CLAY COUNTY – Practicing homesteading isn’t a linear or easy process. 

But, expert Tina Sirman believes everyone should at least try it. 

Working as a realtor for CB Isaac Realty, Sirman specializes in helping people locate properties where they can fully live out their homesteading dreams.

Defined as promoting a life filled with self-sufficiency, homesteading means living on isolated acres of land, harvesting crops, and raising your own animals— the ultimate farm life fantasy.

As someone who has been practicing homesteading culture for years, Sirman said it has been the best change in life she could’ve ever asked for. 

“It is so rewarding,” Sirman said. “I wouldn’t trade it. I wouldn’t go back.”

She and her husband live on about an acre of land in Melrose. In their spare time, Sirman said they tend to their chickens and Nigerian dwarf goats, grow their food and maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle. 

When her husband was diagnosed with end-stage liver disease. Sirman said that, at that point, they both had completely chosen to alter their way of life. 

Strictly adhering to a Mediterranean diet, Sirman and her husband omitted all preservatives and ate nothing prepackaged, depending mainly on homesteading culture. 

Sirman said this change was familiar because it resembled how she grew up in her rural community.

Sirman, a fourth-generation Floridian, said she was raised in a broken home, and she and her family eventually had to move in with her grandmother. With money tight, Sirman said they made the best with what they could afford. 

She attests all her skills to her grandmother, who never cooked anything from a box. From tomato gravy and sausage gravy to black-eyed peas, cornbread and collard greens, Sirman said her family ate Southern delicacies all from scratch. 

“Whatever was available at U-pick fields and on sale at the grocery store,” Sirman said. “So, I learned very early on to use the handy ingredients that were in season. And how can I take that raw material and turn it into something tasty?” 

Homesteading was nothing new to Sirman or her husband, as his family had a long history of farming. But it was just about making the lifestyle work for them both. 

And it did. A year after the big change in their life, Sirman said her husband began showing significant improvements.

“His liver showed signs of regeneration, and his liver panels all came back within normal limits,” Sirman said. “And, I credit a large portion of that to our lifestyle changes.” 

Being a homesteader isn’t for everybody, but Sirman said she has some tips and tricks for those who want to try it. 

First, she said it's important to understand what you're getting yourself into truly.

“Watch a lot of videos, and be honest with yourself,” Sirman said. “This lifestyle is not for everyone.”

For those with younger children, she urges them to figure out educational aspects first and foremost. Being a homesteader requires a lot of time isolated from a fast-paced life, so homeschooling may be ideal.

“Are you close enough to a school?” Sirman said. “Are you close enough to a good school? Would you have to homeschool?”

Large acres of land and a certain amount of grazing animals are also a huge part of this particular lifestyle. She said it's important to have arrangements for someone who can potentially do the heavy lifting it sometimes requires. 

Next, Sirman said to thoroughly research affordable properties that suit you best. It can be large or small; there are no limits to what you can do. But, she said to be aware that the animals you decide to keep will also depend on your property choice.

Be weary that some Florida properties, although large, may need to be a better fit. Sometimes, it may be swamp land or not zoned for agricultural use, making it unbuildable. She said also to pay attention to the landscape and water quality. 

“Looking at land, there’s a lot of different variables that you want to take into account,” Sirman said. 

Sirman said it has been great getting back to the basics, and she wishes others would be educated on the importance of homesteading and fresh food. 

And to, hopefully, experience the same. 

“It has just made a tremendous difference in our overall health [and] how we feel,” Sirman said. “Our ability to be self-sustaining.”