It’s official. Ben and I crossed over into “weird” territory and are the proud owners of 2 goats, 10 chickens, and 4 bee hives!
Want to know more about raising goats and raising chickens? Well we’re officially farmers! Well, kinda…
Farm living
Okay, so you’re probably wondering why we decided to become homesteaders and start raising goats and raising chickens. When Ben asked me to move to his family farm a few years ago, I thought he was crazy. I reluctantly agreed to move to the farm with the agreement that if I wasn’t happy in a few years, then we would sell the house and move.
I quickly fell in love with our dream farmhouse,but our backyard was a complete disaster. The family farm was no longer in operation, so Ben and I started to jokingly make long-term plans to having a homestead of our own. We never actually thought that it would happen..
Becoming farmers: raising goats & raising chickens
Our diets have completely transformed over the past few years. I developed a cow’s milk intolerance during adolescence, which led me to primarily follow a vegan/plant-based diet for around 7 years. Shortly after our daughter was born, she began to experience digestive issues, which led us to suspect a milk and soy allergy. Even our frenchies started to experience challenging symptoms associated with food allergies.
Although I have slowly started to incorporate more animal products into my diet, I don’t want to buy cheap, highly processed foods from the grocery store. We decided that the best way to ensure that our food is coming from high quality sources is to grow it ourselves.
Chickens, Goats, Bees, & Babies
Ben initially wanted to start by purchasing 6 chickens. Me, on the other hand, figured that we might as well dive head first and get 10 chickens and 2 goats. We’re also planting a 600 sq. ft. garden and have 4 bee hives. I’m also pregnant and due with baby #2 this July 2018…
Most people think we’re crazy
Although some of our family and friends were excited by our decision to become farmers, most people were a bit confused. Conversations typically went like this…
Us: “We’re raising goats and raising chickens this spring!”
Them: “Oh, uh…. why?”
Us: “Because we want to grow our own food and know where it comes from, plus we think it would be fun.”
Them: “But you can buy food from a grocery store…”
Us: “But we don’t how it was grown, and the quality of the food sucks.”
To be honest, this whole homestead thing is pretty new to us and we don’t really know what we’re doing. We’ll be sharing our experiences as new farmers along the way!
So tell me friends, on a scale of 1-10, how crazy do you think we are?
This is awesome! I come from a long line of farmers on my mother’s side of my family. Good luck with your adventure. I look forward to reading your blogs.
Thanks for your support, Kat! Hope is well 🙂
I’m first in line if you find yourself selling eggs!
I love what you are doing.
I strongly believe that processed/packaged Foods are bad. I feel they are the No. 1 contributor to the abundance of cancers and medical issues alike.
I appalaud you as it not easy to take this route.
Looking forward to enjoying your blog; especially photos of Finley and Baby #2?
Thank you, Cindy! Definitely agree that processed/packaged food contributes to quite a few health issues. We’re hoping to have more than enough eggs to feed our family AND sell the rest, so we’ll keep you updated! 🙂 Thanks again!
I love your whole thought process and concept. I also agree with Cindy that processed foods are contributing to causing so many forms of cancer. I love my garden and am jealous of the size of your garden. Maybe you will have a produce stand??? I would be interested in eggs, if you find yourselves selling them. Best of lucky with farm life. I think it is awesome. Also congratulations on your growing family. Finley is just a doll and will be a wonderful big sister❤️
Thank you! A produce stand may be in our future … we’ll keep you updated!