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Been quiet around here, eh? I promise that I haven’t forgotten about blogging. Let me tell you a little about the homesteader’s balancing act.
Homesteaders typically lead very normal lives – they just add a whole bunch of chores to it! Most homesteaders have the dream of working for themselves and producing what they need, maybe having a small home business to support their families. But very few I’ve run into can pull it off. We’re generally working “normal” jobs, raising kids and involved in typical activities, all in addition to trying to raise our own food, taking care of needy animals and maintaining our land. It can be exhausting sometimes just to sit down and make a to-do list (precisely why my husband hates them!).
This time of year is when the balancing act really comes into play. Spring is full of activity for homesteaders. So we’ve been busy mowing and weed trimming, garden prepping and composting, fruit tree and vegetable garden planting, storing up wood for NEXT winter, and the list goes on and on. (Let’s add military duty and a pregnancy to that for good measure, and you know why this blog has been quiet lately!)
You may ask then, is it worth it? Why not just go to the grocery store or farm market to buy your eggs and produce? And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But we homesteaders are fiercely independent…we like to do things for ourselves. We may seem crazy (and sometimes we do, literally, go crazy balancing it all), but the joys and rewards we reap from our efforts are like nothing else. So we keep plugging along. We’ll never get to the end of our to-do list, but does anyone, really?
Joey Norsen is a hopeful homesteader, military wife and mom. From recipes and organic gardening, to chickens and do-it-yourself ideas, Joey will be sharing her experiences (and challenges!) as her family seeks a simple, more self-sufficient life.
