WHAT?! There are CONS to Homesteading?! - The question that probably crossed your mind first when you read the title of this post #amiright?
Just like everything else in life, there are pros and cons to Homesteading too. And real-life fact- You will constantly be experiencing these ups and downs (emotionally, mentally and physically) throughout your entire journey of homesteading. I am here to bring you the truths- the good, the bad and the ugly, of this increasingly popular interest in this way of life.
My intentions here are not to illude you into how wonderful and perfect homesteading is and I certainly do not have intentions of trying to scare you away from doing it either. My purpose in this blog is to share with you every step of our journey so that you can make the best choice for you- whether that means your here in this space to be a homesteader, if you want to live vicariously through someone else online in their homestead life, or if you are already a homesteader and you just want to read content that is super relatable and that you can enjoy a good laugh when you read that we truly do all go through the same victories and triumphs in farming and husbandry.
Let's dive straight into the Cons first- no, I do not consider myself a pessimist and I'm certain those who know me would say the same. It's just that it seems most content out there highlights the rainbows and butterflies of owning a homestead above everything else.
THE CONS
Kiss your love for travel good-bye. You will never have a true vacation again... No seriously. It is virtually impossible to vacation when you are ALL IN with homesteading. The cost of feed for your animals is basically your vacation fund pre-homestead life. Not to mention trying to find somebody who is willing AND able to care take for your animals the right way- everyday- until your return. I'm not saying that person does not exist, but it is rare to find a caretaker who has the ability to maintain your animal's routine along with having the skill to spot a sick animal or a whole in the fence that would need mending so that your animals do not escape or so that a predator cannot take out your livestock because they are always on stand-by waiting for that to happen- trust me. It has happened to us several times and still to this day. It's a matter of keeping yourself 1 step ahead of them.
We all get sick sometimes. When you're down the animals still need to eat. They still need water. Just because you are sick does not mean they will allow you a day off from what needs done to keep them healthy and safe. That is probably harder than the reality of not being able to take a vacation. Imagine your body is aching, you have a fever, maybe you're vomiting or have diarrhea - you still gotta get up and go outside. Actually- back in November Alex and I both were down sick- myself for 1 week and Alex just over 2 weeks. We were lucky enough that we have a teenager who is willing and able to step in to help out with the chores. She even had to play mom for a couple days too, cooking simple meals and basic clean-up for us and her 3 younger siblings because we got hit so badly.
Rain, Snow, Ice, Heat- the elements of the different seasons are no exception either for a break. Every good day in the weather forecast leaves us all with a sense of "ahhhh, this is so cool to be able to have and maintain a working farm". Then, every bad day in the weather forecast it leaves us saying "why in the h-e-double hockey sticks do we do this?!" When you have to track outside in 2+ feet of snowdrifts with a windchill that brings the temps down below zero for the feels like temp, it is miserable and so hard physically and mentally to walk through all the snow with 5-gallon buckets of water- back and forth- to each animal's pen. Not just once a day, several times a day because you need to break and remove ice from their troughs so they can still drink.
"I see it, I like it, I want it, I buy it" - Arriana Grande
Spending money. Let's be honest, we all love to be frivolous every now and then with our money. But when you are truly living as a homesteader, you have to be able to set budgets. That doesn't mean you can't ever buy that surround sound system to go with your TV or that fancy espresso machine for your morning and afternoon coffee fix. It just means that you can't just buy it on a whim when the desire hits. Or say you have this already and it breaks, and you need to replace it. The point is, you have to get used to budgeting and saving when things like that arise. Your animals still have to come first. Remember...
"We take care of them so that they can take care of us" -me
Unexpected outcome of your food. There is no doubt that raising and growing your own food is way easier these days than it used to be. Failure doesn't hit like it used to when you have a bad growing season and the grocery store nearby always heavily stocked and easily available. What does it hit hard when a bad season strikes is the failure in itself. Knowing all the hard work and sweat you and your family poured into raising an animal for meat and it being taken out by a neighbor dog, predator or sickness. Or having a bad growing season that made for conditions out of your control that led to low crop. It just hurts in a different kind of way when you have so much invested in to producing your own food and then have to turn to grocery store to make up for it.
THE PROS
Knowing exactly what is in your food! You get to control the type of fertilizer you give your crop. If you want zero pesticides on your food, you truly get zero pesticides on your food! You get to control not allowing antibiotics and artificial growth hormones to be injected into your meat. Your animals get to live their best life! They are raised out healthy and happy because when we take of them, they take care of us in return! Have you ever tasted the difference between store bought (meat AND produce) and home grown/raised food?
Everything just tastes better when you grow and raise it yourself! Everything truly is harvested at its peak. There is more flavor and better overall quality in texture too. Not to mention the level of appreciation that comes along with it. Being able appreciate your food and where it comes from seems to get lost when we buy it commercially. You don't get to feel the work and sweat that went into it, so its value is lessoned. But when you did the work yourself, it doesn't lose an ounce of that, and an extra added bonus is you actually waist less too!
If you happen to have kids that are being raised in this journey with you, you get to teach them some pretty awesome life skills that they will never learn from school. Skills that are quickly being forgotten with our ability to buy the food we want when we want it. They learn where our meat really comes from. They learn to treat animals humanely. They learn husbandry in crop as well- learning how to care for and nurture something along.
Watching your farm grow- There is a double meaning in this one. Besides the obvious of physically seeing your farm grow, if you chose to make a living from your farm, you get to grow relationship in your community. Your customers who come to you week after week for your offerings become more than just a customer. They become your friends!
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