We wrote this article while we were planning our Missouri homestead. These are questions to ask for any homestead.
The rhythm of our homestead includes making time for animals. Animals are an intricate part of success.
The chickens scratch to prepare the soil for the garden.
Cows provide mob grazing to improve the grass quality.
Chickens come behind the cows and eat the fly larvae.
Guineas and chickens eat the ticks.
One works with another.
Nibble, chew, spat, scratch, eat, digest, grow to cause a coherent rhythm on the land.
We first needed to find the land. Then we needed to breathe a moment. Next comes the plans. They are huge and growing everyday.
Now we implement. This is the scary time, because a cow on paper does not look like a cow in the field that must be moved and cared for.
- What kind of chickens will we ultimately end up with?
- Where do we even buy Guineas? (on second thought, why would we want Guineas?)
- Now how do we raise pigs? We have seen it done, but on the screen and on your homestead are two different things.
- Where do we want the garden?
- How do we get started?
- How do we really want to interweave the growing of food and the raising of animals?
What fun? What challenges? What growth?
Relax! Just because that cow is 5 times as big as we are, we can make this work, right?
Apprehensiveness will keep us sharp. We have yet to see a homestead that has not received animals it was not prepared for. The statement, “If you build it, they will come.” is very real. When you have land people want to offer animals. It is wonderful and scary all at the same time.
Go forward!
Courage!
We got this!