Homesteading – a Journey to a Healthier You!
Whether you are milking a cow, growing a garden or just buying food from a local farm you are a part of this homesteading world!
The bottom line is that us homesteaders, at heart, just want to get connected with the land. We want to know our food is real. We want to consume humanely-raised meat. We want to cook from scratch. We want to know how to survive, live and do life.
This homesteading life, living off the land, feeds our souls.
8 Reasons Homesteading will Make You Healthier
#1. Rise & Rest
Homesteaders often end up with some sort of outdoor livestock. Whether it’s a few chickens or a herd of cattle, those animals are probably going to begin your day and possibly finish it too.
Even the tiniest livestock (like chickens or rabbits) will provide structure to the day. Everyday will probably begin with tending to them. This beautiful rhythm will ensure that your day starts on time, early, and consistently. I know that without a farm, I am all over the place with my morning routine. I love the consistency that it brings.
There is a rhythm for most of us homesteaders. We rise early to the call of the rooster or the milk-cow and we rest soundly from the fresh air and outdoor work.
#2. Exercise
A homestead will provide exercise and physical activity every day. You will be active. You will be moving.
You just can’t imagine the things you’ll be doing until you get there. 10 years ago I never would have dreamed I’d be doing any of this: Milking cows, Stretching fence, Building shelters, Growing food, Hauling hay, etc.
Caring for animals involves plenty of activity, movement and exercise. This is my favorite kind of workout. I would rather be cleaning out a barn, mucking or hauling hay than go to a gym any day. I like the completion and purpose. Running on a treadmill kinda makes me feel unproductive. 🙂
#3. Fresh Air
There is a connection to breathing fresh, outdoor air and health. Taking a walk outside is often a part of doctors orders these days (especially the holistically-minded ones). If you have a homestead you will be outdoors consuming that fresh air every day. No matter what the weather is like: Freezing, raining, snowing – the show must go on!
#4. Diet
Have I told you the story of my best friend’s father-in-law? He grew up on a dairy farm. He drank raw milk his entire life and he has never taken an antibiotic.
You don’t need a cow to have better health. When you grow your own food you are naturally going to have a diet packed with nutrition. So much is lost in our foods because it is picked to soon, traveled too far, stored too long and grown in less than ideal circumstances.
If you are growing it or purchasing it from someone who is growing it – your food is not even going to compare to the worn out, jet-lagged, hothouse-raised food sold at many supermarkets.
Your food will be alive, harvested at their peak and full of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. When you have a healthy gut you can fight off disease and sickness more efficiently.
#5. Happy Living
Homesteaders always usually have fresh local food. It is the drug that we keep going back for. Whether it’s raising your own meat or growing some herbs, there is an unmatched joy in the process.
A few animals on a small homestead can make wonderful companions.
They will love you and look forward to your visits every day. Their love is unconditional and always there. I love working with the animals on our farm.
Working with animals is something I find truly satisfying. I love that they need me and depend on me. I love caring for them and the affection they show.
Growing food is equally fulfilling. To see your food go from seed to table is gratifying and delicious!
#6. Healthier Pocketbook
Homesteading will save you money at the grocery. 6 months of the year I hardly buy food at the grocery. I must purchase paper products and pantry staples, but most of our food comes from our homestead.
If you have a few laying hens and a milk cow there is little that must be bought when the garden is in full swing.
#7. Knowledge
I think it is super that we are claiming so much lost knowledge. Homesteaders know where food comes from and how to get it.
There are many self-sufficient life skills that are known by few. Skills like: milking, tapping maple trees and gardening are not hard to master and wonderful to have.
Homesteaders love to be self sufficient. We crave the life skills that sustained our great-grandparents. If all the grocery stores closed, us homesteaders would keep going. We’d still collect the eggs, milk the cow, grow the veggies and harvest the rabbits.
The beauty of this life is that it has a ripple effect that carries on. Not only will all of your children will know where food comes from many of your friends and family will be learning as a direct result of your life choice.
#8. It’s not Optional
Homesteading – An Unstoppable Journey to a Healthier You
Sometimes the fact that I have no choice is the reason I do things. LOL
I know that living as a homesteader forces all sorts of healthy habits into my life. The livestock, gardening and scratch-cooking can’t help but make me healthier. Most days this homesteading life is a welcomed blessing. Every once in a while, it can be a chore.
But every day my life is better because I am a homesteader.
I have never regretted making this move. I have never regretted moving to a farm. I feel blessed to be able to have this life.
How about you? Has your homestead made you healthier?
XO,
Candi
