Ya’ll I have a confession to make.
I get fresh eggs daily. I get fresh milk from Spring until Winter, and could get it longer if I wanted to milk in the snow (which I do not), and I get enough milk that I don’t need to milk in the snow. I can afford to be picky.
I get to play with minute old baby goats, and cuddle baby chicks. I get fresh produce from my garden. We eat almost exclusively from our farm the entire summer season. I get meat animals from neighbouring farms, support my local farmers’ market, get to know the people who grow/produce the food that we don’t or can’t on our farm. We eat local. We eat mainly organic. We order foods in bulk. We run a tight budget and yet are still able to grow our homestead.
I’m not telling you all this to boast. I’m telling you this to prove my next point.
I take it all for granted. For granted!
Back when this homestead was just a dream in my mind I couldn’t wait to get here. I am a very impatient person. I want something and I want it now. Thank the Lord that He planted me on a patch of dirt that is able to uphold the majority of my desires. But not everyone is that lucky.
I was reminded today by a friend, and fellow high school survivor how lucky I am.
Ya’ll she homesteads in an apartment. She dreams of a small patch of land where she can have a full sized garden, a few chickens, and a couple goats.
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There was once a time when that was my dream. Praise Jesus I didn’t live in an apartment. Praise the Lord that I lived in an old farm house on a 3 acre lot with a barn. I planned our soon to be life around our living circumstances. And then before it all was to take place the Lord moved us. He moved us to our little cottage in the woods. He moved us to a small community that is no longer a farming town, but the long retired farmers who still live here are overjoyed to see us stepping back up to the old ways. He moved us to rocky land perfect for goats. He moved us to be surrounded and truly loved on by a community that will lift us up. He moved us to a place where we could put down roots, plant gardens, raise chickens and goats, and build a small farm.
This life is my dream. This farm is my love, sweat and tears. I pour every fibre of my being into this farm. I work 2 jobs to support it. I write this blog to share the joys of it and to inspire others to do it wherever they are. Even if that’s in an apartment.
So to all of you who are literally homesteading wherever you are, in an apartment or on 100 or more acres. Keep going ya’ll. Living on a farm does not make you a homesteader. Your attitude and your dream make you a homesteader. It doesn’t matter if you are tending to a milk cow, 50 meat chickens, and a herd of sheep, or if you’re nurturing lettuce and spinach in a pot on a sunny windowsill. You are a homesteader. If you sew your own clothes, make your own almond milk, or just make your own cleaning supplies – you are a homesteader. If you’re milking a family cow and cleaning out chicken coops before going to work in the morning – you are a homesteader. If you want to know the farmer that grows you food and you go out to visit your future bacon often – you are a homesteader. And if you reuse and repurpose everything you can – you are a homesteader. If you would rather save your money for that farm someday instead of driving a fancy new car – you are homesteader. We work hard, we fix things when they’re broken instead of throwing them away and buying another one. We eat well, we save our money, and well, we’re a touch crazy. But that’s what it is to be a homesteader. And don’t let anyone make you think you’re anything less.
And don’t take it for granted. Don’t be like me. Don’t get so focused on the next step and end up forgetting where you came from. So often us homesteaders work towards the dream – the ultimate dream. We want to raise all our own food, or not have to work, or be out of debt. If we can just live on a farm, or live on a piece of land that is big enough to support the ultimate dream then, then we’ll be happy. This is not the way to be. Be content wherever you are with what you have.
You have what someone else only dreams about. Live it. Love it.
And amen.
