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The Good Life « P.31
The Real Deal
For many Vermonters, the modern homesteading trend may bring to mind Scott and Helen Nearing — the original homesteading influencers. Scott, once an economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, lost his job after clashing with his colleagues over his critiques of wealth inequality and calls for child labor reform. In 1932, the Nearings abandoned their New York City apartment to start a new life on a farm in Jamaica, Vt. There, the couple wrote a guide to self-sufficiency called Living the Good Life. Originally published in 1954, it is practically the holy text of today’s homesteading movement. But all was not as it seemed. In 2003, neighbor Jean Hay Bright published Meanwhile, Next Door to the Good Life, which revealed that the Nearings had come into significant inheritances and not supported themselves on cash crops, as they claimed. “It is a real problem for a lot of people who are lower middle class, who have the dream of homesteading,” said Greg Joly, an advisory board member of the Good Life Center in Maine, a nonprofit that aims to continue the legacy of the Nearings. “I’ve seen people get really knotted up and in trouble because it’s hard to start out, and it’s hard to continue. I’ve seen it all the time, so I can understand the disillusionment.” Today, homesteaders often find creative sources of income. For example, José and Stephanie Romero, New York City transplants who now run Maple Mountain Homestead in Milton, also host an Airbnb in their backyard advertised as “perfect for travelers curious about homestead living.” The roughly 300-square-foot geodome, with a woodstove and nearby compost toilet, goes for $115 a night. The Romeros also host Homestead Learning Days, workshops where novices can learn skills such as how to maintain a garden, dehydrate herbs and make homemade cider. “We want people who aren’t sure if they want to get into this lifestyle to see if they can do it. It’s pretty much like fancy camping,” Stephanie said, later adding, “It definitely helps in diversifying income.” Calais resident Teri Page wants to help people understand the realities of homesteading before jumping on social media trends. She runs a blog called Homestead Honey, with posts such as “9 Reasons NOT to Build a Homestead from Scratch” (reasons include “You’re Not 100% All-In” and “A Bed Under Your Head”); instructions for butchering pigs, complete with photos of bloody carcasses; and a guide to living without running water. A tab on the blog is devoted to finances, where Page explains that she’s able to 32
SEVEN DAYS APRIL 9-16, 2025
The Page family yurt
I’m not a purist, because I can’t be. T ER I PA G E
Teri Page
afford homesteading through selling her books, including Creating Your Off-Grid Homestead and The Backyard Bread & Pizza Oven; selling ad space on her blog; and offering coaching to women looking for help with homesteading. She also currently works as director of admissions at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School in East Montpelier. “People get frustrated. You start down the road and then you realize, Oh, this is more expensive, or, Oh, maybe I need to work a job,” Page said. “Is that selling out? No, of course it’s not selling out. It’s what you have to do. It’s reality.” Page, 52, considers herself among a more hard-core subset of homesteaders. Her husband, Brian, started building their
off-grid wooden cabin from scratch on an eight-and-a-half-acre plot of land off a dirt road in Calais in 2020. During construction, the family of four, plus their two cats, lived in a tiny yurt in the backyard for four years, using an outhouse for a restroom. Before that, they lived off-grid in rural La Plata, Mo., where Page raised cows, ducks, chickens, pigs and sheep and homeschooled her kids. She described it as a magical time, when her kids had the freedom to run barefoot and spend their days caring for animals. Originally from a suburb of Boston, Page was drawn to homesteading primarily for environmental reasons and a desire to feel connected to her food. During a period in her twenties, she ate only what she grew. As she’s gotten older, though, she’s become a bit more posh: Her house now has a bathroom with running water, and she purchases protein rather than raising meat herself. “I still shop at the co-op,” Page said in between sips of tea with raw honey and a splash of raw milk from a nearby farm. “I shop at Shaw’s, too, when I need to. I’m not a purist, because I can’t be.” Page has also started to pull back from blogging and said she’s uncomfortable with how social media algorithms prioritize clickbait over substance. She
differentiates between what she calls “homesteading in the media” — an oftenromanticized version of rural living — and “homesteading the lifestyle,” a way of life that’s far more rough-and-tumble. See: Meghan Markle’s latest Netflix series, “With Love, Meghan,” which shows the Duchess of Sussex harvesting fresh herbs, making homemade fruit preserves and collecting honey from a beehive. The Roys share similar concerns. Brad has considered posting a video demonstrating how to slaughter a chicken, but it would likely run afoul of content rules prohibiting graphic violence. Footage of that same chicken enjoying a sunny day, however, would get likes and shares. While Gold sometimes feels odd about acting as a salesman, he enjoys the social media performances that fuel his bucolic lifestyle. In a recent video, titled “How Much Money My Small Farm Made This Year,” he reflected on the disappointment that his farm wasn’t earning as much as he hoped. But he said he refused to quit, reminding his audience how much he cherished waking up to farm animals each morning. “If I won the lottery tomorrow … I’d pretty much be living my life the same way,” Gold said in the video. “With maybe slightly fancier equipment.” ➆