Farm vs Homestead

🌾 What’s the Difference Between a Farm and a Homestead?

Posted on: July 7, 2025
Author: Niki at Twisted Willow Acres

It’s a question I get a lot — especially from those who are new to small-scale or sustainable living:

“So... are you a farm, or a homestead?”
And the honest answer is: a little bit of both.

While the terms often overlap, there is a meaningful difference — and understanding it can help explain not just what we do here at Twisted Willow Acres, but why we do it the way we do.

🧑‍🌾 What Is a Farm?

At its most basic, a farm is a place where food is grown or animals are raised with the goal of selling them for profit. Farms can range from huge industrial operations to small market gardens. The key idea is production — growing for the sake of feeding others and generating income.

You’ll often find:

• Fields full of one or two main crops (monoculture)
  
  

• A focus on efficiency and scale
  
  

• Equipment and methods designed to maximize yield
  
  

Farming is important — but it’s often more of a business first.

🏡 What Is a Homestead?

A homestead, on the other hand, is more about self-sufficiency and sustainability. While many homesteaders (like us!) do sell their products, the core of homesteading is growing, raising, and creating as much as possible for your own family — and doing it in a way that aligns with your values.

Homesteads usually:

• Grow diverse, seasonal crops
  
  

• Raise animals for eggs, meat, or milk
  
  

• Cook from scratch, preserve food, and make homemade goods
  
  

• Use natural methods (like composting, no-spray gardening, pasture rotation)
  
  

• Prioritize lifestyle and land stewardship over profit
  
  

It’s a slower pace, and often more hands-on — but deeply rewarding.

🌱 Where We Fit

At Twisted Willow Acres, we consider ourselves a homestead first — but one that’s growing into a small working farm.

We raise food and animals for our family. But we also love sharing the surplus with our community: fresh produce, eggs, pastured meats, and home baked goodies. 

So whether you call us a homestead, a hobby farm, or something in between — we’re happy to just be growing things with purpose and care.

Thanks for following along 💛