Sometimes it is hard to figure out what you want in life. Is it money? Is it success? Is it a stable job? I think Eric and I finally have an idea what we want in our life together.
A few months ago Eric and I went on a camping trip. We had a lot of time to sit and talk about our life goals. We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery surrounding us and both knew we wanted to live on a spot with more land. But what would we do with more land? Right now we live on about a half acre. We have ten raised beds, three young apple trees, and seven chickens. But we want a dairy animal and beehives and more space to grow food for a future family. I want a place where I can go for a short nature hike. Eric wants a spot to harvest wood. Basically, we want a place where we can live off the land.
At this point in our life, there is no way we could afford a house on more land that is also near our family. But Eric has been reading in Mother Earth News magazine inspiring stories about people building a house without a mortgage. I don’t think we are ready for building a house right now, but I think it can be a real goal if we begin learning. This goal of ours will help us accomplish so many other dreams. We are full of dreams that would take me forever to write about.
The reason why I’m posting this topic is that the topic of this entire blog is going to change slightly. Instead of just writing about gardening and chickens, we would also like to include the skills that we are learning to help us live a life of a homesteader.
-M
Bringing back the past, for a sustainable future. This blog was previously known as New Ground, Old Dirt.
My husband and I have just over a 1/4 acre. We too are hoping to one day have more land, but for now we make do with what we have and so can you! A lot can be done on a small parcel (though in reality, living in California our lot is far from being considered small). We have 17 chickens (were originally up to 23 but some have been culled and more will be soon but they will be replaced), 6 rabbits, 3 bee hives (soon hoping to add two more), 2 goats (eventually will have 4) for dairy and meat, three 4'w x 75'l beds, three 4'w x 42'l beds and 2 dozen fruit trees. Next Spring we plan to add turkeys, ducks, a tilapia pond, and 2 pigs. We will also be building a 8'x10' greenhouse and a similar sized shed. All of this and our large front yard isn't even landscaped yet and part of our backyard is open for vehicle acces and we have a 1,000 sq ft paver patio.
ReplyDeleteIt all comes down to planning and having a flat lot though. If you are on a hillside you can't utilize all of it other than for livestock.