Do You Know How to Survive on Your Own in Oklahoma?

Homesteading is a growing skill in Oklahoma and even those who live in the cities and apartments are learning to make do. With rising costs of literally everything, people are learning what it takes to become as self-sufficient as possible.

When you look in the dictionary, Webster tells you that homesteading is simply "the act or practice of living frugally or self-sufficiently by growing and preserving food." But if you ask a homesteader what it means to become self-reliant for your food, you'll learn how daunting the task may be at first.

Growing food requires space, time and some resources to get you started. When you're growing meat, A.K.A raising animals, your basic needs to get started rise exponentially. But even when working with limited space, people have been making it happen - even if it's only minimal homesteading practices.

Raised garden beds, windowsill pots and hanging pots are growing in popularity for their ability to be placed literally anywhere. No, you won't have much success growing potatoes in windowsill pots, but herbs like parsley, thyme and rosemary thrive in small areas.

Even if you don't have the room at home for what you want to grow, Oklahoma's local communities have encouraged amateur green-thumb growers to get their hands dirty in community gardens, like with Think Ability Inc. in Duncan, Oklahoma.

Community gardens allow people to purchase a plot of soil in the organization's set up, usually raised beds. Some establishments even teach beginners how to get started and help keep them on track growing a successful crop.

Another form of self-sufficiency is also rain harvesting, providing your own water for yourself, your crops, animals and other in-home purposes. People have been doing it for years, even though it is commonly mislabeled as illegal. Rain harvesting can come in handy in hard times. According to Time.com, "Recent studies demonstrate that harvesting even a small fraction of a percentage of rainwater that falls in a given area can eliminate water shortages for domestic uses while also recharging groundwater."

Homesteading doesn't have to be extreme - it can be simply growing your own crops in your apartment. The question is not how big, but how well would you do on your own in Oklahoma?

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