The Healthyish Guide to Modern Homesteading

Remember the days when being a homesteader required a covered wagon, a trip to the general store, and a computer with a floppy disc drive? Well, it's 2017, and there are more people doing this off-the-grid thing than there are Mason jars on Etsy—and they’re making it look so good that we keep inviting ourselves up for the weekend. We admit that we’re secretly jealous of that friend who moved to Ojai/Hudson/Portland and keeps posting photos of her Green Arrow English peas. But the appeal of modern homesteading is about more than just foraged mushrooms and reclaimed wood; it’s about being off-the-map but still connected. It’s this idea that we could be living better, happier lives if we just did more stuff for ourselves.

So, for the next week, we’re doing just that. We’re making our own vinegar, getting into cold storage, and dyeing our clothes with turmeric. We’re taking a pilgrimage to America’s D.I.Y. superstore and hanging out with the farmers behind some extremely popular lettuce (yes, lettuce). We’re proving that, whether you’ve got 40 acres and a renovated farmhouse or 400 square feet and a window box, we can all get a taste of the good life on the other side of that screen.