Journey to Home(stead), #sndboxquest #1

This is part one of @amymya's entry into the #sndboxquest

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My Journey Home

All my life I've been a drifter. I'd moved more than 25 times by the age of 25, didn't have a place I really considered home.

As I grew into an independent adult I continued this cycle of unsettle, it was all I knew.

But when my child approached his school years I remembered what it was like knowing kids for such a brief time, forming friendships and then just leaving and being left with memories and longing. I didn't want that for my child, and knew it was time to settle down in one place, to offer him stability and the option of building friendships and security in his surroundings.

views from my home

So we left the city behind and bought a little house on an acre of land by the ocean. There was a little garden plot already established and the prospect of growing fresh vegetables elicited an excitement inside me that would only grow in ways I hadn't imagined.

Homesteading started as an interest but soon turned into my passion and my life.

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The Gardens

How could I utilize my small property to its fullest, how could I extend my gardening efforts to grow more, enough to preserve, perhaps even for all our produce needs year round? What else could I do with this humble plot, my little heaven, that would benefit my family and the land as well?

early spring with a 5 month old on my back, can't keep me out of the garden for long

These are the questions that started presenting themselves as I read more books on gardening and then branched into homesteading. Once you get the ball rolling on something its only natural for it to stray into unknown territory...

We've been in our home for four years now. The garden plot quickly became too small for my needs, so we had to find other areas to grow our homestead.

We built a greenhouse for the heat loving crops like tomatoes and peppers. I was able to grow enough tomatoes to preserve enough salsa for the half year off season. Soon this greenhouse will provide me with early spring greens and cold hardy crops!

our first summer growing in our greenhouse was so exciting and bountiful!

We are planning a massive garden expansion in a recently cleared area to grow as many storage crops as we can, and have other ground prepared for more side gardens to grow perennials like asparagus and strawberries, and edible "weeds" like nettles and purselane.

Raspberry canes and a pear tree went in this fall and will soon provide us with fruit year after year. I imagine the gleeful expressions on my children's faces as they pick and devour the sweet fruits from their own front yard.

my son with veggies "he grew himself" and the first egg from our hens

The knowledge I am acquiring through trial and error is ever expanding my mind and my understanding of the cycles of the earth. Such wonderment and satisfaction can be felt from learning to nurture a seed into a sustenance giving plant.

Further research into the native plants growing on my homestead gave way to another passion, the power of medicinal plants. It is my intention to one day compile a Nova Scotia Materia Medica with all the medicinal plants available to us here in NS, usually found growing wild and in abundance. Sharing this knowledge with others could be of great benefit, and I've already started sharing some of what I've learned in articles here on Steemit such as this post about Elderberry, and this post about Peppermint.

Continuing to plant medicinal herbs and flowers and using them as needed will be an important part of growing our homestead.

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The Chickens

An area of interest typical to many homesteaders, myself included, is raising chickens. Two years ago I decided I would like to get some laying hens to provide fresh eggs for my family, so we built a coop and brought home 8 little fluffy chicks.

the chicks all lined up on their roost, still indoors and under a heat lamp for a few more weeks

We were given some older production breed hens and while they were incredibly friendly we ran into a lot of health problems with them. The heritage breed chicks that I bought have been healthy and strong, and we successfully hatched out our first clutch of chicks under a broody hen this past summer. These chicks are now laying as well, and its a wonderful feeling to have this perpetuating cycle of life here on our homestead.

Having chickens to care for has been a labor of love. I've had to come to terms with death from illness and predators, as well as had to learn how to cull chickens when in obvious discomfort due to reproductive system failure.

Raising chickens for meat is also a very different kind of experience, you can't allow yourself to get too attached to those little creatures when you know that before too long you will be "processing" them. I've processed chickens with my bare hands and while it wasn't easy I am happy to know that they lived good healthy lives and that my family can be nourished in a sustainable way.

the chicken of my heart, Scully

That said, I absolutely love some of my laying hens. They can be so funny and have such unique personalities, and follow me everywhere when I'm out working in the yard and gardens. I'm so thankful to have them and so grateful for the eggs they provide, even when I have to go on crazy bush hunts for sneaky nests because they don't feel like laying in their nesting boxes!

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In Conclusion

Teaching my children where our food comes from and to not take any life for granted is an important lesson that I can convey clearly here on our homestead. They know the work that goes into tending a garden, the struggles and the joys of growing our own.

They are free here to develop their own relationships with the earth and where their food comes from and I think that's so valuable in this modern age.

Since becoming a Steemian I have found camaraderie and have gleaned so much information from #homesteadersonline discord chat and posts by fellow homesteaders. I follow along with others endeavors and get inspiration for even more projects to expand my homesteading goals.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post about my journey to finding homesteading.

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Take Care,
@amymya

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