One of our many key missions here at Green Apple is to encourage children and adults alike to engage in a lifestyle of self-sufficiency, or as we like to call it, homesteading! Homesteading is all about living more self-reliantly, in which people move “back to the land” to engage in tasks like making their own household items, growing or raising their own foods, creating their own clothing, and the like. In more recent times, as people start to think more seriously about renewable energy and move away from mass consumerism, homesteading has become something of a modern movement for a greener, more conscious world.
One of our many key missions here at Green Apple is to encourage children and adults alike to engage in a lifestyle of self-sufficiency, or as we like to call it, homesteading! Homesteading is all about living more self-reliantly, in which people move “back to the land” to engage in tasks like making their own household items, growing or raising their own foods, creating their own clothing, and the like. In more recent times, as people start to think more seriously about renewable energy and move away from mass consumerism, homesteading has become something of a modern movement for a greener, more conscious world.
In many ways, homesteading as an act represents a "radically peaceful" form of protest, sending the message that life does not have to be dictated by a consumerist culture, one in which personal gain and profit are considered more important than quality and global citizenship. To homestead is to say, "NO. I choose not to be dependent on market manipulation. I choose to care about collaborating with those in my community, and stand together with fellow farmers, gardeners, textile artists, soap-makers, etc. I choose to care about the global community, and take steps to reduce overconsumption and restore balance, particularly in areas where the desperation of people's situations is capitalized upon. I choose to be AWAKE."
All of which gets at the greater core of why we at Green Apple choose to homestead with the children in our care. It is not just to pass the time by on a wintry day when we're stuck inside. It is not just because homesteading projects indeed touch upon so many academic learning areas, such as fine motor skills, concepts of measurement, scientific inquiry, the list goes on! It is because homesteading is a way for us to engage very young children in being part of a much needed change. We seek to sensitize this future generation to the world around them, a world that is very much going to require the kind of ingenuity and resiliency that homesteading supports, and fearless condemnation of actions that directly oppose peace.
Please take a moment to read over the following articles on the importance of self-sufficiency and steps to take to become more self-sufficient here and here.
Then, check out one of our favorite baking recipes for tortillas below. The recipe easily doubles or triples to yield enough for a large crew. In the winter, we like to eat these tortillas with roasted fruit and a little bit of cinnamon mixed in the dough. In the summer, they taste wonderful with harvested herbs and tomatoes from our own school gardens!
| Vegan Whole Grain Flour Tortillas courtesy of 'Hurry the Food Up' Ingredients
Directions:
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