain those reasons to folks like you!

If you’re always doing what someone else tells you, how will you ever know if there’s a better way? And, on that note, how will you know that another method won’t work?

A Little More About Me

Some other things that might interest you about me are that:

• I’m a younger millennial
• I live paycheck to paycheck
• I rent my suburban house and started this in a one bedroom apartment
• I live with 1 cat, 1 dog, 2 dart frogs and one human partner
• I believe in the power of herbal medicine
• I also believe in the power of western medicine including vaccines and mental health medication
• I preserve my own food
• I also order out and buy junk food
• This whole journey started for me with a teeny tiny patio tea garden
• I published a Garden Journal on Amazon for other folks with brains like mine