Homesteading?!

The first things that might pop into your head are the Oregon Trail, the Wild West, and settlers flocking across the western US Territory to start a new life away from Eastern civilization where getting ahead was near impossible.  In the 1860’s the first homestead act was passed by congress  to encourage migration west in hopes of improving trade and the US economy.  Families were required to work the land for a number of years before it was granted to them.  Sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it?  Well, for some it was.  For many others, it was not as is still evidenced today with shacks and barns that have long since been abandoned and swallowed up by neighboring farms and ranches, the settlers long gone.

Homesteading today is more of a mindset.  It all starts with some ideals, a do-it-yourself attitude, and tenacity.  For us, it happened when we started realizing how unsustainable our consumer-driven society was.  Our society as a whole depends on long distance growers that produce most of our food, ultra pasteurized dairy products, highly processed foods, over use of fossil fuels and products made from them, over consumption and waste.  We wanted control of the quality of food we ate.  We didn’t want to rely on producers from hundreds or thousands of miles away to supply our groceries.  And, we didn’t want to spend a fortune (literally) for a home.

Thus, the answer  was easy – Homesteading.  And although our modern day homesteading experience is much different than the settlers of the 1860’s, it has some similarities.  And thus, we began.

We started this blog and our website specifically to assist those of you who want to discover your “inner homesteading self”.  We have come a long way in the past three years.  We started with raw land (no power, no water, no home). We have since built with our own two hands, a barn, a house, a chicken coop, a pheasant run, an productive garden, raise dairy goats, chickens (for meat and eggs), pheasants, and ducks.  And even though it has been challenging and hard work, it is fulfilling to say the least.

Want to start your homesteading dream?  Follow us on our journey.  We will be posting weekly news pertaining to DIY projects, raising dairy goats, poultry, growing your own food, making dairy products, growing your own food, and building your own home.  And if you ever have any questions, you can always contact us.

Happy Homesteading,

Rick and Ginnie