Cover photo: Lindsey Kay Photography
Hey guys, how’s your week going? We’ve been slowing down a bit over here and enjoying the cool fall weather. Our summer garden is still going strong, but we’re in the midst of harvesting the last bit of tomatoes, squash, and kale. We’re considering adding a greenhouse to the farm so we can extend our growing season. Fingers crossed!
I’ve shared bits and pieces about why we homestead in the past, but I think it’s about time that I dedicate an entire homestead blog post to the topic! Let’s dive right in.
(In totally unrelated news, I just saw a coyote alongside the cornfields TWO TIMES while typing this post. I really hate this part of homestead life.)
Why we homestead & our homestead blog: the backstory
Although goats and chickens are really awesome, we didn’t exactly pursue this lifestyle just because farm animals are legit. I honestly never had any interest in living on a farm, let alone having farm animals, up until about a year ago.
So what changed? Even though Ben and I ate a fairly clean diet, it felt like there was a missing piece. I have a family history of autoimmune diseases, and a few family members started to experience an increase in symptom severity. Ben and I responded by taking control and focusing on our gut health. We eliminated gluten from our diets (Ben still eats some gluten) along with decreasing the amount of grains we consumed. But that was just the start that led us to our homestead blog…
Our Diets
Why we homestead? Well, we set a goal to consume real, whole foods instead of processed alternatives. Ben and I want to know exactly where our food comes from, so we grow as much food as possible in our garden. We want to collect eggs everyday from our own happy backyard chickens. We want to *eventually* milk our happy goats and make our own dairy products. Notice a trend? Eating a clean diet is important to us, but making sure that we respect our animals in the process is equally as important. Ben encouraged me to start our homestead blog as a way of sharing our experiences with others.
For quite a few years during my adult life, I primarily ate a vegan diet. Although my motivation to become vegan wasn’t for reasons related to animal rights, my mentality shifted a bit over the years. If it isn’t obvious yet, I am no longer vegan. I consume some animal products, primarily consisting of fish, eggs (a lot of eggs), and honey from our farm.
I recently started to consume some sources of animal protein, but I honestly struggle with the moral aspect quite a bit. With that being said, I’m slowly attempting to move more toward a paleo diet due to my family history of autoimmune diseases, but I’m allowing myself to ease into the transition.
…and the future
So what’s next? When we decided to start a backyard farm and a homestead blog, Ben and I made a compromise. I could have goats and (a lot of ) chickens if he could raise meat chickens. I reluctantly agreed. Here’s the thing, friends. If our family is going to consume meat (which we are), then I want to know exactly how that animal was raised. One of the central themes of our little homestead is treating our animals with respect. I struggle with the idea of raising animals for meat, but I also want to express gratitude for what that animal has given us. Does that make sense? I’m honestly still figuring it out myself.
… and for our kids
It goes without saying that one of the main reasons why we homestead is for our kids. I talk about this part all the time on the homestead blog, so I won’t go into too much detail. But really, it’s pretty awesome.
Why we homestead: Questions
I would love to hear more about your health journey in the comments below!
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