Like most, the past couple years may have sparked new interests, hobbies, even careers. Being a stay at home mom and always wanting to find new things to try and do around the home I’m always on the search for what I can do next. When all things quarantine began, this amplified. New home projects, becoming more invested in our health than ever, and trying new hobbies for fun. It was a crazy and stressful time but I’m grateful for it. Without those tougher times the good things never would have surfaced, which brings me to homesteading.
I can’t recall what it was that first drew me to homesteading, but whatever it was left a huge impact because here we are almost a year later still trying new things and learning from all the beginner mistakes. As inspiring and motivating as it was when I first dove into the homesteading hashtags, youtube videos, and podcasts..it was also EXTREMELY daunting. Where do I even begin? I don’t live on 2 acres of land with a cow and 4 goats..is this even doable for someone living in the suburbs? Can I do this being a busy mom of 3 wild boys? The answer: YES.
Since I began to share my gardening journeys and bread baking adventures I’ve received motivated messages from other busy mamas inspired to make similar changes in their home. Since I totally get how intimidating starting out was, I figured what would be a better first blog post than to share what helped me as I dove into the homegrown, from scratch, do it yourself lifestyle.
- Tip #1. Keep it simple and doable with your daily life and routine. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “homesteading?” For me, it was chicken coops, a farm, 5 acres of land, milking a cow. Yes, those are definitely components of homesteading. But if we don’t have those things, it doesn’t mean we can’t homestead! To avoid quitting before I even got started or getting completely overwhelmed, I kept it as simple as possible.
- First thing I did- buy seeds. You can find vegetable, flower, and fruit seeds on amazon or at your local garden nursery. Fun fact, you can even grow your own fruits and vegetables from the produce you purchase at the grocery store! Just be sure to buy organic and non-GMO. You can grow your seeds on your windowsill, outdoors in your garden bed, in a pot on your deck, or under an indoor light.
- 2nd thing – Begin with the basics. For me, that was baking bread. Working through the basics before moving on to the harder tasks helped me find my footing and how to fit this lifestyle in with house cleaning, errands, carpooling, and other mom life things.
- & the 3rd thing that helped me get started – commit to ONE new thing a month. This was actually my new years resolution and it’s made not only sticking with it so much fun but I’m actually learning valuable, self sufficient tasks that will benefit our family. Write it down, make a list in your phone’s notepad of one thing for each month. Commit to it, try it, learn from your mistakes, keep going, and then move on to the next thing the following month.
Example:
January: Bake bread
February: Make pasta from scratch
March: Sow seeds indoors
April: Plant seedlings outside
May: Focus on properly caring for garden
June: Learn how to sew and mend clothes
July: Make at least one from scratch meal a week
August: Learn how to dehydrate foods
September: Plant fall and winter vegetables
October: Learn how to can food
November: Educate myself on medicinal herbs
December: Learn how to make soap and/or candles
There are so many cool, new things we can try and learn through homesteading. Above are just a few. Keep up with me here as I continue to dive into all things busy mama homesteading, gardening, fitness, and focusing on living a balanced, healthy lifestyle with all things parenthood!
