TheReturnHomestead

There is no wrong way to layout a garden . . . if you don't have one. Get out and make use of the land you have. Put in some labor and improve your life with healthy food options. We only put in a few rows last year and had some small success growing sweet potatoes, beans, field peas, tomatoes, greens, and onions. This year we are expanding and filling the backyard with food production. We planned it out; now it is time to get to work.

Homesteading is about figuring out how to take care of yourself. Often that means using what you find and working with two hands when three are needed. We have the brooder in the barn ready to receive the spring chickens. The chickens need a heat lamp, and that presents an interesting challenge. After solving that, we move the chickens out of the house and into the barn.

Working on the homestead means cleaning up after the animals. Nine chickens overwintered in this coop. Now, it needs to be mucked out. The manure is used as fertilizer and mulch around the apple trees. Simple labor that produces eggs, fertilizer, and apple pie jam. Returning to the land means establishing a collection of interdependent systems. Your labor connects the systems. Life results from the enjoyment of fruits from each system as you integrate yourself with the systems. This is why we encourage you to return to the land, return to labor, and return to life.