Homesteading skills that you should know
There's not any specific law that prevents anybody from homesteading and making their own way in "The Natural State." In the grand scheme of things, self-sustaining practices such as growing your own food, harvesting rainwater, having a compostable toilet, using solar power, etc. in Arkansas is in fact considered a self-sustaining right. However, there are a few loopholes out there that you'll have to go through in order to do some of these things legally, which in turn may seem like a hard slap in the face, to some, if you're wanting to be completely self-reliant. This unfortunately is also the case for living completely off-grid in "The Natural State."
Since Arkansas is known as being "The Natural State," most people would assume that you would be able to buy some land, set up a modern-day homestead, and run it in the ways that you see fit. However, this isn't entirely the case in our state.
What's the definition of a modern-day homesteader?
If you're unsure of what a modern-day homesteader is, allow me to explain. A modern-day homesteader simply is anyone who lives a lifestyle being self-sufficient. In modern terms, you don't specifically have to own a lot of acreage, nor raise farm animals to be a homesteader. Most modern-day homesteaders just live a quaint, peaceful, self-sustainable lifestyle, while growing self-produced organic food and preserving it for their families. They try to live in harmony with nature and live environmentally friendly.
Most Arkansas homesteaders use electricity, but some also harness power from the sun with solar. They also have city, or rural water, and harvest rainwater for their gardening.
The state of Arkansas does somewhat seem to encourage its residents to be semi-self-reliant. I use the words semi-self-reliant, because while it is completely legal to live off-grid, use solar power, harvest rainwater, and use a state approved compost toilet inside your dwelling, etc.. It's illegal in our state to have a DIY built outhouse (an outhouse must meet NSF approval standards), drink purified rainwater, and use a DIY compostable toilet in your dwelling. (I plan to cover these topics in more detail in upcoming articles.) Portable bathrooms like the ones sold at All Safety Products are legal to sit up on site.
When it comes down to the basics of homesteading, I deem three categories as being the utmost important homesteading skills and they are harvesting water, growing and preserving food, and having self-sustainable heat.
Important homesteading skills everyone should know:
Purifying harvested water, stocking up on water (purchased or tap gathered, and rain barrel harvesting)
Purified drinking water is always at the top of my list, because without water, nothing can survive. Harvesting rain water is also vital for watering self-produced food.
Another important thing that everyone should do is store up enough water for you and your family. Enough to last at least two weeks. Store up more than that if you have room to do so.
If possible, process (can) jars of water to store for emergencies.
In fact, it is my opinion that every state should start allowing people to have the option to harvest rainwater, because rainwater can be filtered, purified, and treated safely to drink, bathe in, etc.. It's environmentally friendly. Plus, it would save everyone a ton of money in the long run. However, in Arkansas, this option is only allowed for non-potable uses. Arkansans can only harvest rainwater for watering their lawns and for watering self-produced food. Each household is allowed to harvest only 110 gallons of rain in rain barrels in our state.
Arkansas is, in fact, heavily regulated when it concerns rainwater harvesting; it is only permitted for non-drinking purposes. The rainwater system has to comply with the Arkansas Plumbing Code. Which has to be designed by a state-licensed professional, and must also include cross-connection safeguards. Which in turn avoids contaminating other natural water sources. (Ryan, 2022)
However, if the poo-poo should hit the fan, I believe that it's wise to purchase water purifying tablets to keep on hand just in case there is an emergency. These tablets make rainwater safe to drink, as well as water from water tanks, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, etc.. Water purifying straws are also available for this purpose.
And if you can afford to go bigger, you can also purchase a Berkey water filter system that will remove 99.9% of almost all contaminants from your drinking water.
Self-producing your own food
Growing, canning, dehydrating, freeze drying, salt curing, freezing, smoking, and fermenting self-produced food should be the second most important thing that you learn to do.
If you don't have a green-thumb, learn the basics of growing sprouts. Growing sprouts is ridiculously simple and sprouts are packed with viable nutrients.
Sustainable heating source: such as a wood-burning stove
With the high costs of oil and gas, it's even more important to make sure you have a viable way to heat your home in the winter. I feel that learning how to cut, gather and split firewood is another important thing to learn.
Should you lose power because of a storm, or other unforeseeable reason, you're going to need a back-up source to keep your home warm.
Wood-burning fireplaces and stoves are a perfect alternative. They're also environmentally friendly too.
Plus, should the power grid go down in the winter, you can also cook your food for free on top of a wood stove. I do this regardless if the power is on or off in the winter. For the holidays, there's nothing better than a turkey and ham that's been slowly roasted by a wood stove.
Also, when investing in a wood stove, don't forget about also getting a wood stove fan. The fan sits on top of your stove fireplace and harnesses the heat from your stove to power it. (In other words, wood stove fans help circulate the heat totally for free.)
Other essential preparedness items:
Stock up on essential items such as toiletries, medicines, bandages, medical super glue, duct tape, rolls of thick plastic, respiratory masks, backpacks, thermal blankets, heated vests and coats, manual can opener, matches, survival knives, garden seeds, solar battery bank, solar generator with solar panels, solar battery charger, solar radio, solar lights, battery operated led string lights, flashlights, kerosene lanterns, outdoor smoker, grill, paper plates, tarps, pet food and other pet supplies, etc..
Should you have an unfortunate accident and have cuts that would need stitches, but couldn't see a doctor, you can use medical super glue on the wounds. As it dries extremely quickly, it also will close the wounds, which will stop the bleeding.
Resources:
Wehner, T. (2022, June 22). Arkansas off grid laws: An in-depth guide (2022). Unbate. https://unbate.ngontinh24.com/article/arkansas-off-grid-laws-an-in-depth-guide
Arkansas administrative code | agency 007 - ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH | division 04 - environmental health services | rule 007.04.93-005 - alternative systems manual. (n.d.). Justia Law. https://regulations.justia.com/states/arkansas/agency-007/division-04/rule-007-04-93-005/
Is it legal to collect rainwater in Arkansas? (n.d.). Is it legal to collect rainwater in Arkansas? https://www.uaex.uada.edu/environment-nature/water/conservation/collecting-rainwater.aspx
Ryan, J. (2022, January 20). Solved! Is it illegal to collect rainwater? Bob Vila. https://www.bobvila.com/articles/is-it-illegal-to-collect-rainwater/
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