What is Homesteading?

As a young girl, I dreamed of being a mom, raising children and being available to take care of the familial needs that came up. Life does not always work out the way you plan. Most of the time, you find yourself pivoting. While, I can hear many women groan at my desire to stay home and do the “primitive” thing, what I would say is that we are all made differently, have different goals and aspirations and that’s ok. For me, I am most content when I am engaging in acts of service. I would love the time to clean the house like it deserves, cook wholesome meals for my family and tend to the garden daily. That is not my reality. I am guessing, it’s not yours either. You probably read this title and are diving into this topic more deeply. Currently, homesteading and caring for my family full-time is not my reality. Yet, I cannot break away from that dream of being more present for my family. This year, I hit 50 years of age and I have my two youngest still at home. Matt is a sophomore this year and Bethany is a freshman. Yet, I still have that desire to serve my family and be more present. Is it ever too late to pursue this type of lifestyle and dream? I am living proof that it’s never too late.

So the next question you might be asking yourself is why I push so hard when I have two children who are about to enter adulthood? The truth is that seventeen years ago Matthew was born. He was born with missing bones in his right leg and foot and eventually we would learn that he was also on the “spectrum”. I am not one for labels because to me that doesn’t mean a whole lot. Matthew is Matthew. He enjoys music, funny videos and his dog. He works hard in school and at home. So when I start to think about homesteading and building a business off of that dream, I am thinking about passing on those traditions, skills and hopefully a business that will benefit our children (especially Matthew who has found his way in this life-style). Matthew goes in and out of coops, picks up birds and works with me to trim beaks, move birds or whatever else needs to be done. He helps clean coops and water animals. He helps me pull weeds in the garden. Bethany helps me make bread, cut up fresh veggies and do the dishes. We all work together and push through the many tasks that go along with the dream around this lifestyle. So what is homesteading?

When I think of homesteading, I think about the early pioneers and self-sufficiency. I think about using everything that you can source from the land and also giving back to the land. I think of being tied to your family and priorities looking much differently than they do in the conventional United States. I daydream about walking out to the coop and bringing in eggs to cook up fresh for the family in the mornings and nightly meals around the table where we talk about our day. Instead, I am tied to a job as a school teacher and my husband a job as a computer-engineer. Many days, my days start at 5am and then I am rolling into the driveway at 7:00 at night because of coaching duties, after-school appointments, grocery shopping etc. Yes, I still use the conventional grocery store, but it is my desire to break away from that reality or at the very minimum source much more food from my farm than the store or even better yet, work with other local growers. This year in particularly, I have really paused and asked myself what my true priorities are and what is most important. Every year of working brings me a little closer to our goal of paying off debt and being free from the conventional systems. Every year that I push and every minute of sleeplessness is for the outcome I have dreamed of since childhood. So how do we homestead and can we really call ourselves homesteaders?

Last year, was the first time we tried to sell our products at the Farmer’s market. We met so many kind people who supported us by buying our products, providing encouraging words and spreading the “word” about our small business. We even had other small businesses supporting ours. In turn, we have also worked hard to source what we can from local businesses. We started by cutting bramble and making some beautiful thorny looking Easter wreaths and taking products that didn’t sell and dehydrating it to make garlic scape powder, which was a huge hit! We also made jalapeno salts, serrano salts, chili powder, etc. When customers didn’t know what to do with the peppers, we showed them new ways to use them. When we have kitchen scraps, we feed them to the ducks and chickens. When we have things that can’t be given to the chicken and ducks, we compost the items. Then, each year we clean the layered bedding out of the chicken coop and that becomes composted. The liquid duck poop in the pools is recycled and used in the garden. There is an ebb and flow between taking from the land and returning to the land. We have worked to make our own homemade breads to use, make most things from scratch, so we know what is going into our foods and just taking one-step at a time to meet our goals and dreams of becoming full-time homesteaders. We are feeling so blessed that you have decided to embark on that journey with us by either creating your own homestead or supporting ours!

The Giants Go Tumbling

I raise chickens and ducks. I go to great lengths to ensure their well-being and comfort. It is important to me that my flocks are able to free-range for grubs and bugs, that they get rich organic scraps and that each bird that resides on our farm has a quality of life. That is why we’ve purchased fencing to create paddocks. I respect the fact that they are living creatures and I am happy to share my space with them. I know that is not the reality for all birds. It’s an individual choice, this is my individual choice. I am always looking for natural ways to help them. I quickly learned that hemp bedding is more absorbent than conventional bedding, has natural repellents in it that fight against chicken mites and lice and provides a ton of comfort as it is very soft bedding. As a small local business, it’s important to me to support other small local businesses. I was more than excited to find a small relatively local company to purchase hemp bedding from, Tiger Fiber. We purchased a pallet of hemp bedding and are hoping it will get us through this year. We look to do business with this small business owner in the future.

How does supporting small business help us all? When you support small local businesses there are a ton of benefits for both the small business owners and the community. In an ideal world, the community would work together to provide for the needs of the community. We are a small local grower. Ideally, we would work with other small local growers and bring a huge variety of fresh heirloom fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy and meat products to our local communities. We would not be competing with other growers but instead view other growers as a source to support the community right along with our initiative. It is no secret that shopping within your communities keeps money circulating within those communities. When you buy food that is grown in your community, you also choose a greener option. This means that food is not shipped in and is therefore a “greener” choice. Finally, by buying from small growers, you get to know the grower and the practices of the grower. You know exactly where your food comes from.

THE SCIENTIFIC JARGON:

Dan Flynn from Food Safety News states the following:

"Not every shipment of fruits and vegetables get a pesticide bath at the border. The IG said if no issues are detected, imported fruits and vegetables are released. If pests or disease are found in a shipment — organic or otherwise — it’s sent to quarantine. Those shipments often get pesticide showers before they are released.”

While many articles will tell you that your organic foods are not fumigated, that is not entirely true. In additions, many companies may tout that they don’t spray their products or pump hormones into their animals but the truth is that even if that is true, that does not account for genetically modified organisms (seed, feed, etc).

The National Sanitation Foundation had this to say about genetically modified foods:

“Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are created by deliberately changing the genetic makeup of a plant or animal in ways that could never occur naturally. The majority of GMO crops currently on the market have been genetically engineered to produce their own pesticides and/or withstand herbicides that normally would kill them. Farmers use the herbicides to control weeds. Non-GMO certified products have been verified to have been grown and processed without genetic modification.”

When you buy from your local growers, you know what their practices are, you know their foods are fresh (and therefore hold more nutrient value), you are supporting your community, you are supporting good practices and as a consumer, you are often able to find unique varieties of produce.

FIGHTING THE GIANTS:

Finally, when you buy local, you are fighting big corporations. The small business owner has to fight the big corporations everyday. Small businesses have to pay for permits, licenses, materials with a lot less expendable income. The giant corporations can buy mass quantities of items and push them out at a fraction of the price. But the hard reality is that buying from the giants comes with a cost. How were the items sourced, where were they sourced, how were they regulated and how will the corporations money be used to benefit you and your community? Does the big giant corporation consider you as an individual consumer or are you just a “number” to them? When we really reflect upon these questions, the answers to that reality are less than settling. I hear you. I too support the giants way too often out of time and money constraints. The reality is by my decision, I continue that cycle because the giants will not tumble until I start to make some hard decisions. Homesteading and supporting local businesses is part of that mission. The more we support our local communities, the stronger we become, the more we open up options, the more say we have in the decisions made around the products we purchase and the louder our voices become! Embark on a journey with me to support other local businesses. No small local business is a threat to mine even when they sell the same items I do because the consumers are people in my community. When my community wins, so do 1! When consumers support local options, the “Giants Go Tumbling Down!”

Other Local Businesses I Support and Have Supported Me Are (and looking forward to adding to that list):

• Ametrine Apothecary in Davenport, IA

• Andrew Dutton in Milan, IL

• BP Honey in Le Claire, IA

• Hilltop Mini Buildings in Viola, IL

• Kneaded Kindness in Le Claire, IA

• MVGA Farmer’s Market (All of the vendors)

• Ravin Raven in Muscatine, IA

• Rescued in Silvis, IL

• Sam Benson in Le Claire, IA

• Tiger Fiber in Clayton, MO

• Twisted Crown in Davenport, IA

Flynn, Dan. “Inspector General Again Finds Weaknesses in Organic Imports.” Food Safety News, 20 Sept. 2017, www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/09/inspector-general-again-finds-weaknesses-in-organic-imports/.

www.nsf.org/blog/consumer/clearing-confusion-organic-non-gmo-labels.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.