We were at a friend’s house a few weeks ago.  They have the most beautiful and peaceful farm with a lovely garden, a beautiful barn and the peaceful sounds of chickens and goats.  I made the comment to my husband that I wanted our farm to be like that with the animals and the big garden, and he told me it had taken our friends 10+ years to get to this point.  Ten years ago, if you had told me that in 2018 I would be living on a 25 acre farm, I would have thought you were crazy!  I always thought I was more of a city girl, until I met my husband! He was the one with the dream of owning land and slowly, but surely, that became contagious.  Now we have a farm and are loving small town life!

Not only has the idea of land become appealing now, but the idea of farming has too.  I think it started with my love for holistic health and wellness both with essential oils and learning to heal my body with real foods.  It’s really kind of a funny thought that I want to become a “homesteader.”  Here is why it is funny……I have zero ability to keep a plant alive, I fought adding animals to our clan like crazy for years, I truly know very little about any of it, except it’s a lot of work, and it means going outside in the winter, which is the worst thing I can think of.  But I want it, even though I could not be more dumb when it comes to any of it.   I want the animals, the garden and the bee hives.  I want the more natural living, the food that came from my hard work and the ability to see the fruits of my labor.  I  love what farming can do to bring our family together, it can kind of become a family business.

So after wanting what our friends have, that is the fruit of many many years of work, I realized that I needed to start small and learn one thing at a time.  We have had chickens for several years and for anyone starting to homestead, they are an excellent first farm animal choice!  They are extremely easy!  We have them in a coop because they tear up our flower beds, but if you don’t have a coop or flower beds, they can free range very easily.  They do need a place to go at night to keep them away from predators, food and water and they are happy!  They also produce the BEST eggs!  There is such a difference between store bought eggs and fresh!

The second thing I did this year was plant a very small,garden.  I only planted 2 plants.  Do you remember I have no green thumb?  My husband didn’t want to plow up a large spot when we had no idea if I could even keep a garden alive.  So, I found a small spot and planted a summer squash and a cucumber plant.  And they grew and produced!!  Yay!  So next year I get a bigger garden! Here’s the funny thing, no one in my family eats cucumbers!  So I found an amazing recipe for refrigerator pickles.  You can find it here:  http://www.certifiedpastryaficionado.com/easy-homemade-refrigerator-pickles/  

Now that I have those two things under my belt, my goals are to learn a little more about what we already have.  We have concord grape vines that I need to learn how to take care of because I would love to can some yummy jelly!  We also have fruit trees!  The next thing I would like are bees and some kind of farm animal.  We have been told sheep or goats are a good choice but I really want donkeys! I’m ready to jump in 100% but that takes a lot of time and money, so taking it step by step, skill by skill is a much better plan.

I hope this encourages you.  If you have dreams of doing something, but don’t think you have the skills or ability, do your research and start small.  It’s really possible!  God gives us each desires and gifts, but he doesn’t ever give us the full ability to use them without practice, learning and hard work! If I can keep a garden alive, you can do something great too!