You have to START
Journey to growing food.
This is a brief intro into my family’s journey of backyard gardening and the steps we are taking towards a more sustainable future. Leaving the big city, living the next few years in a college town, and beyond.
My partner and I dream of someday having a piece of our own land and living sustainably. We have differing opinions on how far we go with that, but those kinks can be worked out on the way. Right now, we are living in a college town in central Illinois while he attends professional school. I am fortuneate enough to have a job that allows me to work remotely, but with the endless hours of reading and studying that professional school requires and not having an established network of friends or family, I have a lot of extra time on my hands.
When we left Chicago, we were excited to leave the hustle and bustle of the city. Don’t get me wrong — Chicago is a beautiful city with lots to offer, especially the amazing restaurants. Although we love living outside of the big city, I was kinda bummed that we had to wait 3+ years to start our homesteading adventure. Downstate, our college town also has a lot to offer — it reminds me of living in Madison, WI (where my partner and I met). I read/listen to a lot of material on small farming and homesteading, and I wanted to find a way to get started now instead of waiting for my partner to graduate.
One of my favorite podcasts is Homesteady. Aust, the host, is great. He is very encouraging and he keeps it real with his listeners. One of the episodes How to Start Homesteading was inspiring to me. There was a guest from Norway talking about starting your own homestead, she says: “[starting a homestead] it’s hard work and it takes time. The key is, YOU HAVE TO START”. Even if you live in an urban area, or renting, there are still things you can do to get started. “Let’s do it!” I thought. I can have a garden (and I recently found out that our town will allow us to have chickens — more on that later) and prepare for a lifetime of growing food for my family. Rather than waiting, I decided to kick off right now. Here. We. Go.
