On a more general level, homesteading is a way of enlarging one's ecological awareness as it facilitates the integration of human beings into their natural environment. The Homestead is a 38-acre diversified farm located just outside the city of Bangor in Southwest Michigan. Field crops such as oats, corn, wheat, rye, and soybeans are grown and fed to cattle, pigs and poultry which are then sold for cash or butchered for home consumption. Hayland and pasture also provide forage for the livestock. A large garden provides fresh produce for the farm residents as well as farm income through market sales.
Students also gain an understanding of cooperative living.
They live and eat together in the same house and also share the work and responsibilities of the farm. Emphasis is placed on efficient use and recycling of materials, working with nature rather than against it, and finding satisfaction in frugality rather than consumption. In general participants become familiar with the realities of rural self-sufficiency. The day starts early with the chore people milking, feeding, and watering the livestock while the kitchen crew prepares breakfast. The routine jobs, cooking, cleaning, chores, and garden management, are alternated throughout the week on a rotating schedule.