Homesteading Dream

At four years old my family moved to a small farm in southeastern Washington state. It was just over four acers and it was magical. There was a creek running along the back side of the property and me and the kids from the next farm over would explore and pick wild berries. Eventually we got a calf, two goats, a dozen chickens and I was able to have a pet rabbit.

LIke many people during the COVID pandemic I started to think about my own health different. I began to invest the time in cooking. I ditched the pre-packaged foods and started making meals using whole, natural ingredients The condo I was renting had a small backyard (approximately 12’x20’) I thought it might be good to try my hand at gardening again. I’d attempted gardening once or twice before but wasn’t very successful. This time around I was able to grow many of my favorite herbs, a couple of tomatoes and some personal size sugar baby watermelon.

As is often the case with modern times in a big city, life got in the way and I became distracted from my garden. During a camping trip the summer of 2022 my watermelon became infested with aphids and most of my herbs died due to lack of water and extreme heat. I felt it was too much, too hard to do all of this in my tiny backyard. I allowed the demands of work and the modern world envelope my time. I grew lazy with my cooking, took the easy way out and began eating unhealthy.

In 2023 it all started to take it’s toll. I wasn’t nourishing my body, my mind or my soul. I recognized that I wasn’t living aligned to my values and slowly started to make small shifts. One degree here, another degree there. I could feel that tiny seed from my childhood wanting to push through the soil of my soul and started dreaming again of living a more authentic life

In the early winter of that year I moved into a house. Even though I was renting, for the first time in my life I felt that I had my own home. A small, suburban three bedroom house with a two car garage and a larger back yard. In spring of 2024 I planted some carrots, lettuce, kale, spinach, zucchini, basil, oregano and camomile. My little dream was starting to come alive again. I loved being able to walk out to my backyard, pick some lettuce and kale and make a simple salad. I grew one zucchini but for me that was a huge success. Then life threw me a curve ball I never saw coming.

On Summer Solstice of 2024 my mother passed away due to lung cancer. My mom and I were like two peas in a pod. We’d always been so close and being an only child I was devastated. Over the course of the last two months of her life I began to really notice how what we put into our bodies affects our health. Growing up I used to hear “you are what you eat” frequently but it didn’t really sink in until now.

This made me evaluate my own life and how I was treating my body. I was eating processed foods with ingredients you needed a PhD or a chemist to pronounce. The modern American diet is literally C.R.A.P. (carbonated, refined, artificial and processed). I wasn’t nourishing my body with nutrient rich foods. I wasn’t hydrating. I wasn’t moving (the joys of a modern job in tech support chained to a computer and desk). I wasn’t sleeping well. This was all taking it’s slow toll on my body too. I’d been wanting to live more authentically. Now, at 50 years old it was time to redefine my values and how I wanted to spend the remainder of my years on this beautiful planet. So I decided to change, again.

Over the last 10 months since my mom’s passing I’ve started buying more organics (especially when it comes to the Dirty Dozen). I’ve been buying more wild caught salmon, more grass fed dairy and beef. I’ve started using natural and whole ingredients to make nutrient dense foods. While I don’t have the time, energy and money to garden the way I want I have been able to do other things. I’m re-learning to sew, knit and crochet. I’m practicing dehydrating and canning. I’m learning about foraging and medicinal plants and how to prepare herbal remedies. I’m mending worn out clothes or up-cycling them into new items. I’m learning how to live a more natural and sustainable life with intent.

I no longer want to participate in the hustle and bustle of modern life. I want a simpler life that brings me peace and joy. Spending time in the nature does that. Wether it’s time in my garden, playing with my pets or wether it’s time out camping in the forest, listening to the birds, for me, this is what life’s about. I know it won’t be easy, the best things in life usually aren’t, but it will be fulfilling. To have more control over the food I eat, living in balance and harmony with the natural world and living a life full of purpose and intent. This is how I choose to walk this world. This is the legacy I want to leave.