Mike and I started dating when he was 13 and I was 14. Most of our “dates” consisted of swimming at the YMCA, walking, and making tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches at his parents house. And we spent countless hours pouring over The Foxfire Books. We were going to homestead.
Yes, we bathed in this galvanized tub.
We married when he was 18 and I was 19. And we moved to the country, to a run-down house with no running water and wood stoves for heat, and began the job of fixing things up. But our life took a lot of twists and turns and country-living and homesteading were not to be. For most of the 37 years of our marriage we’ve been city dwellers.
Click here to read the rest of our story at Hullabaloo Homestead where I’m guest posting. And then let me know what you think – are we homesteaders?
Thank you for visiting Learning And Yearning. May "the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Num 6:24-26
Holly @ Your Gardening Friend says
[I copy/pasted my comment from Hullabaloo Homestead.]
Since I’ve been following Learning and Yearning for quite some time, it was wonderful to get a peek into more of your (Susan) life. 🙂
Deep down, I don’t think of myself as a homesteader. I think that’s for two reasons:
1. I feel, and rightfully so, as though I’m in the infancy stage of a more natural living lifestyle; and
2. I have no traditional homestead/farm critters. That’s the big one for me!
I keep thinking that as soon as I have goats, I’ll be a part of the “cool” club. LOL. And I’ll be a REAL homesteader.
I think caring for homestead critters is a big part of what being a homesteader is all about. HOWEVER … {here comes the silver lining}, maybe you can – and I SHOULD – think of it this way:
Isn’t it possible that there were real ‘Little House on the Prairie’ sort of people who did primarily farming (today’s farming OR gardening), and there were others who focused on herding all their beef cattle (think of those out west)?
Those who spent all their time in the farming fields might have relied on the local mom and pop store to provide them with all their meat, eggs, raw milk, etc., etc., That meat, eggs, raw milk, etc. would have come from their next-door neighbor. The same ones who were on horseback day-in and day-out herding their cattle to greener pasture would have to rely on the local mom and pop store for the people who brought all their farm/garden produce into town. So … it took all sorts to make that town run like a homestead.
At least that’s what I like to think. 🙂 If it really happened like Little House on the Prairie, everyone did everything. {sigh}
At the VERY least, maybe you’re not the hard-core homesteader (nor am I), but when you look around at how most of the world lives, don’t you think the below list sounds pretty homestead-y?
– Plants a huge garden and cans, ferments, and dehydrates the produce that they’re not using to cook from-scratch meals (picture flour on your face)l
– Uses no modern-day weed-killers or pesticides, but instead uses stuff like egg shells, white earthy powder, vinegar, etc.;
– Makes bread, yogurt, lard, and soap FROM SCRATCH;
– Washes their clothes in a wringer – who does that?!?!; 😉
– Uses a wood-stove;
– “Butchers” – or whatever you call it – fish that they personally caught on the lake;
– Hunts for meat;
…
That looks close enough to me like a homesteader, even without a goat or cow. 🙂
YOU’RE A HOMESTEADER. 🙂
Susan Vinskofski says
Don’t forget – I no longer wash my clothes in a wringer washer. HaHa. So maybe my homesteading days are behind me! But I think the fact that I washed cloth diapers for 2 kids in it AND hung them on a clothesline summer and winter should get me some lifelong points, don’t you?
Holly Bose (Your Gardening Friend) says
Absolutely!
You hung clothes on the line in the winter? That’s homesteading dedication! Did the clothes come off the line as bricks? 😉
Susan Vinskofski says
They sure did! But we didn’t do it because we were homesteaders. We did it because we were poor. 😉
Pamela says
I absolutely loved this post Susan, that you shared over on Hulabaloo’s blog, which by the way I had never heard of before and now have a new homesteaders blog to read!
Susan Vinskofski says
Thanks, Pamela! It was like taking a trip back in time to write it!
Ten Acre Homestead says
This was a wonderful glimpse into your life and journey. I’d say you’re husband has it right. Homesteading doesn’t have to be on a huge acreage. Homesteading can happen right where you are. Thanks for sharing!
Susan Vinskofski says
Thank you for your kind comment!!!
Beth says
Loved reading your post because it has been the same for my husband and me. We have talked for almost all of our 18 years of marriage of buying that homestead but we too live in a small city which is close to our church and Christian School. I too have learned to be content in all things. We have chickens and I try to squeak out as many veggies as I can in the sunny parts of our yard. I do u pick berries and apples and tomatoes and make many things homemade. My son told me the kids in his class thought we lived on a farm because “everything” was homemade in his lunch! 🙂 Thank you for the reminder of God’s sovereignty in our lives and to wait on him for all things! I was just having another dreaming moment this week – “if only”. I’ve decided there will be a garden in heaven for us-not that we will care then but… 🙂 Came across your blog and post trying to figure out how to make homemade apple cider vinegar. Think I might have done it! Just needed to see what to do next. Want to use it for queen of Hungary water because I’m out and the herbs are here!
“But godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Susan Vinskofski says
So happy to have you visit, Beth. And thank you for the encouragement. Just today I was thinking how much I enjoy living where I can walk to our small town which has some great shops and cafes. Town living can be really good!