♦ Before ♦

I haven’t always been good at growing things.  A lot of the things I used to grow in pots failed miserably when I was younger, and I thought for sure that I had a black thumb, instead of a green thumb.  But I come from a long line of green thumbs in my family, so having a black thumb really wasn’t possible..

My mother, my grandmother, my great grandparents, my great great grandmother (well, you get the picture..) all had the greenest thumbs and the most creative minds this world could hold.  My great grandfather built so many things by hand that he could have opened a store!  My great great grandmother could crochet anything with yarn that your little mind could think up, without a pattern (I got that talent from her)!  My mother and grandmother could grow almost any seed you handed them, and keep any plant (in or out of a pot) alive for many many years to come.  Even my brother got some of the creative genes of the family!  But he only likes to bring out his creative side once in a blue moon (normally around Halloween time).

 

It wasn’t until I moved back home to Michigan, that I really started to learn just how far my own imagination could stretch, and just how much of a green thumb I actually had.  When my grandmother let me take over her gardens, I learned how to grow a bunch of stuff!  From; poll beans, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers, to; sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, and bachelor buttons.  I learned a lot about gardening, and before I knew it, I was hooked!

My creative side came out, and in my mind; the possibilities were endless!  I could do anything!  I could build stuff, plant whatever I thought would grow, create masterpieces with yarn, wood, or food.  The world was my canvas, and I was ready to create and experiment!

 

 

♦ Can I do it? ♦

I have to admit, I’ve had quite a few people tell me over the years that I couldn’t do it..

• I’ve had someone tell me that Farming was a ‘retirement dream’.  That it was something that only old people with a lot of money could do.  And that I should be spending my younger years traveling the world and never staying in one place too long.  (News flash, I’ve done the world travel, and I wasn’t a big fan of it.)
• I’ve had multiple people tell me that I couldn’t possibly make a living off Market Farming, and that I should try to go for a job that pays more. (Insert eye roll here..)
• I’ve had someone tell me that I didn’t have the skills to Farm, and that I needed to go to college in order to ‘not fail’.  And even then, they said that I should have a ‘backup’ plan because they didn’t think I could make it in the Farming Business.  (Although, I AM taking college classes for business and agriculture right now, so I ‘guess’ this one had a tiny bit of good advice hidden in it..?)

Regardless of what people say though, agriculture is my passion!  Growing things, making things from scratch, and learning about how to make this earth better for future generations. ❤  It’s what I love!

I’m a big one in believing that anything is possible.  My mother taught me to always believe in myself and that I can do anything, my father taught me to always push myself further than I think I can go, and my uncle taught me to never quit on things.  So when someone comes up to me and tells me that I can’t do something, when I know that I can, I like to prove them wrong. 🙂

 

♦ After ♦

When the dust settles, and I feel like I’ve gained enough knowledge from college, and when I’ve finally found my perfect dream homestead/farm, then my journey can take off.  But as for when the journey started, well, it’s already begun.

I’m not sure when it started exactly..
Did it started when I thought up my dream?
Or when I moved back home?
Or when I planted my first garden?
Or did it start when I started my blog?
Or when I started college?
Or when I started working on my business plan for my future Farm?
Ether way, it has started..

 

♦ Adding a voice ♦

People now a days are becoming more conscious in what they eat and where it comes from.  But how many farmers actually document how they grow their food, and where it truly comes from?

When I started my blog, it was just a simple thought of helping young gardeners such as myself, because there weren’t many blogs out there for ‘young’ homesteaders.  I seen it as a way to help people who were just starting out with gardening, and a way to let my creative juices flow.

But now, it has become more of a way to let the world know, that anything is possible!  I want to remind people to smile. 🙂  To remind people to love those around them! ❤  And to do that while still teaching people about gardening and the beauty of this world.

“And what about when you start your farm..?”  Well I’m glad you asked!  I plan to keep writing stuff about my gardening and farming experiences, as well as letting people in on how I live my day to day life.  (So, basically what I’m doing now.)  I want to have a place where my costumers can look at my site and not only see where their food, flowers, and crafts come from, but also let them watch it come to life before their very eyes!

My life is never fake.  Nothing is scripted.  And I always tell it as it is.

Life is messy, and hard, and tiring, and sometimes full of crappy people.  So why pretend that it isn’t?  BUT!  Life is also beautiful, and full of miracles, and amazing people, and perfect moments.  So why pretend that it isn’t that too??

Everyone has a story to tell, and I believe that mine will be worth telling.  I can only hope that people want to listen.

 

♦ Fixing the Earth, one year at a time ♦

I don’t know if I was ‘meant’ to farm, or if it’s my ‘destiny’, but I do know that I love it.  I love growing things, and I find it so fascinating that something can grow from a small seed the size of a pin prick, to something that is almost as tall as me!  And the fact that one seed can grow hundreds of other seeds?  It feels almost like magic, or like I’m a mad scientist or something when I think about it!  I mean, the science behind it is truly incredible!  (Sorry, geeking out a bit..)

Anyways!  While I was gardening, and reading non-stop about all of the different things you can do with gardening, I started getting into soil conservation.  I built my own compost, I started rotating crops, and I started looking up ways we can build up better soil (and ways that people are hurting the soil right now).

With more learning, came a change in ideas for how I could help people, help the environment, and help myself all at the same time.  The word ‘Permaculture’ got introduced into my vocabulary, and suddenly, I knew that that was what I wanted to do for my future farm.

Permaculture;  noun

The development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.

Permaculture is basically where you take the land, and you grow stuff in such a way to where everything takes care of itself and creates it’s own ecosystem.

• Need your lawn mowed?  Goats can help!  And in exchange, they poop out great fertilizers that help your soil!
• Don’t want to go behind them picking up poop?  No problem!  Let some chickens loose in your yard!  As gross as it sounds, they not only spread out the poop, but they also get a bit of a snack with all of the bugs that they find in your yard!  Got a bunch of ticks in your yard?  Chickens also eat those!
• Can’t afford to feed chickens?  They LOVE scraps from your kitchen!  If you’re not putting all of your kitchen scraps into the compost (or the trash), it cuts down on feeding your chickens store bought food that can be costly!
• And you know what the chickens give you in return for yummy scraps?  Poop for your compost!  Chicken poop is great for compost!  Not only that, but if you let the chickens into the gardens a week or two before it’s time to plant, they scratch up the earth and you don’t have to rototill!
• Got some nasty mice or chipmunks running around your property?  Get a barn cat!  I haven’t seen a single chipmunk since I got an outside cat, and my gardens have remained untouched from those nasty little critters!
• Are birds eating all of your fruit on your fruit trees?  Install some owl boxes!  As mean as it sounds, owls will hunt birds at night, and keep the bird population at a respectable level, keeping your fruit trees safer from those nasty birds!

With Permaculture, there are endless answers to endless questions on how to solve problems naturally!  No more nasty sprays for weeds, the goats can take care of that!  No more nets over trees, an owl will be happy to help you keep the bird population down!  And no more spraying your plants for bugs, a few chickens in your garden, and all the bugs are gone!  You just sit back, and let nature take it’s course.  And that’s what I love about it!  That’ the kind of farm I want.  One where everyone helps out, even the animals! ❤ One big happy ecosystem!  (Oops, sorry, geeked out again..)

 

♦ Conclusion ♦

Farmers should have a voice, and I’ll be making sure that mine is out there.  I think that people have the right to know where their food comes from, and I’m not afraid to show them.

I hope to continue to spread happiness and hope throughout the world through my site, and to remind people that they can do anything they set their minds to.  We are who we think we are, not who we are told we are.  So keep being you, no matter who that is.

As for me, I am a future farmer.  I’m here to stay, I’m here to write, and I’m here to make this world a better and happier place.  I can’t wait until I get my future farm up and running (and I can’t wait for the day when I can stop calling it my ‘future’ farm).

Until then, I’ll be in my gardens, telling my plants all of my secrets, and yelling at the weeds to ‘go away!’ ❤

 

See more everyday homesteading stuff like quotes, lifestyle, pictures, stories, etc, at my official Facebook page here.