Look, I absolutely get it. The idea of transitioning from being a completely normal person who buys food at Target without a second thought to someone who suddenly develops an uncontrollable urge to milk goats at 5 AM is… well, it’s a lot.
And then there’s the whole “convincing your family/spouse that this isn’t a midlife crisis” situation. Sometimes you can sell them on the vision of homegrown, chemical-free food and sustainable living. Other times, you’re basically trying to convince them that yes, voluntarily making your life infinitely more complicated is actually a good idea.
It’s ridiculously easy to come up with excuses not to homestead in 2025: “It’s inconvenient,” “People will think we’ve lost our minds,” “Why grow food when DoorDash exists?” But here’s the thing I wish someone had told me when I was making excuses: it’s worth it anyway.
If you’ve been sitting there analyzing the “perfect time” to start your homesteading journey, let me save you some time with a brutal truth: the best time to start working toward your goals is always right now. Even if it means taking the tiniest baby steps. Even if you’re going to make mistakes. Even if your goals make people question your sanity. (And trust me, they will—especially when you come home with your first batch of chickens.)
So if you need that final push to stop scrolling homesteading Pinterest boards and actually start doing something, here are my completely honest reasons why you should quit making excuses.
7 Reasons to Start Homesteading TODAY
1. It connects you with your food.
This might sound all hippie-dippy and philosophical, but bear with me because it’s actually important. Our society has become disturbingly disconnected from how food actually works. Kids genuinely don’t understand that their chicken nuggets once had eyes and walked around, or that their french fries grew in actual dirt. Revolutionary concept, I know.
Homesteading forces you to get your hands dirty and return to an intimate relationship with the cycles of nature and food production. I’m convinced this is something every human being needs on a fundamental level, and getting back to it satisfies something deep inside us that we didn’t even know was missing.
When you’ve raised that tomato from seed, watched it grow for months, and finally harvested it at peak ripeness, you understand food in a completely different way. When you’ve collected eggs from chickens you’ve cared for daily, those eggs taste different. When you’ve milked your own cow and turned that milk into butter, you realize just how disconnected most of us have become from basic survival skills.
2. It tastes good.
Okay, I might have been slightly dramatic about the whole “spiritual connection to nature” thing in point #1. The truth is, that’s only part of why we raise our own food. The other reason is much simpler: it just tastes infinitely better.
I’m talking about strawberries so sweet and juicy they make grocery store berries taste like cardboard. Farm-fresh eggs with bright orange yolks that actually have flavor. Raw milk so rich and creamy it has a five-inch cream line that turns into the most incredible butter you’ve ever tasted.
Once you’ve experienced what real food actually tastes like, going back to store-bought everything feels like punishment. There’s literally no comparison between a tomato that was picked green, shipped 2,000 miles, and artificially ripened versus one that was picked ten minutes ago from your garden at perfect ripeness.
3. Homesteading brings freedom.
We homesteaders tend to be stubborn, independent people, and that drive for self-sufficiency is usually what leads us down this path in the first place. Homesteading provides freedom from centralized food systems, and if you want to take it further, even freedom from the power grid.
When people start complaining about inflation and rising food prices, I just smile and give our milk cow an extra flake of hay. When the news starts panicking about supply chain issues or meat shortages, I feel secure knowing we have livestock in the pasture and a freezer full of meat we raised ourselves.
This increased independence from grocery store price fluctuations makes my control-freak heart incredibly happy. While everyone else is stressed about the cost of organic everything, I’m out here producing it myself.
4. It provides security during hard times.
Whether you’re worried about small emergencies like job loss, or bigger disruptions like… well, pick your favorite apocalypse scenario, homesteading provides genuine security in both food and practical skills.
Most homesteaders naturally keep impressive food supplies because: a) when you grow your own food, you almost always have surplus to preserve, and b) most of us develop what I can only describe as an unhealthy obsession with mason jars and canning. We can’t help ourselves.
Right now, we have enough preserved food tucked away in our pantry, basement, and freezer to last many months. Plus, the skills we’ve developed—gardening, food preservation, animal care, basic repair work—would be incredibly valuable in any kind of crisis situation.
I’m not suggesting you become a doomsday prepper, but there’s something deeply reassuring about knowing you could feed your family even if the grocery stores were empty for months.
5. It’s hard.
Yes, I absolutely meant to include this as a positive. Modern life is too easy, and I’m convinced that’s actually making us miserable. We need struggle and challenge to feel satisfied. We need something to work toward. We need to see tangible results from our efforts.
There’s this ultrarunner named Dean Karnazes who explains it perfectly: “Western culture has things backwards right now. We think comfort equals happiness, and now we’re so comfortable we’re miserable. There’s no struggle, no sense of adventure. What I’ve found is that I’m never more alive than when I’m pushing through pain and struggling for achievement.”
Homesteading is absolutely a struggle. It’s messy, sweaty, hard, and exhausting. You’ll get hurt, frustrated, and completely overwhelmed on a regular basis. But the satisfaction you get from pushing through the tough stuff and succeeding anyway is incomparable to anything else.
6. It’s one of the best ways to raise kids.
My kids think everyone has a milk cow in their backyard. When we run out of milk, you obviously go to the barn and get more. Their faces light up when they put on their tiny mud boots and march out to collect eggs, usually getting completely sidetracked by whatever adventure they discover along the way.
My youngest knows the life cycle of plants, understands to stay away from anything that rattles, and automatically brushes most of the dirt off carrots before eating them. Honestly, what other life skills do they really need?
Kids who grow up on homesteads develop work ethic, responsibility, and connection to food sources that most of their generation will never experience. They understand that food doesn’t magically appear in grocery stores—it comes from hard work, patience, and taking care of animals and plants.
7. Homesteading will change your life forever.
This isn’t hyperbole—homesteading has fundamentally transformed me as a person in ways I never expected. I’ll never look at soil, milk, eggs, or meat the same way again. So many aspects of life are clearer now that I’m more connected to natural cycles and seasons.
My palate has completely changed as I’ve learned to grow, prepare, and enjoy food with actual depth and flavor. My confidence has grown exponentially as I’ve accomplished things that previously seemed impossible. My priorities have shifted away from consumer culture toward creating and producing things of actual value.
I am completely convinced that pursuing a modern homesteading lifestyle and becoming more intentional about how we live and eat is one of the most satisfying and empowering things anyone can do. It’s not for everyone, but for those of us who choose it, it’s absolutely life-changing.
So here’s my question: are you ready to stop making excuses and actually start? Ready to make mistakes, learn from them, and try again? Ready to discover what you’re actually capable of when you stop buying everything and start creating something?
The perfect time is never going to arrive. Your schedule will never be completely clear. You’ll never feel 100% prepared. But if you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll be waiting forever.
Start small. Plant a garden. Get some chickens. Learn to preserve food. Build skills gradually instead of trying to transform your entire life overnight.
But for the love of all that’s good in this world, start. Stop consuming content about homesteading and start actually homesteading. Your future self will thank you for taking that first step today instead of spending another year planning and researching.
Now close your laptop, walk outside, and do something—anything—that moves you closer to the life you actually want to live. Even if it’s just planning where you’ll put your first garden bed, that’s a start.
The homesteading life is waiting for you to stop talking about it and start living it.
