How come the bucks go faster than there are projects to cover when you homestead??? There’s a list here on The Little Half Acre of purchases to make that’s a good half mile longer than our income stream. Seriously. And every time I look at that daunting list I start hyperventilating! But wait. Breathe, breathe . . .
It’s hard to pace things and to realize that a homestead is a lifelong project, not something that needs to be completed NOW. Maybe God can create a Garden of Eden in the blink of an eye, but I certainly cannot. In fact, it looks like it’s going to take an entire lifetime (mine) to build The Little Half Acre into what it can and should be.
And what should it be? It needs to be a very productive small plot (just under half an acre) that provides 100% of our fresh food needs. It needs to get us as unplugged as possible from the “rat race” method of buying everything you need from some large store or company. It needs to be our way of giving back to the earth – not taking from it. And it needs to allow us to help out a few folks who could use some assistance. Can you imagine this world if everyone lived that way? Of course there will always be trips to the grocery store to purchase organic wheat, rice and other grains. And chocolate. And avocados. Who could possibly live without chocolate or avocados??? And the power company will dip regularly into our pockets for several years to come. Sigh. But at least the goals have been set. At this point it’s just a matter of controlling our impatience.
But those are not the only requirements for this homestead of ours. It needs to provide income. That means developing more growing areas as quickly as they can be put together so lovely veggies and fruits and salads can be taken to local markets to sell. But there’s one more thing that this homestead needs to provide – one more thing that’s equally important: beauty. Food for the soul. So that means the bucks have to fly off the homestead for stuff like flowers. And garden benches. And bird feeders.
There’s a good reason why all of this is on my mind on this “lovely” March day of 38 degrees. I’ve been watching one of my heros on Youtube: Alys Fowler. Every time I watch her fabulous videos, I get anxious to pull out the credit card and go on a mad shopping spree at the local nursery instead of paying cash as we go. Watch a few of her videos about her small permaculture plot. They’re amazing. This is what we want our little homestead to be like in a few years (or a lifetime) from now: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxpHf2eNlQMICX2ymp_1c6Q.
Yep, one video from Alys and I get antsy to buy a bunch of flowers and fruit trees. But. Breathe . . . breathe, it’s a lifetime project here on The Little Half Acre. One asparagus crown at a time. One bird feeder at a time. One growing bed at a time. Check back in ten years and I promise you’ll be amazed! Sigh. Now, where did I put that credit card???
