Homesteading =
Self-Sufficiency

Learn How to Become Self-Sufficient, Starting With Fruit Trees

tyler in his backyard food forest

Work Less. Grow More.

When his local grocery stores ran out of food, Tyler started Couch to Homestead. Since then, he’s grown dozens of fruit trees, published over 300 articles, and helped more than 3 million readers become more self-sufficient.

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“The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food? Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard.”

– Joel Salatin, Folks, This Ain’t Normal

Become Self-Sufficient

In 1862, The Homestead Act provided 160 acres of land free of charge to anyone willing to settle and improve the land by living on it continuously for 5 consecutive years. The Act dropped-off in the 1930s and ended in 1976.

Over the last 50 years, homesteading was often seen of the crazy thing to do. But it all changed in 2020. Since then, many families are striving to become more self-sufficient and stable in today’s unpredictable world.

Check out one of our favorite homesteads and how their family grew their own food in 2020

Justin Rhodes Homestead tour video

Join The Growing Community

Start your homesteading journey on the right foot by joining the Abundance+ Community.

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• See why Abundance+ is the best app to start homesteading.

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Start With Fruit Trees

Since fruit trees take years to grow, we recommend planting them first while you grow the rest of your homestead.

7 Steps for Growing Fruit Trees
See The Free Guide

Permaculture Food Forest:
Online Course

Learn the exact steps we used to design our food forest, so you can grow yours too.

Learn more

Questions? Answers.

A homestead is a home and the land around it where people live and work to grow their own food, maybe raise animals, and often try to live without needing a lot from stores. It’s about using your own hands and hard work to live more simply and closer to nature.

There’s no fixed amount of land you need to homestead. Some people do it on just a small piece of land, like a 1/4 acre backyard, while others might have several acres of land. What matters most is how you use the space you have to grow food, maybe keep some animals, and live a simpler life.

The best states for homesteading usually have affordable land, good growing conditions for plants, and laws that are friendly to homesteading. States like Texas, Missouri, and Oregon are often liked by homesteaders, but the best state can vary based on what you want from your homestead.

For a small backyard homestead, you might need just a few hundred dollars for seeds, tools, and maybe some chicken coops. For a larger homestead, the costs can go up to several thousand dollars, especially if you’re buying land, building a house, and setting up bigger gardens and areas for animals. It depends on how much land you buy, what you need to start, and how you plan to live.

To find land for homesteading, you can look online on real estate websites, talk to real estate agents, or even check out local ads. Sometimes, you can find good deals by talking to people in the area where you want to live. It’s important to visit the land and see if it’s right for what you want to do.

A food forest is like a garden, but it’s set up to work like a natural forest. It has different types of edible plants, like fruit trees, berry bushes, and smaller plants, that all work together. The idea is to create a place that grows a lot of food with less work because the plants help each other grow.

Permaculture is a way of planning your homestead so that everything works together and helps each other. It’s about using natural ways to grow food, save water, and take care of the land. The goal is to create a place that’s good for nature and people.

To start homesteading, first decide what kind of homestead you want. Then, learn about growing food, maybe raising animals, and living simply. You can start small, even in your backyard, and gradually do more. It’s about planning, learning, and slowly building up your homestead.