In today’s terms, we are homesteaders, preppers, and herbalists. We want to grow our own food and get away from the heavily processed food that has been part of our diet for too long. We want to ensure that we have the means to take care of ourselves in a short or long term situation. We want a full year supply of what we have grown, and we want to make sure our family stays healthy as we make this transition. Now if you talk to my Great Uncle Carrol, this was called “life” when he was growing up, and this is the way it was done for many thousands of years before modern supermarkets.
That being said, we are also willing to use modern methods to accomplish these goals. We want to get back to a simpler life, where we are doing things for our family’s wellness on a daily basis, and creating a sustainable system that will make life easier for the generations after us to use and enjoy.
We have purchased a property, that while a bit run down, can be turned into the perfect sustainable homestead, able to provide for the family, with room to continue to grow. I will be honest, the first year entailed nothing but fence repair. And finally, after a very long nine months, my garden is actually fenced in! And now the exciting part begins for me!
Now let me tell you a little bit about me. I am a self professed hermit who spent many years with debilitating Crohn’s disease. I had two surgeries that removed most of my colon and realized what I was doing wasn’t working, so I changed my lifestyle.
Yes, I managed to put it into remission without prescriptions or essential oils, but most people would cringe at changing their lifestyles the way I did to combat it. I grow my own organic vegetables, fruits and beef as much as possible, I do not consume pasteurized products, I don’t drink fluorinated water. I limit my yeast intake. I try to only eat and drink from glass or ceramic. I make my own laundry detergents and soaps. And the biggest challenge? I don’t use Teflon coated anything and I don’t use a microwave!
These were what I did over several years that helped put my Crohn’s into remission with no prescription drugs. Though I have since gotten control of the disease, and I no longer have to be so careful, I never got over the need to stay home, so I am still a hermit when I can be, and I love it!
Now my husband, Lance Sr, is a Masonry Contractor. He is who makes my life as a hermit possible. He goes to work every day to bring home the bacon, day in and day out, like clockwork. He loves his work and has created some amazing permanent structures, if I do say so myself! His work is now considered artisan quality, and it is truly inspiring to see some of the beautiful work he has accomplished over the years. Masonry is a field that has not changed much over the ages. The mixer and equipment to lift the stones up a wall are a definite improvement over the old ways, but whether it is a brick or a stone, they are still set in place the same way they were a thousand years ago. He is and always has been “healthy as a horse” as the saying goes. He has always kept up a great workout routine, until we decided to start homesteading and found out he had a great workout routine right here at home! And no annual membership fees! (Well maybe so, it just involves hard labor) or maybe a labor of love, because he does love his great outdoors!
My Great Uncle Carrol lives on our property with us, in a cabin he and my husband remodeled for him to retire in. He is eighty-one and has diabetes in a fairly severe form, and has to have someone checking on him consistently. That being said, he is worth his weight in gold around here, as he can sit down any time we are talking about something we need to do and give us examples of how things were done in his day. I am telling you, take advantage of your elders, as they have a wealth of information just waiting for you to tap into it! Uncle Carrols Old Timers Corner is where we will tell stories of days gone by. He is also a retired heavy equipment operator, and let me tell you his expertise comes in handy!
Rena is my sister and she and her husband have their own mini Homestead. She is my editor, and fixer, and also a contributing writer for the blog! She has many great plans for homesteading on an acre or less!
Lance Jr. is a lineman, and lives on the road, only coming home for the occasional weekend visit, but loves life on the farm when he gets to come home! His wife Stacia, is a contributing editor, and writes Line Life on the page!
My nephew Colton is planning his home on the property, and that will be lots of fun!
We have quite the menagerie of experience here, and we are always learning, so we are happy to pass what we learn on!
