Building a homestead doesn’t magically appear overnight. It is a lot of work and planning. As you know our first step was to buy the land. Now we are in the process of building our new home. So, what do I do in the meantime?
Well, I am learning new skills and trying to be self sufficient. I mean you can’t just expect to be able to live off your land, when you no nothing about gardening or raising animals. I have been watching a ton of YouTube videos about homesteading and canning your own foods. My favorite channel is Living Traditions Homestead. If you are interested in homesteading, farming or gardening, I highly recommend their channel. I have learned many things just by watching their videos. Some of my other favorites are: Homesteading Family, VW Family Farm and Wilhelms Kitchen just to name a few.
I have also done a lot of reading about gardening and canning and recommend some of these books if you are just starting out: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, Gardening Basics for Dummies and The Homesteading Handbook.
One of the first things we did to get ready for our homestead was to get some pigs. Yes pigs! I know it sounds unusual for someone to start their homesteading journey with pigs, but they kind of feel in our lap.
A family member was raising some pigs for slaughter and we had purchased one in the hopes that he would raise it. That way we could enjoy the benefits of fresh pork without actually having to do any of the work. Well, his living situation changed unexpectedly and the four pigs had to be moved quickly. We had the space and the means so the four pigs moved to our property. We continued to raise them for a few months until they were ready for processing. That was not a fun adventure at all and we learned what to do and not to do when raising pigs.
After our learning experience with the pigs, I have decided that I need to get back to basics and learn some more simple skills so that when our new house is built I can actually get my chickens and start my homesteading garden.
Since it is winter I decided to start perfecting my baking and cooking skills. I have begun to bake my own breads and I am trying to use yeast more often. I have had a few mishaps with bread not rising and I tried to make cinnamon rolls without yeast. However, I have also learned to make some very delicious bread!
For the rest of the winter I will be baking more breads and making awesome cinnamon rolls. I have also started learning to make homemade items that I normally buy from the grocery store. This learning process has been very eye opening and I want to share my experience with you so I will be doing several videos on all the homemade items that I try to make, so stay tuned for that on my YouTube Channel. Last week I made home made caramel coffee creamer.
What skills have you learned to be more self-sufficient?
Follow Along As I Start My Homesteading Journey 