Our Homestead

So my husband has decided that we should pursue the art of being self sufficient, at least more than what we are now. So I will start covering our attempts at farming on this blog as well because I am sure there will joys and tears with it also and as the whole family will be involved it could prove to be very interesting. We have, in the past done some little things like plant gardens and small scale canning. But, he has decided we need to start raising our own meat, vegetables, and fruit. 2011 is looking very busy!

Our first real thought came after Glenn ran into an old friend who works as a manager at a place where they store things like potatoes and apples in bulk. He told us how the potatoes you buy at the store are normally years old. They spray the potatoes with a gas that is so flamable they cannot spray at night or the fire department thinks there is a fire. They use the gas the prevent the potatoes eyes from forming roots and to make them last longer. Apparently they use this process on a lot of things. I am not a paranoid person, but this grabbed both of our attention. Hmmmm.....and they wonder where cancer comes from. I don't know what kind of gas they use or what chemicals they contain, but anything that alters food that much can't be healthy. Here I thought we could just wash an apple off an it'd be good to eat. So what do you do when they are injected with gases and chemicals to keep them from decomposing?

So this started the thoughts. Then Glenn started picking up some homesteading magazines with articles about how to grow your own meat and milk and his brain has not shut down since. Well, we have ten acres and I guess it is time to use it a little more wisely.

Last week we made our first purchase.....Wilbur.....sorry could not resist. My kids are thrilled because he is friendly. Every day Brylee wants to go out and feed the pig and boss him around......something else she is very good at. She has no idea that after the first he will be one of many animals to support her healthy little diet. We will also attempt to raise chickens for meat and eggs, and cows for milk and meat.

Nothin like a corn fed hog!

Farmers in Training

So this is just the beginning of our attempts to be more self sufficient. We will see how it goes.