Why We Chose the Homestead Life
I wasn’t born on a farm or even in a rural area. I grew up in New York City and lived there until I went away for college. As a kid I never said I wanted to be a farmer when I grew up. In fact, I always thought I would still live in New York and be a dancer. I spent the majority of my childhood and teenage years at the dance studio and even auditioned for college dance programs. This was always my dream. But my body couldn’t do it. I injured my right knee, and it was never really right again. I switched majors in college and started considering other options.
Even then farming was not even a thought. I was considering teaching, administration, non-profit work. But in college a seed was planted in my head. In order to keep my scholarship, I needed to do volunteer hours. Freshman year I was in the college outreach center going through the list of options and I saw Sprout Creek Farm. They were a farm run by two nuns who focused on education. They needed volunteers for grunt work and milking. I always loved animals and thought this would be fun.
I worked on that farm once a week for four years. Every Wednesday I would load into a minivan with other college students, and we would drive for an hour and work. It was HARD but I loved it. We were stacking hay, fixing fences, cleaning pens, labeling cheese, and much more. We always stayed for milking time and got to work with the cows and goats. The group of us didn’t realize how bad we smelled until we got back to the dorm buildings. I became close with the people who ran the farm and they taught me things about the farm and let me do more and more. Even then I didn’t think that was a career path for me. I graduated from college and got a job with an energy company.
Then I had my first baby. I saw this little baby that needed me for everything and relied on me to make all his decisions for his health and safety. One night during a marathon nursing session I watched the documentary “Food Inc.” I saw how animals were treated in mass factory farms and the junk that went into our food supply. I didn’t want that for my kids. We started a little garden in our small city yard and started shopping at farmers markets. I began making baby food from scratch from vegetables we grew but it wasn’t enough. Anyone that knows me knows I don’t do anything halfway. My husband and I decided we wanted different for our family and went all in. To my family’s dismay we put our house up for sale and we moved out of the city and found land. We were going to do it!
We started small with chickens and a garden, but they are the gateway drug to more. We realized we can supply most of our family’s food and continue to grow. I never had any formal training in running a farm or homestead except for the once a week volunteering, I did in college but that wasn’t going to stop me. The first time I butchered a chicken and put that chicken on the table for dinner was life changing. It was such an accomplishment that I provided for my family. There were a lot of ups and downs over the years. A lot of hard knock types of lessons but I kept chugging along. Now it’s been years since I have had to buy any meat from a store. Gardening is still a challenge, but I learn more and more each year. Food that we grow has been canned and preserved. That baby that changed everything is turning 14 and he can also process a chicken and cook it for dinner.
Now I want to help people who are starting out and save them from making some of the mistakes I did. I turned our homestead into an agritourism business teaching both adults and children valuable lessons on being self-sufficient. It’s funny how life changes in ways that you could never imagine. If I would to meet my 17-year-old self that thought that anything besides dancing was out of the question, I know she would never believe the life I am living now. I am happy though. I live a life providing for my family healthy food and nourishment for the soul. Homesteading is more than just growing food. It is a life of fulfillment and joy in the simple things.