Introduction to Futuresteading - Spring

What does life look like if we slow down, connect to people & place, become home based, redefine success & reframe enough?

Simply put, Futuresteading is living like tomorrow matters. The term riffs on ‘homesteading’ and has roots in permaculture. Actions are localised, simplified, slow and food-oriented - but most of all cultural. How can we supplant our current, hurtling-towards-destruction culture with a new one that values tomorrow? Futuresteading starts with gently guiding our thoughts and actions towards a sense of permanence. Reimagining our routines and rituals so that they give back, not take from, the planet. Making decisions that contribute to a steady, vibrant, vital and joyful tomorrow.

It asks: What tiny, significant thing can be done to make positive change right now? Then celebrates the act of having a go.

Futuresteading honours contradiction. It acknowledges that living with integrity involves accepting the straight up hypocrisy of everyday life. That thinking deeply about tomorrow means being okay to live in today. That pursuing an earnest and noble existence works best with a big old belly laugh and encouraging the sum of the parts to bring a magnitude of change. Futuresteading is a mindset powered by real people and local places, not corporations or government. It defines success as a healthy family, great relationships, an elegantly frugal household, a tight-knit community, acts of kindness, creative fulfilment, integrity, ritual, connection to the natural world and simply being human. In celebrating everything money can’t buy, suddenly success is within everyone's reach.

Futuresteading is not a prescription but an invitation to honour the future in ways that work for you. Far from insignificant, your actions and intentions add to and energise the change that’s happening right now within our communities and beneath our feet. Can you feel it? We can all do it, we can start right now and it doesn’t cost a cent.

This 3 hour workshop will begin with a brief overview of our transition and highlight some of the best parts and most challenging parts of living this way.

You will be taken on a tour to look at functioning examples of saved seed collections, a hoop house, a humane chicken culling setup, a worm farm, rotating chicken pens, wicking beds, our kitchen garden & kitchen/pantry setup.

Then we will showcase a range of simple activities for you to try at home with the things you'll need to get started + take home print outs to guide you.

We will share a home made morning or afternoon tea midway through which is a great time to take cuttings from our garden and take a stroll around Black Barn Farm at your own pace.