Homesteading...my dream of getting back to basics and backyard farming

Have you ever felt that God has led you to do something, and at first it seems totally crazy, but then it all makes sense? Rewind to almost a year ago, and that's exactly what happened to me.

I had decided I was going to go on a journey to save money. I was trying to decide where to start because we were a paycheck to paycheck family. We always have been, and I've always hated it. I knew that one of the most obvious places to start would be with our food. Around the same time, I was also trying to start getting as much processed food out of our diet as I could, and then it hit me. I needed to figure out a way to grow our own food. As they say, that was all she wrote. My garden research turned into cooking from scratch, which I pretty much already did. I then started watching YouTube videos, and it all started snowballing from there. I want to raise chickens. I want a milk cow. I want goats. I want to raise our own meat birds etc. I decided what we needed to do was get back to the basics of living. I wanted to homestead.

Growing up, I had grandparents who homesteaded before homesteading was cool. Growing your own food, cooking from scratch, sewing, that was all a way of life for them. I never realized as a child running through their garden that one day, all of that would be the life that I wanted. I took it for granted that they grew this food, and they did it very well. I didn't learn their secrets to gardening, how to sew, or can food, and I really regret it. I've always felt that I live in the wrong time period. I would love to step back in time, and live a much simpler life.

So, we are on a mission. Right now, I am homesteading where I'm at. This is hard considering I live in the suburbs of San Antonio, but you can homestead anywhere. Homesteading is what you make it. It's definitely what I call baby homesteading, or newbie homesteading, but it is what it is.

I am learning to garden, even though it's in 5 gallon buckets. It won't produce enough to put any food up, but it's a start. Next year, I'm planning bigger and better. This year's garden has definitely been a hands on learning experience. I can't wait until next year. I have big plans already.

 I will also be learning how to can. We have several farmer's markets and also wholesale produce places that sell organic produce at a discounted price because it's in bulk. We will be purchasing our first canning set very soon!

I cook from scratch 90% of the time. I don't use hardly any boxed foods as we are trying to eat real food. I have learned to bake my own bread, and even gluten free for Gav. Just the savings from baking my own gluten free bread is amazing considering I was paying $7 a loaf! I love baking bread so much. I honestly should have made a career out of it lol. I can bake bread that has no chemicals or preservatives and it tastes so much better than store bought.

I am doing as much learning and research as I can on chickens. I plan on knowing all I can before I get them, even though I will learn much more when I finally do. I am already planning my coup, and learning how to feed them organically so that we can get the best eggs possible.

I know that when we start, we will start small and hopefully add on. I never want to take on more than we can manage. I will be happy to start out with a garden and chickens. I would love to eventually be 100% self sustained, but that would be extremely hard. I've learned to never say never though. Who knows what kind of land we may end up with. I know God has a plan, and I'm super excited to see where it leads us.

I've learned so much in just a few short months. I literally try to research different things every single day to gain knowledge. So, we are on our way to getting out of debt, so that we can find the perfect house homestead for us. I will post more about how we are using Dave Ramsey later. I'm ready to put down some roots, and get started on this journey.

Blessings,

Tasha