By definition, homesteading is a culture of rule breakers.
That’s part of the reason I love it.
Yet even the most contrarian clubs tend to develop rules of sorts.
It’s funny how that works.
As I’ve watch the online homestead culture explode over the years (the topic of my podcast this week), I’ve realized that I’m not great at coloring within the lines— even in the world of homesteading.
Here are a few of the “homestead rules” I love to break:
1. I hate wearing aprons.
I think they’re functional and cute on other people. I just don’t like them for myself.
2. I wear jeans and t-shirts, not prairie dresses.
Flowy fabric of any sort isn’t functional with our 60 mph winds… Plus, my tomboy-ish self just doesn’t love frilly things.
3. I use soap on cast iron.
This may be the most controversial thing I’ve ever said online. 😉 I don’t do it all the time, but I’m not afraid to use a bit of dish soap on the worst messes. (And if a pan is well-seasoned, a little soap won’t harm it.)
4. We eat potato chips sometimes. GASP. It’s true. We eat very clean most days, but I’m not above occasional junk food when the situation arises. The food we eat on a regular basis is my biggest focus— if we grab a fast food cheeseburger while we’re in town, I don’t sweat it.
5. I don’t milk every day.
When our cow is in milk, I calf share a lot. This means I usually milk a couple days per week and leave the calf on the rest of the time. To me, it’s the best of both worlds.
6. I don’t like goats.
I’ve tried to like goats for over a decade. We’ve milked them, we’ve bred them, and we’ve kidded them. I think they’re a good option for many folks, but I’ll take a cow over a goat any day of the week.
7. We use antibiotics on our animals if needed.
We do not feed medicated feed or maintenance antibiotics, but if one of our animals is suffering and a dose of penicillin will solve it, I won’t withhold that. (However, if we do have to give medicine to one of our Genuine Beef animals, we pull them from the beef program entirely and do not sell that meat.)
I hope some of my rule-breaking ways made you feel a bit better about your own journey. ?
Remember: There is no homestead governing authority (thank goodness!). You get to pick the parts of this lifestyle that work for you, and leave the rest.
So now that you have all my deep, dark confessions— what are the homestead “rules” YOU like to break??
I wear my boots to church and crocks to do farm chores….
I milk in my crocs, lol.
I do wear aprons some but not always. Never put on a prairie dress and I had dairy goats for thirty years and loved them but now I have Jersey cows and love them. I had to use penicillin on my cow with an udder injury and just this week she came in heat after many attempts to breed her so after my neighbor AI’’d her for me we gave her an injection of a drug to make her ovulate. I’m with you on the chips and fast food too. It’s when you want to cop out and not fix a meal that I go really basic like a sausage sandwich from our home grown pork. Keep on sharing, love it.
As much as I want to we don’t have free range chickens we keep them in a clean pen the pictures I see it all over homesteading pages its beautiful but it’s just not an option for us they wreak havoc on my garden, poop everywhere and my kids refuse to wear shoes while in the yard so its definitely a no no ! And as much as I love aprons I don’t wear them either , we homestead in Louisiana and it is so hot and humid , The only thing I wear are knee length T-shirt dresses! I have to stay as cool as possible!
Prairie dresses are for pictures. Women fought to wear pants long ago because they are more functional.
How do you feel about Sheep?
I do wear prairie dresses sometimes but I think it’s because I’m still working as a nurse full-time, while we grow our homestead, so It’s nice to wear something “flowy” instead of scrubs (but only in the summer…Northern Maine is unforgiving in the winter)….but I definitely prefer my jeans.?
I agree with all of that!!! Although I don’t have a cow yet. Goats were ridiculous.
If I’m unusually busy, I will buy chinese or pizza. I wear orthopedic flip flops rather than work boots at times. If one of my hens is being bullied, she convalesces in a large dog crate on the porch, while one of my maternal-minded Great Pyrenees lays close by to let her know she is safe. I love my quiet life, and you, Jill, have always supported me in my sometimes modern, non-traditional homestead ways. So thank you.
I don’t feel bad that my sourdough starter is not several years old. I mix it up as I feel the desire too.