Sustainable Life

For the last two years, we have been trying to create a more self-sufficient lifestyle which was part of the reason we felt our farm was a perfect home for us. But we’re basically a couple of suburban kids who really don’t know all that much about homesteading or living a sustainable lifestyle. Our parents had gardens when we were growing up, but they weren’t large and I never noticed a yearning to feed our family from the harvest for the rest of the year with food storage methods like canning and freezing.

My mom knows many, many homesteading habits and tricks, sewed most of my clothes growing up and is one of the best cooks I know. She tried to teach me things when I was younger, but it’s only recently that I began to truly appreciate all that I can still learn from her and others who grew up always learning things like this. Hopefully we’ll spark an interest in Mackenzie early on to appreciate and continue self-sufficiency practices which are not only good for the environment, but just make sense.

Some homesteading practices we’re implementing

Make our own wines (from some of our own grapes and fruits like apples, plums, peaches and more) and other beverages like ginger ale (from homegrown ginger)
Grow a majority of our fresh fruit, vegetable, chili and herb needs and have enough to also can and store for future consumption. Read more about our garden
Built a harvest kitchen in our courtyard for harvest times with gas burners large enough to accomodate the huge canning pots as well as a nice seating area to clean produce or enjoy dinner with friends and family
Have our own chickens for eggs (and maybe meat if needed – and we gain the courage to kill them off)
Raise rabbits for meat (see chickens for note about bravery)
Set up a barrelponics or other aquaponics system to produce fish and more veggies or herbs
Develop further skills to build furniture (woodworking, welding) and make repairs and additions to our home
Continue our vermicomposting adventure to provide organic fertilizer for our garden as well as set up a regular composting zone in our garden
Build an earthen oven and start baking our own breads, pizzas and more