Homesteading probably means something a little bit different to everyone. I’m sure those who aren’t super familiar with the concept probably picture your classic farming family, living on a bunch of land and getting up at the crack of dawn and working the land all day, but the modern homesteader has opened up a lot of other levels of homesteading. It’s something that is defined different for everyone, and even if there are some signs that you might be a homesteader, there are some things to keep in mind before diving all in.
1) There aren’t a lot of breaks.
When you’re a homesteader, there’s typically always stuff to be done. You probably have a daily and weekly routine to make sure everything is in order, and homesteading is a job that happens 365 days a year. If you want to take a vacation, you’ll either have to plan far enough ahead to make sure everything can run smoothly without you, or at some point you’ll need a farm sitter. Even then, I’m sure you’d be pretty worried about whats going on at the homestead while you’re away.
Additionally, if sickness breaks out in the family or there is some sort of emergency, you can’t put the homestead on hold until you guys are feeling better or have things sorted out. It’s something that requires your attention every day.
2) Failure is a common occurrence.
There are plenty of skills to build before you start your homesteading journey, but the learning won’t stop there. While it’s important to research new things thoroughly before trying then, that doesn’t mean there won’t still be plenty of mistakes. Additionally, with animals on the homestead, there will probably be a couple instances where you encounter an unexpected death. While chances are this isn’t a failure on your part, it will probably feel like one.
3) Don’t count your eggs before they hatch.
While homesteading is one of the few areas of life where this snippet of advice could be taken literally, I mostly mean it figuratively… Homesteading is famously unpredictable; the weather, cost of living, and plenty of other changing variables. Keep this in mind and try not to be too discouraged when things don’t go your way.
4) Homesteading is at least kind of gross.
Probably the most obvious thing you should know before homesteading is that it’s… well, dirty. There will be plenty of mud and feathers flying around, and believe it or not, your hands will probably always be a little dirty, and you’ll build up some nice callouses.
While there are some less glamorous parts of homesteading you should think about before you dive all in, it’s still a really rewarding path to take. What do you wish you knew before you started your homestead? Share with me in the comments!
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