Fellow Homestead-ian: Sara from Pennsylvania!
I'm a few days late on this week's Fellow Homestead-ian post, but don't yell at me. I've been very busy milking my new cow. And until I get the hang of it, I have to plan on spending about two hours down at the barn each morning. Nope. Totally not kidding. So if I'm a little M.I.A. over the next week, you needn't fear. I'm just working really, really, really hard on learning how to milk like a champ!But since everyone else in the world isn't having to spent such a large chunk of their day with a bovine, I've decided to provide you with a bit of quality reading material. Let's meet another fellow homestead-ian from Pennsylvania who is striving to make her homestead right where she is!Fellow Homestead-ian: Sara from Pennsylvania
Hello. Who are you? Where do you live? Where is your homestead located?HELLO! My name is Sara Lutz and I live in Central (ish) PA! We currently rent a house in a town that we're totally new to! I'm lucky to be a (mostly) Stay at Home Mom to a beautiful daughter.How did it all begin for you?When my husband and I first got married, he was unemployed for a while and started educating himself on the state of our economy and the world. We started realizing that the only way we can get out of any future mess is to have the necessary qualities to live off the land. We needed to start preparing now and educating ourselves on how to live like our ancestors did, without all of the technology and ease given to us today. As I became pregnant we began pursuing more natural parenting techniques and everything just started coming together piece by piece.
What sort of homesteading are you currently involved in?We started off gardening. We rented a place in Lancaster County for a while and were blessed to have rich soil and a huge area of land to grow on. We started with the help of a friend and didn't have much of a plan or know what we were doing. I slowly started learning about making my own products like laundry detergent, deodorant, cleaning solutions, etc. I started buying more local food and watching what type of meals I was providing for my family. Through my journey I've also started to become vegan (a transition from the pescatarian that I once was), and experimenting with more whole food cooking. We moved in the middle of the summer so we couldn't garden again, and After attending the Mother Earth News Fair this year, we really amped things up a bit. I bought a "vermicomposter" and 1200 worms to start it off. We also built a huge garden in our "yard" and started a big compost pile out there as well. I've been starting to experiment with fermentation and I'm almost ready to start up my own Kombucha brewing station! We're also experimenting with year round gardening, dehydrating, canning and as you can see in the pictures, solar cooking. I utilize cloth diapers on my daughter and I try to line dry when I can.
What’s the best part of homesteading?Knowing that you're always working towards something. I'm sure if I filled this out a week ago it would be different, and if I filled it out a month from now it would be different. There are so many great aspects of homesteading. I feel like my husband and I have a goal in life. Something our family can work towards that will never be 100% complete and ever changing. I know that this adventure will teach my children so many great skills that have been lost in most families of developed nations. I feel confident that as my families homesteading adventure continues to grow, we will be able to continually provide for our family in a worst case scenario off of our land, and THAT is what's awesome about homesteading!
What’s the worst part of homesteading?I really don't like getting dirty and I've had to do a lot of dirty work since becoming a "homesteader". I hate bugs and I own 1200 worms. EW. I hate clutter but my yard is covered in cinderblocks, garden stuff and plants. I hate messes but with the meals that I make from (mostly) scratch, I get lots of messes, and then some. It challenges me and allows me to humble myself by enduring through these things.
What would you like your homestead to look like in 5 years?OH MY GOSH. I'd like to own some land, first of all! I would feel more "official" if we had our own place and didn't have to worry about moving or buying or building. I would love to have chickens, for sure, but not to eat - Just to help with the compost! I'd like a good solid year round garden and a huge cellar of home made canned goods! I would love to be utilizing solar energy or geothermal heat and living in a cob house, too, but maybe I'll save that for our 10 year plan?!
How has homesteading changed your view of the world? It's kinda hard to say it publicly, but it makes me sad that the developed nation that we live in has lost this need or want to homestead and provide for their own family. We have grown so used to just going to the grocery store for everything and not questioning people of authority and not continuing to learn that we've turned into a nation of sheep and we've lost the ability to truly survive and thrive. It does, however, give me appreciation for the people who have no choice but to homestead. I have the comfort of kind of homesteading, kind of not. I can have my cake and eat it too. Some people live like I want to live because they have no choice, and that is hard to take in.
What’s something you wish you’d have known before you began homesteading?I wish I would have known I don't have to have a permanent dwelling in order to homestead. I could have been growing my own herbs in a window, and working with my husband to build neat homesteading things for years now. I kept pushing all of this off because we didn't have land, didn't have our own house, and i just assumed it was impossible. Now we have just decided it is possible and we have to start somewhere, so here we are! It's hard for me to consider my doings that of a homesteader, but we all homestead differently, and anything you do now will contribute to your ultimate and hopefully permanent homestead. A homestead is not a place, but a way of life!
I love how Sara points out, "we all homestead differently". Isn't that the beauty of it all? Thanks for sharing, Sara! We're glad to have you here!How are YOU homesteading? Tell me about it! I want to hear, share, and inspire!