Homesteading
It’s been over a decade of searching for articles online for skills to practice for homesteading before you have a homestead, reading books and watching videos on harvesting crops and chicken care, years of experimenting in the kitchen with canning and fermentation and bread making. A few months of sewing but a lifetime of crocheting on and off. Years of gardening in windowsills, community garden plots, tiny backyard beds and alongside the women of the Locust Light Farm Herbal Homestead Apprenticeship. More than ten years of saving pins to my ‘Homestead Dreams’ Pinterest board.
As a little girl, I spent some time living with my paternal grandmother in South Jersey, where she managed a sizable property with chickens and what I remember as a vast garden. Recollections of the compost bowl on counter, the delivery of a deep freezer and climbing in the coop remain vivid in my memory. I fondly recall expressing to my grandmother my desire for a white horse with black spots, envisioning calling her Rose. Although, presently I don’t own a mare named Rose, my life is enriched by a small flock of hens, two barn cats, several beehives and a bustling household of children. Engaging in daily activities reminiscent of my youth, such as chasing after chickens and indulging in warm cherry tomatoes right off the vine, I find myself living a dream. While a horse may be absent from my present reality, I have a daughter and a son eager to ride, suggesting that my childhood aspirations are not entirely out of reach. I couldn’t ask for more.
My husband, Matthew, and I oversee the homeschooling of our four feral children while managing an extensive garden that features a diverse array of native, edible, and medicinal plants on our two-acre property in the Garden State. We live on occupied Leni-Lenape land and pay tribute to the native peoples by stewarding this borrowed space with intention. We are gradually converting more and more of this land each year into a sustainable, edible landscape. In 2020, Matthew achieved his permaculture design certification and has been actively experimenting on our property and imparting knowledge to our children in the process. Our garden boasts a rich assortment of elderberries, black-eyed Susans, echinacea, stinging nettle, swamp mallow, catnip, tansy, lady's mantle, and various other native and medicinal plants, alongside an assortment of annual vegetables and flowers.
Every year, the older children take responsibility for nurturing their own plants in the garden and actively contribute throughout the growing season. They play a vital role in tasks such as weeding, harvesting, and maintaining the main garden, in addition to watering their designated pots and beds. One child tends to a flourishing strawberry patch, while another excels in handling shovels and digging all. the. holes. Our collaborative efforts in the garden serve as a grounding activity for our family, cherished as one of our favorite bonding experiences with only occasional tears when bunnies steal berries. Many times there are moans and groans when the work gets tiresome but we are here to teach balance and nature makes it so easy when she rewards our hard work with things like fresh, ripe cantaloupes and juicy tomatoes.
Outside the garden gates, there is more work to be done. Chickens need tending and the cats require fresh water. Yet, for the most part, our daily chores are transformed into enjoyable and stimulating activities through the eyes of a child. It involves gathering eggs and granting the hens freedom to roam. It's the joy of discovering a budding flower or the first pepper of the season. Engaging in activities like playing in mounds of dirt, constructing rock formations, and marveling at the emergence of seedlings in the starter tray. Amid the toil of homesteading, there exists an enchanting blend of magic, especially when shared with children. Working alongside them encourages us to decelerate, relishing moments of play and embracing the present. It allows us to appreciate the simplicity of learning through observation and harmonizing with the rhythms of nature.