I homesteaded to a certain degree with my first husband when my kids were growing up. We had dairy goats, 50+ chickens for eggs (sold some), fed out pigs and a dairy calf each year. Raised some veggies in raised beds. Hubby deer hunted, and we had land on the river and fished. I "came back" to this way of living last year after a back injury that ruined my career as a paramedic. I manage a sr. citizen's center now, so I only work part-time after a diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy (with accompanying 2 surgeries) and firbomyaglia. We have 25 hens and 3 roosters, 2 does and a buck rabbit, getting a pig and a calf this week, have 7 raised beds, wild blackberries grow down the driveway, blueberry bushes and grape vines that don't produce yet, and we just planted apple trees, plum trees, pear trees, and cherry trees. I am able to can anything I have instructions for. I make sourdough and whole wheat bread. DH wants to put in a root cellar and smokehouse in the near future. He also wants to buy a tractor and have a larger garden and raise some animal food. We also have a pond, 12 acres of hay fields, and put in a wood stove that heats our entire house. We live in a small 14 X 50 MH that is paid for with an 18 X 14 screened porch onto it. We have about 6 months of food stored, some health/beauty/toiletry storage, heirloom and polinated seeds, an old well that we can get water from in case SHTF, and the means to protect it if necessary. I just started various berry plants in the greenhouse to add to the current layout.
