Any other farmers/homesteaders out there

[AreYouReady?]

I grew up in the city and we went hungry many times. I have memories as far back of being around 3-years-old and crying because my stomach hurt from lack of food. My mother sent my oldest sister to a neighborhood store to beg for credit for a box of Cream of Wheat. We wore a lot of hand-me-downs and was happy to get them. Our old house had two bedrooms upstairs and one light between those two bedrooms. We could not keep the light on for very long because it had a short in the wiring and kept blowing the fuses. We were cold in the northern winters because there was no heat up there...only a vent in the floor where my parents hoped the heat from downstairs would rise through the vent.

The summers were opposite... hot upstairs because the summer heat rose to the second floor. We had no air conditioning in the house. Not even a window fan upstairs because of the electrical problem. We lived without a hot water heater for years, heating water on the stove for bath's in a # 2 washtub, heating water on the stove to put in rubbermaid tubs to wash dishes.

We did not dwell on the fact that we were impoverished until one of the neighborhood kids would occasionally taunt at us with the fact that we were indeed very poor. When I was a teen, I owned 2 pairs of slacks and one shirt to my name. A couple of the neighborhood girls told me that I could not "hang around them" until I learned to dress better.

By contrast, my husband grew up on a farm. He did not have the very best of clothing, but he had clothing. Never went hungry because they always had milk from the cows, butter from the cream, yard eggs, veggies from the garden, poultry, beef and pork from their animals, grapes from the vine, plums, figs and apples from the trees. The women dried, canned and made jelly and jams from the fruit and canned the excess veggies from the garden. They had a potato house, a corn crib and greens year-round.

I would have rather grown up the way my husband did...on a farm.

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

I grew up in the city and we went hungry many times. I have memories as far back of being around 3-years-old and crying because my stomach hurt from lack of food. My mother sent my oldest sister to a neighborhood store to beg for credit for a box of Cream of Wheat. We wore a lot of hand-me-downs and was happy to get them. Our old house had two bedrooms upstairs and one light between those two bedrooms. We could not keep the light on for very long because it had a short in the wiring and kept blowing the fuses. We were cold in the northern winters because there was no heat up there...only a vent in the floor where my parents hoped the heat from downstairs would rise through the vent.

The summers were opposite... hot upstairs because the summer heat rose to the second floor. We had no air conditioning in the house. Not even a window fan upstairs because of the electrical problem. We lived without a hot water heater for years, heating water on the stove for bath's in a # 2 washtub, heating water on the stove to put in rubbermaid tubs to wash dishes.

We did not dwell on the fact that we were impoverished until one of the neighborhood kids would occasionally taunt at us with the fact that we were indeed very poor. When I was a teen, I owned 2 pairs of slacks and one shirt to my name. A couple of the neighborhood girls told me that I could not "hang around them" until I learned to dress better.

By contrast, my husband grew up on a farm. He did not have the very best of clothing, but he had clothing. Never went hungry because they always had milk from the cows, butter from the cream, yard eggs, veggies from the garden, poultry, beef and pork from their animals, grapes from the vine, plums, figs and apples from the trees. The women dried, canned and made jelly and jams from the fruit and canned the excess veggies from the garden. They had a potato house, a corn crib and greens year-round.

I would have rather grown up the way my husband did...on a farm.

But plenty of country kids had nothing to eat either... I think it has to do with other factors... primarily "opportunity". That opportunity presented it'self to me in a non agricultural way.

Today I could feed a hundred children (to the standard I was raised) on my middle class wages.

My children are very fortunate and are likely not more cognisant of it than I was cognisant of being poor.

[AreYouReady?]

Originally Posted by Hoovie

But plenty of country kids had nothing to eat either... I think it has to do with other factors... primarily "opportunity". That opportunity presented it'self to me in a non agricultural way.

Sure, around this region, there were many sharecropper families that were poor. Some of the richer farmers who hired them took advantage of their poverty.I knew a person who talked about eating corn bread for breakfast and living in a sharecropper house that you could see through the boards. His momma woke up with a rat biting her on her head.

There were times I did not have a breakfast, or a lunch or a dinner for days. I would go to the neighbor's house and she would put a Dr. Pepper in front of me and give me some peanuts. I was happy to have that.

"Opportunity" lacked in many places of this great country...and we still had/have it better than many areas around the world.

[AreYouReady?]

I pointed out in another thread that I came to God because life was cruel to me. Ever since I came to Christ, I've always had a roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my belly. I had some financially tight times, but nothing like growing up and my young adult years. Remembering where I came from and currently how God sustains my family is a testimonial.

This is one of my faith building scriptures when times get tough. King David is probably my favorite Bible character because God said he was a man after his own heart.

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
(Psalms 37:25)

[Titus2woman]

I was raised in Los Angeles in the foster care system. Some of the homes were OK, some were only in it for the money, some were downright abusive. What I remember most was moving... a lot. I went to six schools in fourth grade.

When my husband and I married I moved to Texas. The thing I wanted most was a house. Our first home was pitiful by most standards but it was ours- an owner financed fixer-upper deal because it would have never qualified for a bank loan. It was on a creek and there were woods next door. I learned to fish and trap and hunt and grow things by reading Mother Earth News. We built a smoker, tanned hides of racoons, grew veggies and someone in the neighborhood gave us a goat and a horse when they moved away. I learned to milk with one lesson from the woman leaving the goat. I trained that horse from a book I got at the library and rode her all over town even on the busy roads in just a few weeks... If I'd only understood the danger I was in!

That area became suburbia and shortly after we paid the house off the property escalated in value. We got a nicer place and lived there 19 years while we raised our boys. It was a subdivision but allowed horses and one could get away with chickens if roosters did not crow and neighbors did not complain.

We've been on the farm five years. It's our retirement home although we are not retired. Many times I've thought how nice it would have been to raise my children here but the Lord knows best and my sons had great opportunities and took great advantage of them. But there is no more fun place in the world to have grandchildren than this place. They love it here... they play in the hay loft and fish in the pond and bottle feed baby goats and chase puppies. The memories the Lord has given me through this place have erased every bad memory I've ever had. And if it all went away today and I still lived the long life I've asked Him for I would be content for that lifetime having such precious things to reflect on.

We pray daily that the Lord continue to use this farm to provide for his people and that if the time comes in our lifetimes, that the children of God are not able to buy or sell, we will still be here for them.

Thanks for sharing your stories. Bro Hoovie I have such awe at the Old Order Mennonite people and their simple lives. I hope we can share more about your life with them some other time.

[Digging4Truth]

I don't think farming should be looked at as a profitable venture as far as it making one money. One should view farming as a slow process of making ones land provide food for their family and if, in time, the land begins to produce more than the family can consume and you end up selling some of it then that is just the icing on the cake.

My interest in farming is from several places in my psyche.

1. I feel like a farming lifestyle is the way we were meant to live. I'm not calling anyone wrong or a sinner if they don't... but I just think this is the way we were meant to live. We want to be people who are close to their food supply and who depend on processes God put in place for much of their "daily bread".

2. I view this lifestyle as one that puts it's faith in God. The lifestyle I used to live was one that put it's faith in an economy built on debt to continue on as it always has. If the economy fails and it ruins me and leaves me helpless then I have built my confidence in the wrong system.

3. I am a firm believer that our nations economy will collapse (perhaps totally) in my lifetime. This encourages me even more to wean my family off of debt living and dependence on the local grocery store for my source of food. We are still far too dependent but we continue to try and move in the right direction. If, in the end, this debt based economy continues on as it has then what have I gained?... I have gained a life of following after the things I love and that is increasingly free of debt where we are more in touch with our food supply and we have passed on a legacy of leaning on God and His teachings to form our lives. I don't see that as a net loss if I'm completely wrong. I see that as a net gain.

Again... this isn't to judge anyone elses life. These are simply the glasses through which I see my world and make my decisions.

I have also decided that running a farm is not what the old timers used to do AFTER work. It is a job on it's own. So we build slowly trying to learn how to work smarter rather than harder as we move along.

If we decided to make this a "profitable" farm we'd burn out quickly. What we seek is the happiness that comes with food on our table that came from the sweat of our own brow and the blessings of the God who made all things grow. But that, to me, is profitable indeed.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

I was raised in Los Angeles in the foster care system. Some of the homes were OK, some were only in it for the money, some were downright abusive. What I remember most was moving... a lot. I went to six schools in fourth grade.

When my husband and I married I moved to Texas. The thing I wanted most was a house. Our first home was pitiful by most standards but it was ours- an owner financed fixer-upper deal because it would have never qualified for a bank loan. It was on a creek and there were woods next door. I learned to fish and trap and hunt and grow things by reading Mother Earth News. We built a smoker, tanned hides of racoons, grew veggies and someone in the neighborhood gave us a goat and a horse when they moved away. I learned to milk with one lesson from the woman leaving the goat. I trained that horse from a book I got at the library and rode her all over town even on the busy roads in just a few weeks... If I'd only understood the danger I was in!

That area became suburbia and shortly after we paid the house off the property escalated in value. We got a nicer place and lived there 19 years while we raised our boys. It was a subdivision but allowed horses and one could get away with chickens if roosters did not crow and neighbors did not complain.

We've been on the farm five years. It's our retirement home although we are not retired. Many times I've thought how nice it would have been to raise my children here but the Lord knows best and my sons had great opportunities and took great advantage of them. But there is no more fun place in the world to have grandchildren than this place. They love it here... they play in the hay loft and fish in the pond and bottle feed baby goats and chase puppies. The memories the Lord has given me through this place have erased every bad memory I've ever had. And if it all went away today and I still lived the long life I've asked Him for I would be content for that lifetime having such precious things to reflect on.

We pray daily that the Lord continue to use this farm to provide for his people and that if the time comes in our lifetimes, that the children of God are not able to buy or sell, we will still be here for them.

Thanks for sharing your stories. Bro Hoovie I have such awe at the Old Order Mennonite people and their simple lives. I hope we can share more about your life with them some other time.

It does, indeed, take time to be free.

My wife and I have been married for 20 years and about 4 years ago we found the place we live in now. 3 acres with a 3 bedroom 1 bath house built on it and a partially fenced pasture. It was a bank repo and we offered them $10,000 and they took the offer.

It is now a 4/2 with a subdivided & still partially fenced in pasture... a goat pen... chicken pen... tool shed... and the improvements continue. We love taking this place and making it our own one weekend at a time. And the house is mortgage free. For that we are ever so thankful.

My parents' families are from East Texas. The Batson/Liberty/Hull/Daisetta area.

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

I don't think farming should be looked at as a profitable venture as far as it making one money. One should view farming as a slow process of making ones land provide food for their family and if, in time, the land begins to produce more than the family can consume and you end up selling some of it then that is just the icing on the cake.

My interest in farming is from several places in my psyche.

1. I feel like a farming lifestyle is the way we were meant to live. I'm not calling anyone wrong or a sinner if they don't... but I just think this is the way we were meant to live. We want to be people who are close to their food supply and who depend on processes God put in place for much of their "daily bread".

2. I view this lifestyle as one that puts it's faith in God. The lifestyle I used to live was one that put it's faith in an economy built on debt to continue on as it always has. If the economy fails and it ruins me and leaves me helpless then I have built my confidence in the wrong system.

3. I am a firm believer that our nations economy will collapse (perhaps totally) in my lifetime. This encourages me even more to wean my family off of debt living and dependence on the local grocery store for my source of food. We are still far too dependent but we continue to try and move in the right direction. If, in the end, this debt based economy continues on as it has then what have I gained?... I have gained a life of following after the things I love and that is increasingly free of debt where we are more in touch with our food supply and we have passed on a legacy of leaning on God and His teachings to form our lives. I don't see that as a net loss if I'm completely wrong. I see that as a net gain.

Again... this isn't to judge anyone elses life. These are simply the glasses through which I see my world and make my decisions.

I have also decided that running a farm is not what the old timers used to do AFTER work. It is a job on it's own. So we build slowly trying to learn how to work smarter rather than harder as we move along.

If we decided to make this a "profitable" farm we'd burn out quickly. What we seek is the happiness that comes with food on our table that came from the sweat of our own brow and the blessings of the God who made all things grow. But that, to me, is profitable indeed.

Your views very much mirror ours. I guess the only way I can see difference is that God seems to be moving us along quickly for reasons we do not yet fully understand. We started out with 10 acres and quickly got an opertunity to expand to 33. We did not have the financial means for this and it was only by devine providence that we were able to close on that property. In addition to providing our own food we are now helping new homesteaders with seedstock plants and animals and suburbanites with healthy food. We are not looking to get rich but are hopeful that the Lord's plan is for my husband to have some hope of 'retirement' with the farm... A hope that did not exist before it as after raising and educating five sons we really had little saved. But most of all we love this life and belive that we are doing daily what God created us to do. The pastoral analogies in the bible have come alive for us. We are fulfilled. This is just sooo cool!

[bbyrd009]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

It does, indeed, take time to be free.

My wife and I have been married for 20 years and about 4 years ago we found the place we live in now. 3 acres with a 3 bedroom 1 bath house built on it and a partially fenced pasture. It was a bank repo and we offered them $10,000 and they took the offer.

It is now a 4/2 with a subdivided & still partially fenced in pasture... a goat pen... chicken pen... tool shed... and the improvements continue. We love taking this place and making it our own one weekend at a time. And the house is mortgage free. For that we are ever so thankful.

My parents' families are from East Texas. The Batson/Liberty/Hull/Daisetta area.

Ha! You scored...

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

It does, indeed, take time to be free.

My wife and I have been married for 20 years and about 4 years ago we found the place we live in now. 3 acres with a 3 bedroom 1 bath house built on it and a partially fenced pasture. It was a bank repo and we offered them $10,000 and they took the offer.

It is now a 4/2 with a subdivided & still partially fenced in pasture... a goat pen... chicken pen... tool shed... and the improvements continue. We love taking this place and making it our own one weekend at a time. And the house is mortgage free. For that we are ever so thankful.

My parents' families are from East Texas. The Batson/Liberty/Hull/Daisetta area.

We have friends in Hull/Daisetta! Now that is 'in the boonies'!!!