When I was younger, we used to watch a show on PBS called Good Neighbours — many years later, I learned this was originally called The Good Life when it originally ran on BBC. It’s been years and years since I’d seen an episode but a couple of weeks ago, I found the complete series on DVD and promptly bought it. I’m now watching it again and last night I had to confess to Mike, it’s probably the root of my decades-long yearning to be self-sufficient.
The show starts on Tom Good’s 40th birthday. He’s stuck in a job that he sees as futile — he doesn’t want to move up the ladder because he doesn’t see the point — and after a long night of crunching numbers, he pitches an idea to his wife, Barbara that he quits working and they convert their suburban home into a homestead.
It’s a harder argument to make these days when those who can afford a house are staring down 30 year mortgages but there are still plenty of urban homesteaders — and plenty of people willing to share their knowledge; check out these books:
- The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition): Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City
- Farm City: the Education of an Urban Farmer
- Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-It-Ourselves Guide
I don’t think we’ll ever quite get to the point of a full homestead (unless civilization does collapse and we are forced to fend for ourselves) because I know it’s not simple, straightforward, or light work. However, I do hope there comes a day when we can transition into a one-income family, or maybe even a multi-stream income family where neither of us has to leave the home to go to a workplace. Dreaming, I know, but I’m not the only one.