Joel Salatin says the average homesteader burns out after about six years of homesteading. We’ve found that homesteaders are some of the hardest-working people out there and will often work themselves into the ground. Without intentionally taking a rest, it’s easy to push yourself until you burn out.
In this Pantry Chat Podcast: State of the Homestead, we’re talking about how we’re intentionally taking a year of rest. 2025 will be our seventh year on this homestead, and we think it will be our forever home. That means there are a lot of permanent systems and projects we want to do, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they all need to get done now.
We plan on leaving this homestead to our children one day, which is great motivation to keep powering forward. However, we also know that mistakes or burnout can happen if we don’t take a step back, evaluate the progress we’ve made, and make sure we’re in line for our future plans.
We’ve seen homestead burnout far too often, and we certainly don’t want it to happen to us. It’s said that most homesteaders follow a six-year cycle. Two years for the honeymoon phase, two years for the reality of what homesteading requires to set in, and then two years to feel the burnout, sell everything and get out.
As homesteaders with a YouTube channel, we never intend to make this life look easy, but we intend to make it doable. That’s why we’re sharing about our seventh year of rest in case any of you reading or listening need this encouragement.
You can watch this week’s Pantry Chat below or download it to listen later on:
We want to encourage you to take the remainder of the year to reflect on your systems. Find those areas that you want to button up before the end of the year and perhaps some of those projects that can wait.
What do you think? Do you think taking a Sabbatical year is a good idea as a homesteader?
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