Our Homestead Beginnings

One of the reasons we decided to turn our place into a homestead was to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on others for our needs.  This came about when my husband lost his job due to a plant closing. We found ourselves without an income, without retirement, without insurance, and with very little food stored away to sustain us. It was a very sobering and humbling experience, yet we knew that our God would supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus! (Philippians 4:19)

Living through the hard times, such as a job loss, death of a family member, natural disasters, economic hard times, will make you take a look at your life and reevaluate your priorities. This process made us realize how much we depended on others for jobs, food, medical, energy, even our entertainment! I began thinking about how my grandparents and great-grandparents lived. While their lives were very hard, there must have been a sense of security in knowing they had the knowledge and resources to provide for their families. How many people do you know that grow and preserve their own food, bake their own bread, make their own cheese, make their own soap, quilt their own quilts, know how to forage food in emergencies - the list goes on and on! That is the course we are currently undertaking and it has been fascinating and personally rewarding.  I will warn you, if you are considering this as well, the more information you glean, the more areas you will find to investigate, and the more you investigate, the more lifestyle changes you will make.

One of the first areas of change for us was our food supply. We had been spending, on average, $200 week at the grocery stores! With the use of coupons, growing our own vegetables, and raising chickens, we have cut our costs by 50% or more. While our garden isn't large enough to provide food year-round, we do have plans to increase the space to accomplish that goal. In the meantime, I shop the local markets and the farmer's markets for bulk purchases that I can either can or dehydrate. I love the idea of knowing what is in the foods we eat. While I would love to be totally organic in what I serve my family, that is just not economically possible for us at this point. It is so easy to fall into the guilt trap here, but please don't do that! We are continually looking for affordable ways to change our dietary lifestyle and as we come across ways to save in one area, that frees up money to add to the food budget.

We are a work in progress and learning to be content in whatever circumstances we are in. I am so thankful for our Father, who loves us with an everlasting love, and guides us as we seek to glorify Him in all we do.

Blessings!