We’re accidental homesteaders – we didn’t choose it, it feels as if it chose us. I use the word accidental because it’s not like you start out growing 80% of your own food, it’s a vortex. You start by getting a few chickens, growing a few plants and a bunch of mistakes. You learn from those mistakes, you grow from those mistakes you take those mistakes and make them successes.
Big successes.
Those turn into massive gardens including growing herbs for medicine. You start breeding those pigs to minimize cost, to ensure they are raised the way you want from the beginning. Those chicken eggs turn into more chickens. You build chicken tractors so you can raise your own meat chickens out on pasture.
You look at everything and see how it’s full circle, how your role is vital to humanity. You feel the weather and know change is coming. You invite others into your home to learn from your mistakes and successes. You offer encouragement to your community that their role is vital to humanity as well.
It can all be overwhelming, there’s many reports, blogs, news articles and videos that scare the crap out of you. You learn how our food is produced, the horrendous treatment of animals, the chemicals that are in everything.
But you can’t turn back.
Even though it’s overwhelming and suffocating you can’t turn back. You melt down, you cry, you throw around a lot of swear words, but you can’t turn back.
It’s not an option you must keep moving forward, making small changes that lead to huge impacts.
We ALL have a choice – YOU get to choose. Right NOW. What do you choose? Do you choose to fuel your body with processed, fake, chemical filled food or do you choose to fill your body with whole nutrient dense delicious food that actually fuels you?
Right now CHOOSE- Take out the document and write down in the arrows Garbage or Good.
The beauty of our God given world is that YOU get to choose. I’m here today to give guidance and hope in choosing the GOOD.
If you choose GOOD, then keep reading.
Write down the words that are moving you right now, the people that are filling your mind right now. Is it just you? That’s enough. Remember we impact everyone around us -friends, family, co workers, people at the store or your mail person. Everyone makes an impact.
You’ll need to refer back to the page that you just filled out for your own encouragement. I’ll be doing the same right along with you.
With my husband Justin and our 3 children, we raise most of our own food, all organically on our property. We raise chicken and pigs and we have lots of gardening spaces. We didn’t’ start out at the magnitude we are at now, so don’t judge yourself against us.
We started by using my in laws garden space to help garden along side them. We moved into my husband’s grandpa’s house and used his garden and canned peaches from that tree. We moved again and we used their very small spot for gardening, tilled up another space, tilled up yet another space. Bought some egg layers, meat birds, ducks and turkeys that year. I started all my own plants for the garden.
We started showing our kids that the land was important, to be thankful for the animals and the ability to raise our food the way we wanted. No chemicals, no sprays.
We moved again to where we are now which we finally feel settled in this spot. We’ll leave that up to God. We used their existing garden spaces, tilled up more, tilled up even more, tilled up more… you get the point. We fenced things in. We planted a lot of trees and continue to do so. Apple, paw paws, peaches, elderberry and more. Not all a successes but you have to try. We fenced over 2 acres to start raising pigs. We became accidental pig farmers when one came pregnant to us. It inspired us to breed pigs on purpose, which ended up getting out of control but it’s been a learning experience and fun. We built chicken tractors for the meat birds which we move around in the pasture several times a day. This in turns fertilizes the field for the next batch of chickens and the cycle goes on.
That’s what we’ve learned, the cycle goes on and we have a huge impact on how we can cultivate and work with it.
I’ve learned herbalism and grow a lot here in my herbal garden which is one of my favorite things.
We continue to learn, to implement, to fail, to get back up again and do it every single day.
We need to reprioritize our lives and focus on what God wants us to do. Not our society, our society has led us all astray. It’s time to get rid of all the noise, the busy stuff and all the extra.
We need to get back to our roots, we need to do better. Our choices we make today effects our children and beyond.
It’s about creating a legacy of Food & Health, not wealth and stuff.
We have a chance right now to change the trajectory of not only our lives, but all of those around us.
What I’m speaking about today is not out of fear, I am NOT fearful. I believe God gives us everything we need. And in that he has given me the skills of discernment and the skills to take care of my families needs. Do not act out in fear but in necessity.
While it may be easier to choose that garbage side especially because our society has made it so darn easy to pick up fast food, warm something up in the microwave, open a box or a can and call it “food” – it’s not the way it was intended to be.
I’m completely sympathetic and understanding that at times it’s ok to use those conveniences to make life easier but for the majority of the time the path towards GOOD should always be taken.
I’ve lived by an 80/20 rule for a long time. 80% of the time you choose good while allowing that other 20% for the times you can not control or it’s just to hard. For the last several year’s it’s been about 90% because we just keep going on a trajectory that allows our choice to be easier at times.
While on the GOOD path it’ll be a struggle, a real pain in the butt and you may think about giving up. But don’t, in the end it’ll end up being the easier one with less health issues, dr bills and cooking from scratch will help you end up feeling better and saving time and bettering your health.
You’ll be creating that Legacy of Food & Health.
