As we start this new year, I have been thinking about how much our lives have changed since we left the big city life in Las Vegas behind and moved to the Wisconsin countryside. We are now in a totally different enviroment for both
climate and social culture, and our living arrangements have been drastically altered. Here are a few of the things I am happy to be doing now that we never did in the city:
climate and social culture, and our living arrangements have been drastically altered. Here are a few of the things I am happy to be doing now that we never did in the city:
1) Grow All Our Summer Vegetables. Although I always give
Chris credit for his attempts at growing food on our steamy condo patio, it had NOTHING on what he was able to accomplish with just over 400 square feet of landspace dedicated to gardening. By the end of the summer, I didn't have a care when the farmer's market was ending for the season, because we had no need to go. We grew an abumdance of vegetables including acorn squash, tomatoes, beets, radishes, carrots, potatoes, beans, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, corn, and cucumbers (I'm sure I forgot SOMETHING). Along with an already established asparagus patch and 3 apple trees on property, we are still eating the fruits of our harvest. Which leads me to number 2...
Chris credit for his attempts at growing food on our steamy condo patio, it had NOTHING on what he was able to accomplish with just over 400 square feet of landspace dedicated to gardening. By the end of the summer, I didn't have a care when the farmer's market was ending for the season, because we had no need to go. We grew an abumdance of vegetables including acorn squash, tomatoes, beets, radishes, carrots, potatoes, beans, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, corn, and cucumbers (I'm sure I forgot SOMETHING). Along with an already established asparagus patch and 3 apple trees on property, we are still eating the fruits of our harvest. Which leads me to number 2...
2) Can and Preserve Food. We've done dehydrating on a
small scale for years, this year we not only dehydrated buckets of apples, we
also did watermelon and tomatoes. We canned apples, tomatoes, sauerkraut,
beets, jams, and pickles. Once we realized how much money we could save on
apple juice, we purchased a Jack LaLaine juicer and froze several gallons of
juice from our own apple trees. From our herbal tea garden and black walnut
trees we also dried enough chammomile, fennel, lemongrass, lemon verbana, black
walnut, and spearmint to serve our tea addiction throughout the winter.
small scale for years, this year we not only dehydrated buckets of apples, we
also did watermelon and tomatoes. We canned apples, tomatoes, sauerkraut,
beets, jams, and pickles. Once we realized how much money we could save on
apple juice, we purchased a Jack LaLaine juicer and froze several gallons of
juice from our own apple trees. From our herbal tea garden and black walnut
trees we also dried enough chammomile, fennel, lemongrass, lemon verbana, black
walnut, and spearmint to serve our tea addiction throughout the winter.
3) Live Amongst Animals. Our housecats, Bubba and Binky, and a handful of fish throughout the years was our only connection to four-legged companions...until now! Now we live in harmony with 30+ breeding cattle, 3 horses, chickens, ducks, and no less than 15 barncats. Although we can't call them our own, or reap the benefits of raising them, it is still one of the coolest things to look out the window during dinner to a cow rubbing up against her baby, or two bulls duking it out.
4) Recycle. HOLD YOUR STONES! I know, I know people in the city recycle all the time...but at our condo complex in Vegas it was not a requirement, and no services came, which would have required us to take it ourselves to the recycling center, which we never did. The funny thing is, here we not only have to take our own recycling, but we have also opted out of paying high prices for trash removal, and deliver that ourselves, too. Between burning our paper and cardboard, saving various glass bottles for artist friends, recycling our metal, plastic, and glass, and feeding our kitchen food scraps to the ducks and chickens, we only accumulate about 1 full trash can each month. This is a HUGE difference from the "bag a day" we were hauling to our complex dumpster...without a thought or care as to where it was going.
5) Live on Less Money (and Feel Good About it!). Chris and I have never been wealthy, and I can't speak directly for him, but I was NEVER ok with that in Vegas. Maybe the "money-culture" is partially to blame, but I take full responsibility for my own unhappiness in this area. We are now down to a 1-income household that relies on 2 part-time positions to survive. And while we are diligent about watching our spending, we reap the huge rewards of having a full-time stay-at-home parent, having more time to engage in the arts and crafts we love to create, a comfortable home on 10 acres of land, being the only house within a half mile, and living amongst like-minded people who are family-driven, not money driven. Having the opportunity to think and act creatively about diversifying income is one of the biggest draws to homesteading for me personally. This, along with also getting creative about DIY projects, appreciating all the things we are gifted, and wasting less, all bring so much more joy to life than rat-racing to the office everyday to a job that was not bringing fullfillment to my life.
5) Live on Less Money (and Feel Good About it!). Chris and I have never been wealthy, and I can't speak directly for him, but I was NEVER ok with that in Vegas. Maybe the "money-culture" is partially to blame, but I take full responsibility for my own unhappiness in this area. We are now down to a 1-income household that relies on 2 part-time positions to survive. And while we are diligent about watching our spending, we reap the huge rewards of having a full-time stay-at-home parent, having more time to engage in the arts and crafts we love to create, a comfortable home on 10 acres of land, being the only house within a half mile, and living amongst like-minded people who are family-driven, not money driven. Having the opportunity to think and act creatively about diversifying income is one of the biggest draws to homesteading for me personally. This, along with also getting creative about DIY projects, appreciating all the things we are gifted, and wasting less, all bring so much more joy to life than rat-racing to the office everyday to a job that was not bringing fullfillment to my life.
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As our lives progress, I know this list will grow and grow. We have such big dreams that we only started to see the possibilities of when we lived in the urban center of Las Vegas. If you have made the move from city-to-farm, what kinds of things can you think of that are different? We would love to be inspired by our readers! Please feel free to comment and share!
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