ESCONDIDO, CA (KGTV) — As we continue to live life in these pandemic times, people are eating most of their meals at home. And as the trend continues, Hawthorne Country Store in Escondido has seen a resurgence in homesteading.
"Homesteading is a little bit like the original McGuyvering," says managing partner Heather Thelen.
She says it's a lifestyle about being self-sufficient when it comes to food and agriculture.
"Anything from gardening, food collection, hunting, preserving cheese, and using animals for food or for other uses," Thelen said.
And because of the current pandemic, everything from chickens to pickling has become very common and popular.
"To think that this is something we've been reminded about with COVID. When our supply chains got interrupted, and there wasn't availability of some of the things like meats or products, we just couldn't get because we couldn't go out," says Thelen.
And at Hawthorne Country Store, they are offering and education is homesteading. And how in 2020, living off the land, can be quite simple and fun.
"We're doing a few classes online, as well as YouTube videos to help people," Thelen said. "We want people to have access to local help, because the videos and the television shows that are out there, are in the Midwest. Even though that is fantastic information, it might not be the right information for Southern California."
Thelen says it's a good reminder that if you can't buy it, make it.
"People are re-remembering that there were ways to do it, other than wrapped in plastic from a grocery store," she added.
