Little Changes/Big Changes

My family has pretty much changed our whole way of life. We went from living on an Air Force Base like sardines to living out in the country and starting a small farm. We went from depending entirely on the commissary and local stores to growing our own food and meat. We are moving from dependence to more self sustenance.

The changes have been wonderful. We have worked really hard and we are moving toward the way of life we had envisioned for so long.We have a long way to go but boy have we done a lot in just 8 months. We cleared our land of 60+ trees (and junk) to make way for a pasture and a fruit orchard. We bought and installed a large barn, We have made several animal enclosures, acquired 4 goats, 40 chickens (30 will be for meat) 3 pigs, 6 cats and two dogs, put in a 50x38 foot garden with 16 rows of veggies, put in a 50 foot walkway with a garden on each side, planted 15 fruit trees, landscaped around the front of the house, and fixed numerous things inside the house. Now we are getting ready for horses which will be picked up and transported in the fall. With luck, one will be pregnant.

Now that we have made a lot of big changes, we are making a lot of smaller ones as well. One's that will help us save money and resources. We have plans for making barrels to collect rain water. I put in a clothes line. We are working on an irrigation system that will help conserve our water usage. I have been canning and freezing many things from our garden. I am also keeping track of what we eat the most and planning accordingly for next years garden. I have been using appliances less and doing more by hand.

I don't know if we will ever be 100% self-sustaining as that is very difficult. Living completely off the grid takes a lot of hard work and money. We will just take it one project at a time.

In the meantime, we will continue to work our tails off, chase animals around, home school the kids and just be happy.

All the changes are so worth it.