I’ve been reading about keeping chickens, about homesteading and better garden practices. We garden, have gardened in the past and grew up with gardens. I love nothing better than fresh tomatoes, and I will eat my weight in them. Working outside in the dirt is therapy, and eating and cooking the veggies is the reward. This year we grew tomatoes, cucumbers, okra, rattlesnake beams, sugar peas, potatoes, turnips, beets (barely), corn,(barely) and onions. We failed with garlic, purple hull peas, and black beans. Right now we have cabbage, and broccoli plants. Every gardening experience is a learning opportunity, and sometimes the lesson is simply unpredictability of weather and insects. Every gardener is a dreamer and lives in a world of hope and possibilities. I’m already planning next years garden, and my plans don’t include drought, heat, or plague. I see abundance, a full freezer and bounty of harvest for us and for friends. I hope.
If we decide to keep chickens, I am sure my large poodle dog will love and accept them. She won’t chase or harm the little egg laying buddies. I know my neighbors will be tolerant, and we will not have trouble when we need to travel. Even more importantly, I will know how to keep them alive. I hope.
My homestead land is a one acre spot in an older neighborhood, with mostly brick ranch homes and the sounds of a busy highway intruding on our peace during the rush hours. I can walk past the houses, circle a park and walk in other similar neighborhoods. A few of the homes have chickens, after all they are gaining in popularity and we are in a tiny town, nearly country, but we are still in town. My dream for isolation, mountain views and only the sounds of wind and stream will never become reality, and I have to become comfortable with this. I can walk out my back door, pick tomatoes for sandwiches, and let my dog run inside the fence. I can rest under a giant magnolia tree, swinging in my hammock, and I can take decently long walks without traffic issues or dangerous narrow roads. We have houses all around us, but we aren’t on top of each other, and all our neighbors are fairly private or busy people. In all, it’s not the dream, but it’s not bad either. I like my small house, my large yard, and I enjoy the daily walks with my dog. The best part of it all is we can drive just down the road to a Nature preserve, walk all day and observe so many birds. Whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, pelicans and geese are here all winter. Bald eagles spend the year here, along with ducks and songbirds. There are worse places to live.
I wish to be a mountain homesteader, but I will find my peace and my dream wherever I land. Walks, books, food, garden, these are my passions, and these will be the subjects of my blog. If you enjoy such things, I hope you will join me and enjoy, share your ideas and we can learn together.
Friends,
Shelley
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