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Home > Farm Life > My Top Five Homesteading Lessons
Home > Farm Life > My Top Five Homesteading Lessons
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multi colored eggs in a black egg basket, resting on a pile of fall leaves

Over the past few years of our homesteading journey, I have learned many lessons and skills. If I could narrow it all down, here’s my top five homesteading lessons.

I’ve pinned many ideas on various boards on Pinterest– all wonderful ideas, but I’m afraid I’m starting to overwhelm my husband. Ha. I’ve also tried to tackle too many of them at once.

Homesteading is a big job and I’m a go big or go home kind of gal. But taking on too many things often leads to burn out or becoming overwhelmed. I’m a busy mama already, I don’t need anything which will lead to chaos.

Soo, today I’m sharing a few of my lessons learned since leaving the city life, which I knew and loved, for something even more rewarding.

two read barns on a farm

This country life is not for the weak or faint of heart. I’ve had to grow many skills in a short amount of time and to adapt to a lot of random situations.

Luckily for me, my husband spent his life building on many of the skills necessary for homestead life, so he’s my handy go-to guy.

Here are my key take-a-ways and lessons learned over the last few years.

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two chickens free ranging in a yard

Be Resilient and Adaptable

This is by far my biggest piece of advice for anyone who is looking to trade in their life and take on the challenges of homesteading.

There may be times when your best laid plans are quickly thrown to the curb and you’ve needed to adapt to a crazy situation. Or something came up at the last minute.

Resilience and being able to move on or try again are incredibly important skills to master. We have needed to continuously switch gears with our plans.

Predators, for example, are a constant battle and just when we think we have our chickens safe and secure, a possum is discovered eating one of our hens in the corner of the coop (and I have yet to figure out the point of entry!).

We’ve already given up on free ranging our chickens, but it can still be challenging and super heartbreaking!

Remaining tough and adapting to these types of situations is so incredibly important!

ducks outdoor in a fenced in pen

Take Breaks & Relax

Oh, boy. This one is tough for many of us. But its truly important for our health and well-being. Take regular scheduled breaks, occasional vacations, or whatever you need to do to keep your mental health and overall well-being in check.

I know, this is a challenge in itself!

Who will watch the animals or farm when we’re away? I usually try to keep our trips short and simple. Either a quick day trip or short weekend away will usually recharge our batteries and allow us to stay refreshed.

Here are a few other ideas if you can’t sneak away from the homestead.

group of goats eating hay outside

Don’t Take on Too Much 

As I’ve mentioned above, this is a huge fault of mine. I like to think that I can do it all. But the truth is, most of us can’t.

So, I’ve had to learn to scale way back and go smaller on certain tasks or projects until I get the hang of a certain skill.

My first year on our homestead, I bought a ton of organic garden seeds and attempted to take on a huge garden plot.

Then I became pregnant.

The morning sickness was no joke and by the time I recovered from that, the swollen feet, body aches, and pains set in.

Needless to say, the garden plans got ditched and I focused on smaller projects. Now that I’ve started getting more successful at gardening and my children are getting older, I add a little more to our garden plot each year.

Take Partners and Network

I wish that I knew the importance of this in the beginning of our journey. It hasn’t been until recently that I’ve learned the value in great partners.

I have met some truly amazing people through social media and while networking. Which has not only led to new friendships, its also taught me may different homesteading skills. I have truly enjoyed seeing how various people homestead and learning what makes them successful!

ducks and hens foraging in a pile of hay

Set Goals & Stay Organized

Staying organized is the only way that I avoid chaos in this life as a wife and home with a homestead. I learned a little while back that setting goals, staying organized, and moving towards minimalism are what helps me to stay focused.

Another point that I’d like to share here…

Be open to updating and changing your goals throughout the year. Its ok to change your original goals as needed when your path switches course.

group of hens in a close up shot

There’s many other important lessons learned while homesteading, but these are my top five. These are the most valuable lessons I’ve learned…so far. Share with us, what are your top lessons learned while homesteading?

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Comments

  1. Kim Lofquist says

    December 11, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    Hey Neighbor! Love your blog! Looking forward to finding MY homestead “groove”. We have a shortage of outbuildings, but finally running water, and even though I’m nursing, I am currently not pregnant! Soo…. here’s hoping next year’s garden will be amazing! Before we moved up here I was doing so much better with lacto fermenting and eating well, and just EVERYTHING! I keep waiting for life to slow down…::did I just hear God giggle? ::Organization is SO vital and I struggle there. I also need to utilize my “Big” helpers (age 16, 11, 8 and 6) a lot more than I do! Even the 3 year old can probably do more than I give him credit for. You’ve given me inspiration though so Thank you! Looking forward to meeting you face to face one of these days!

    Reply
    • Mary Beth says

      December 12, 2016 at 8:03 am

      Hey Kim! If there is anything that I’ve learned along this journey, it’s that these things all take time. Definitely not when I want them to happened either and I still have not mastered patience haha. Working on it. Our youngest is also just about 9 months…this is the longest that I’ve gone in between pregnancies and I am welcoming this break! What are you growing this year? Lee is planning to build me a greenhouse… I’m so excited to attempt to extend our growing season! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Gita Johr says

    June 9, 2018 at 3:00 am

    Hey. Hope you good. Thank you very much for advise. I just started with my homestead in January 2018. This morning I decided just to sleep in and relax. I have so many ideas for the homestead and started with so many things. I take note of what you were saying by organizing and prioritizing. Thank you very much . Gita from Africa Namibia

    Reply
    • Mary Beth says

      June 9, 2018 at 10:27 am

      How exciting! Congratulations on your new homestead. Rest is so important…enjoy! 🙂

      Reply

about mary

Hi, I’m Mary! A Traditional Catholic (TLM), loving rancher’s wife, homeschooling mama of 4.

I’m passionate about my faith, family, gardening, and cooking. And of course, coffee.

I help busy moms, like you, live a more simple & natural life by making real food ingredient & non-toxic product swaps, without extra stress.

 

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