Homestead & Homeschool

Heart & Soul is the name I have chosen for our "homestead" and our homeschool. I choose Heart & Soul because I am putting my heart and soul into our operations, constantly striving to learn more and improve. Tending to my family, schooling my children and keeping home are my main jobs in life and I want them done well!

This site is focused on the things our family is currently doing, has done, or is researching. I don't have the know how, experience, or time to put together an "all purpose" homesteading informational site, and without the experience I don't feel qualified to do so! So this is just a compilation of the things we do (that I think just about anyone can do some or all of!), and a compilation of useful websites, articles, and information on topics I'd like to explore in "real life" in the future. It seems nearly every day I do something and realize I should include an article about it on here, so this website is no where near complete and I doubt it ever will be.

Our family currently lives in a small apartment complex in the country. We live with 5 other families, two families per duplex unit and a decent chunk of land. We have farmers fields directly behind us and right across the street, and fields all over up and down the road. Our situation is pretty unique because we can live here like we own a home in many ways. However due to the nature of our apartment living we do have some restrictions - and we've had to find some creative ways to do some of the things we like to do!

Homesteading is certainly possible no matter where you live or what your situation is. To some, homesteading is a hard-core, off grid lifestyle. To others, homesteading has many other meanings and levels of 'seriousness.' Homesteading is a way of life and a thought process with the end goal of working with the environment, making use of what you have so you don't need to rely on anyone else for your survival, and saving money. Work with what you have, and with what our Wonderful Lord blesses you with. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to make things on your own, and provide for your own family.

You have to think of the big picture - with the way our economy is and how bad its going to get, what will you do to survive? Lets bring back the old fashioned skills that have been lost in our world of convenience. Convenience will only last for so long!

My suggestion for beginners is simply: start slow. There is a LOT of information contained here that can easily be used by nearly any family. When I first began down this path I realized how much of my life could be made simpler, cost less, and be more self sufficient. This lead to feelings of being overwhelmed!

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The Kostyu Family Cookbook will be a new addition soon, I'll be sharing my master cookbook, our healthy and tasty homemade dishes, my favorite how-to's on creating typical recipe ingredients, charts and diagrams, lists and helpful hints. Sign up for the newsletter to learn when this will be online!

What does it mean to homestead and be self reliant? What do you do that helps you with self sufficiency? Let me know, maybe I'll give it a try. I'll also start a running list here of things that we CAN do ourselves.

The topics below that aren't linked, will be as I put content up. They are other areas I am researching or writing about and are already in the works but not quite ready just yet!