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Today I wanted to muse about what I would consider the perfect homestead in regard to what could be grown, raised, and eventually preserved or butchered and eaten.
This is a complicated topic but one I find useful to discuss as it gets us thinking about what might be important to incorporate into an existing or future homestead as in my case.
For me, a homestead is a place that creates much-needed peace and security as well as enjoyable spaces to relax and be in nature. A place that can produce life-giving foods that meet my standards of quality and are free from toxic chemicals, additives, and preservatives. It's a place where culinary arts meet home economics and the two pursuits thrive together.
Determining what I want my family to eat starts the whole process that eventually determines where the property might be and what features such as south-facing land, soil quality, rainfall, length of the growing season, available water, and ability to raise certain animals (no HOA) and certain crops. As I said earlier, this is a complicated topic that could take years to plan and then years to make work efficiently. The likelihood of planning for everything is not realistic but trying hard to get as many things right is the goal.
WHY MOVE TO A HOMESTEAD WHEN WE HAVE SUCH A GREAT LIFE NOW? So why do I think it's time to move back to a homestead and how am I more prepared than the first time we lived on a farm. Let's face it, the world is messed up, our country faces some serious issues on so many fronts it is amazing.
But let's just say this, we have fellow citizens sitting in prison with no representation in terrible conditions for years now because of basically trespassing and some minor property damage. People like to forget this fact and pretend everything is ok, folks it's not. America at this point is nearly over, we have a criminal gang and permanent state that runs everything and they are very, very corrupt and dangerous. Our basic constitutional rights are being erased and both parties don't give a crap.
We're up to our ears in debt globally and the bill is coming due, inflation is rampant, and food security is nearly non-existent. I could go on and on….but suffice it to say..if possible we all need to get back to the land the end is near IMO.
ON MY DREAM HOMESTEAD, WHAT COULD I PRODUCE? Let's talk about these items first; fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, eggs, honey, etc.
At this point, I imagine this homestead is back east, likely the southeast as I find many of the right mixes of attributes available in that area. State government must be considered too as food freedom and local food movements are key to consider. Some states are easier to operate in if income from the sale of food products is in the equation.
On my homestead I'd like to plant trees; apple, apricot, pear, peach, hazelnut, walnut, mulberry, cherry, and fig. I'd also enjoy growing different varieties of grapes too. This would save me $10,000 a month as my kids eat grapes like there's no tomorrow!
Other fruits would include raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries…but strawberries would be last on the list as perennial fruits are first and foremost.
Vegetables would include potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cabbage, onion, garlic, and all sorts of squashes with a focus on storable winter squashes.
I would grow plenty of herbs and aromatics too including basil, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme, dill, oregano, lemongrass, and ginger for use in all sorts of dishes.
For protein we think chickens and ducks would certainly be on the homestead, the decision to raise ruminants like hair sheep, Dexter or highland cattle and even Jersey cows would be dependant on whether sufficient pasture would be present or leased nearby.
A Jersey cow would open up a lot of possibilities to make all sorts of items including yogurt, creme fraiche, cheese, butter, raw milk, and basic cheese such as ricotta, mozzarella, etc. but at this point in our lives, we're not sure if buying dairy locally might be a better choice than committing to twice daily milking when we really don't know if our kids intend on staying on the homestead or opting for city life, time will tell.
Part of my efforts would include producing many "value-added" products that I could store, trade, give away and sell either on the farm or at local markets for income. Items such as creme fraiche, sourdough bread, fermented peppers and pickles, sauces, eggs, cheese, meat, etc.
GROWING FOOD AND RAISING ANIMALS TAKES PRACTICE AND LEARNING When I was on our NC farm in 2003 I did not know jack! I literally planted vegetables into hard red clay with some pelletized fertilizer and thought I would get a harvest. I had too many horses out on the pasture until they destroyed it and created mud puddles. I also planted berry bushes into the grass and added amendments to the holes, not on top. I just did not know what I know today, I purposely avoided learning about Permaculture. Just did not want to hear it, seemed too complicated in my mind, plus it looks messy, not neat weed-free rows like we see in gardening magazines.
After spending hundreds of hours studying and following the examples of great permaculture and homesteading leaders I have become much more ready to execute on a homestead. Little things like mulching plants with grass clippings, for example, have taught me to be smarter. In warmer months our lawn service comes to mow each Wednesday, they cut the grass and haul off the clippings, last year I started leaving buckets for them and they would fill them with grass that I would in turn places around all my herbs, peppers, tomatoes, etc. I had much better harvests and much healthier plants.
I even started taking potted plants such as chives and lemongrass indoors and leaving them in a sunny window. I just cut them way back, watered them, and let them establish themselves. This spring I have an abundant amount of herbs already growing so I don't need to start from seed or buy pants.
BLENDING LIFE'S OTHER DESIRES WITH HOMESTEADING I think at this point in life both my wife and I know that staying physically active is paramount to our lifestyle choices and cycling is the number one consideration. We enjoy mountain biking, gravel riding, and some road riding, although I don't enjoy road riding too much. To this end, we will plan to find our homestead in a place where great cycling is available very, very nearby, like right out the door hopefully. Since my wife and I love climbing hills, flat locales like Florida are not on the list.
So, that sums up my current thoughts on this subject, yes, I know 100% I want to move back to a homestead, probably further out of town this time. Our last farm was 5 miles from town, I am interested in being like 15 miles from town this go around.
We have some kids in school and they enjoy their school so we don't plan to move them until the middle daughter graduates which is next May 2025. However, we are actively looking for homesteads now and if the right one comes along I would move alone to get things started. I ask for your prayers as this is a major move and a major life change.
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