by James Johnson

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: March 02, 2010

Having joined the US Peace Corps in the mid 1980's I was promptly sent to a small rural island in the Caribbean. Seventy percent of the country had no government water, no telephones and electricity was erratic to say the least. You grew most of your own food, repaired your own house, and relied only on your neighbors. Many of the people I worked with were homesteaders and they taught me that there were two keys to survival as a homesteader: working with your neighbours and being versatile!

Versatility is the key to success in all business endeavours, but especially the homesteader, and homesteading is a business endeavors! Most homesteaders in modern times or developed countries are people that want to be as self sufficient as possible. This involves on cutting down on all outside expenses whenever possible, producing your own food, and even hopefully turning a profit, even homesteaders need a bit of extra cash!

Versatility is required because most homesteaders are looking to become as self sufficient as possible. A homesteader wants to do it all, or at least as much as possible (No one can really "do it all")! They are not anti-social, just independent. Homesteaders mainly want to rely on themselves and not burden others, but will help a neighbor.

One of the areas in which a homesteader needs to be versatile is construction; they may often be building their own home or adding rooms. Plumbing and electricity will likely need to be installed, and if you are planning to heat or cook with wood, a fireplace will be needed. The homesteader will need to know cabinetry, a complex woodworking skill. Working stone or clay may also be needed for that fireplace, so a few masonry skills are handy. Being versatile builder is required for the truly successful homesteader

The homesteader has to be a versatile farmer as well. They need to understand crop rotation, how to do successful composting, plus the pests of different plants. But they may to learn livestock rearing as well, animal manure is excellent for fertilizer, even if you are vegetarian milk or eggs come in handy! If you are not a vegetarian and planning on using the animals for food, you need to become versed in the skills of butchering, milking, and preserving meat.

The homesteader will need to learn conservation skills for both energy and nature. It is the old "waste not and want not" principle, the less waste you have the lower your expenses. Living close to the wild is part of homesteading and you can utilize nature!

One of just many overlooked skills needed by the homesteader is an understanding of business, because the homesteader is rarely going to be truly alone. They will need to produce stuff to sell so that they can purchase things that are essential, but not easy to get. Medicines will be needed for the animals and children if not for yourself. Plumbing supplies can be made, but are much easier to purchase. Some modern things can be useful to purchase.

Why versatility is the key for homesteaders to be successful should by now be apparent. It is because if one wants to be totally independent, relying on nobody else, one has to be willing to do just about everything! It may not always be possible to do everything on ones own, but the homesteader will become very versatile trying! I still live on my island in the Caribbean.

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