Welcome to The Homesteading Carnival - Definitions Edition

Because I am new to this whole homesteading way of looking at things and living our lives, I decided to do a little research about what homesteading means.

(The definitions are from Wikipedia. I hope you enjoy the photos of life on our little "homestead" in Mexico.)

Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple, agrarian self-sufficiency.

Currently the term homesteading^[1] applies to anyone who is a part of the back-to-the-land movement and who chooses to live a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading remains as a way of life. A new movement, called "urban homesteading," can be viewed as a simple living lifestyle, incorporating small-scale agriculture, sustainable and permaculture gardening, and home food production and storage into suburban or city living.

Simple living (or voluntary simplicity) is a lifestyle in which individuals consciously choose to minimize the 'more-is-better' pursuit of wealth and consumption. Adherents choose simple living for a variety of reasons, including spirituality, health, increase in 'quality time' for family and friends, stress reduction, conservation, social justice or anti-consumerism, while others choose to live more simply for reasons of personal taste or personal economy.

Simple living as a concept is distinguished from those living in forced poverty, as it is a voluntary lifestyle choice. Although asceticism may resemble voluntary simplicity, proponents of simple living are not all ascetics. The term "downshifting" is often used to describe the act of moving from a lifestyle of greater consumption towards a lifestyle based on voluntary simplicity.

Since much of what we do in "simple living" has to do with our convictions, I thought I would start out with Jacque over at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths who has posted a wonderfully insightful post about Convictions: Yours, Mine and Ours.

A significant part of what we do in our voluntary simplicity is cooking from scratch in order to improve our personal economy. Here are a few recipes and tips for the kitchen:

One of HowToMe's guests has offered some wonderful ideas for making a train birthday cake and she has invited us to join in on How to make a Custom Birthday Cake.

Abi presents Baked Bean Bread posted at lighter side.

Rachel Conley presents Healthy Homemade Meatloaf posted at Growing in Grace-Living Life One Day At A Time.

Here is my recipe for Homemade Granola Bars that will quickly disappear!

Amy over at Simple Folk has a great tip for Extending Butter and making it spreadable.

Mama Duke presents Humble Beginnings - Other Ways We Save $$ + a few recipes posted at Mama Duke where she shares some of the ways they save money and recipes for some great money-saving items.

There are many things that we can make ourselves to save money and enhance our desire to "live simply". Here are a few ideas:

I made a fabric roll-up for my son's drum sticks, but you can make them for many different uses around the house.

If making your own cloth diapers is something you are interested in doing, Autumn Beck has found a great instructional video. After watching it for a minute she was ready to get her sewing machine out and give it a try. Check it out at How To Make A Fitted Cloth Diaper posted at All About Cloth Diapers.

You can make some really cool purses from candy wrappers! This brings back the days when we were kids and made chains out of gum wrappers.

Of course, agrarian self-sufficiency is what homesteading is all about. So here are a few posts for those who actually live on a homestead (no matter how big or small it may be):

Stephanie at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood shares what they do On a Beautiful Springlike Day on the farm!

Rose Denson presents Grandma Rosie's Texas Home - Bee Keeping Acronyms posted at Grandma Rosie's Texas Home.

Belle presents Born 100 Years to Soon - It Hatched!!!!! posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.

Kathi presents Making Life Easier posted at Oak Hill Homestead.

The choice of voluntary simplicity is often taken because of a desire to spend more time with family and friends. Here are a few posts from folks who are enjoying this benefit:

Jennifer in OR presents Bone and Stones and More at the Ranch posted at Diary of 1.

Astronomy through the eyes of a 4 year old by Dawn at My Home Sweet Home

Miss Amanda presents My Learning Experience - Cowboy Caleb posted at My Learning Experience.

Living frugally involves so many things, including decorating and protecting what you have been blessed with:

Andrew Caxton presents Decorating with Wicker posted at Home Decorating Reviews Blog.

MBB presents How To Protect Your Home From Burglars at the Money Blue Book.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you learned a little about homesteading, simple living and voluntary simplicity, as well as lots of tips, recipes and ideas!

Next week, The Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by Page @ Forward To The Past. Don't forget to submit your posts for inclusion over at the blogcarnival form.