I have been absent once again. As many of you know, by reading my posts, that I try to juggle homesteading values, starting up an urban farm, and working full-time at an off the farm job. I have to be honest…it is hard, very hard, but I love it. The path that I choose to follow, that many people choose to follow, is a very worthwhile path. I have been very busy with the farm in the last few
months and then in the last month I had to take a break from the farm to be with family that are experiencing health issues right now. Life is short. We think to ourselves that we will do something later, live the life we want later, love later. Then later comes and we wonder where the time went. In 2015 I decided to live out my dream. I had worked in the horticulture industry for over 20 years. When I started in that profession I had always loved growing, and I was good at growing. I should have started my farm then, however I always thought, “I have time, I will do it later, I cannot afford it”. That was in the 90’s when I was told at the agricultural college that I went to, ” there is no money in small scale vegetable production”. We live in a different word today, and wow what a shift in those attitudes! It may sound awful but I truly believe the shift comes from the fact that we, as Generation X have nothing to lose.
I grew up before technology. I entered the workforce during a major recession, and then once that recession ended and I started to get established we were hit with another recession. I am from the generation that was part of a mass exodus to large urban centers because our hometowns and rural areas were dying out. Now we are trapped in urban centers because all of our income goes to housing, and we have nothing saved. We stay because we need our jobs to survive. My generation (Generation X), was known for not wanting to fit the norm, for being unconventional, but having to just buck up..grow up…and try to fit into the ‘Baby Boom’ expectations. I am speaking from personal experience, as this is absolutely me. I am glad that I have embraced the homesteading ideals, and have started to pursue my dreams. We currently rent, and the house that we live in is probably on its last legs. We may have to move, but unfortunately even the semi-rural area that we live in now has become too expensive to rent in, much less own. Both my partner and I are currently experiencing employment instability. This is sad as we put in our time with our respective employers. Our financial situation is once again very unstable, but we are not worried. Homesteading has given us security; we have enough food preserved and stockpiled, we can make most of what we need with minimal, inexpensive ingredients, we have a small income coming in this summer from my urban farm, and most importantly we KNOW that we can pick up and start again.
Homesteading, and the Urban Farming movement has given me more peace of mind then the employer that I had for years. My partner and I are actively seeking out a new affordable area to move to, to start our farm over again, to continue on the path to self-sustainability. I do find it ironic though that to do this I will be returning to the rural areas that Generation X had to leave! I hope that this post will be the start of many. I love to write, and I love to homestead and farm. I consider it a true gift that I have finally realized that the ideals that have always been part of who I am, ideals that I was told to push down, are the same ideals that now will provide myself and my partner the most security. Let’s just end with a few pics of what I have been doing on my urban farm this season!