More on why we moved here

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what brought us to the “Farm.”  Perhaps it’s the arctic temperatures (-27 the other morning, and no, that’s not a typo) and the cold reality of caring for livestock during a somewhat harsh winter that has me thinking.  Nora and I have both had moments over the past couple of months where one of has looked at the other and said “remind me why we moved here again?”  Nora vocalized this very thing several posts ago, and then responded with reminders of why we chose to relocate to this physically wondrous environment.  And although I agree that the space (where else in the northeast could we live affordably on 135 acres?) was an important part of our decision, as was the natural beauty and abundant wildlife, the notion of sustainability was also a primary motivator of “the move” (not in a crazy “world destruction is around the corner” kind of way, but in a more educated, “the world is cruising through finite resources as if, well as if they weren’t really finite, and what happens when we run out of…” kind of way).

As is my habit in January, I’ve been taking stock of what we accomplished this past year and comparing it against the list of goals I set for myself in January 2013.  I’ve also been assessing how far along the sustainability path we have traveled.  Compared against the many modern homesteading books and blogs that I read, I often feel like an utter failure.  Unlike many of these folks, we do not supply 80%+ of our food (meat, vegetables and grains) from our property, nor can I feed my farm animals from what I grow on this property (we do not grow grains, nor do we grow and harvest hay).  We still use oil to supplement our heat supply and we provide none of our own electricity.  I haven’t even progressed to using a clothes line in the spring and summer months, rather than a dryer year round.  Need I repeat -- utter failure as a homesteader. 

Nonetheless, I do believe we made the right decision when we moved here.  I also believe we have made decent progress in building a homestead for ourselves.  Actually, when you consider we were two professional women, one of whom never set foot in rural America and the other who fled from that life almost 30 years prior, we’ve done spectacularly well.  And to make myself feel better, I made a list of the things we accomplished just over this past year:

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planted over 200 new perennials, berry bushes and trees (2 flowering crab apple, 2 spruce)

created 3 new perennial beds and expanded another

fenced and tilled new vegetable garden area (roughly a 52’ x 52’ area); grew 40+ varieties of  vegetables and herbs

tilled new pumpkin patch and strawberry patch that will be planted in spring

installed sheep fencing & gates and had barn built; added 3 adorable Southdown (Babydoll) sheep

painted wood shed; weatherproofed all stoops and porches

canned tomatoes, pickles jams, jellies, apple sauce; blanched and froze beans, edamame, squash, kale

continue to bake all of our bread weekly; tried many new recipes of all types

successfully started many perennials inside and transplanted – chamomile, sweet rocket, agastache, black-eyed Susan’s to cut down on my gardening costs

started blog in Jan. and still going…

Almost all of the homesteading books I have read warn anyone undertaking this change in lifestyle to “go slow” and make only a couple of changes per year.  It really does become overwhelming very quickly when you try to incorporate everything at once – growing and preparing healthier, organic foods (which can include everything from meat, vegetables, fruit/berries, grains, and making your own cream, butter, yogurt and cheese if you have goats and/or a dairy cow); canning and preserving your own food; raising and caring for livestock; becoming more energy efficient and in many cases, moving off-grid altogether; and learning to do many things in a more traditional and frugal manner (fixing rather than replacing things, sewing and knitting your own clothes, spinning and dyeing your own wool, using person- or animal-powered tools rather than electric/gas-powered tools, etc.).  We haven’t incorporated even a fraction of that and we still have moments, usually in late July or August, when we are feeling exhausted from the constant gardening, food preserving, and simply maintaining the property, when we question whether we’ve taken on too much.

But it’s in those moments of despair and exhaustion when we need to remember why we chose this path. Not simply because we wanted space and an attractive backdrop, but because we wanted to live more sustainably.  Now admittedly, sustainability is a tricky word.  If you asked 10 people to define it, I bet you’d receive 10 differing definitions.  I also think that my definition of sustainability has morphed over the past couple of years.  What it has come to mean to me is a life that is more in balance with the natural world than not. 

I expect that Nora and I will never (short of the unfortunate arrival of Armageddon) live an off-grid, completely self-sufficient lifestyle.  As we rapidly approach 50, it’s simply not an appealing thought; too much physical work and too much discomfort.  We have grown accustomed to many modern conveniences and unless forced to do so, I don’t foresee us giving them up willingly.  For instance, I don’t have the time or the inclination to spend 8-10 hours per week washing laundry by hand when I can throw a load in my electric washer and simultaneously get about the business of living my life (I am, however, determined to put up a clothes line this spring so I can cut down on energy used for drying clothes during the warm months).  In contrast, our dishwasher stopped working weeks ago and I don’t miss it at all, and we have no plans of replacing it.  In fact, it will likely be removed and I will have Jim build another kitchen cabinet in its place.  I have more use for extra cabinet space than I do for an appliance that takes more energy and time to do a job than I do.

However, we will continue to make small changes that move us, albeit slowly, in the direction of balance.  We will continue to grow some of our own food (vegetables, herbs, fruit and berries), and preserve and store what we can for winter use.  We try to eat seasonally and locally as much as possible (i.e., staying away from foods that had to be transported 1000 miles or more).  We will continue to keep hens for eggs and sheep for fiber.  At some stage (not this year; I've sworn off making any significant changes this year), I may even add goats for milk, cheese, etc..  I can say with almost 99.8% certainty that we will never raise animals for meat.  Neither of us have the ability to slaughter an animal that we have raised.  Is it hypocritical that we still eat meat?  Perhaps, and that is something I struggle with on a daily basis.  But at least I know that the chicken and beef that we do eat have been raised humanely, with plenty of space to run and graze, and have been dispatched as quickly and humanely as possible.  

I will also try to do a better and more consistent job of documenting those things we do, if for no other reason than, for our own purposes, it will be interesting to look back on our progress (hopefully) 4-5 years from now.

I’m not sure how many people read this blog regularly, but for anyone who does, if you’re willing to share your thoughts, I’m interesting in hearing your definition of “sustainability” (assuming that you've given it any thought).  Please feel free to share using the comment link below.