My Custom Homestead-Day 2

Day 2
Today I write down on paper my motivations for homesteading.  Why am I going to do this?  What makes this seem like the right life for me?  I decided that this page in my binder should be hand-written, even if it is a little messier.  It seems so much more personal that way. I can jot down new thoughts or cross out old ones if they change.  I dated it, so that I will remember when it was that I felt this way.  I just filled one sheet, but I was trying to be succinct--I can be as wordy as the best of them and could probably fill a book with my motivations!

Here they are, my tentative first attempt at putting pen to paper and jotting down these motivations:

Self-Sufficiency and An Organic Lifestyle

• rely less on commercially grown and prepared foods
• learn to do more with my own two hands
• satisfaction of knowing that these foods that my family is eating were lovingly grown, harvested and prepared by me, and I know that they are healthy

A Different Way of Life for my Children

• I want my children to know what their food really is and where it comes from
• I want them to learn how to take care of themselves, and to derive pleasure from it, from these practices
• I want us to spend time together doing something productive, that helps others and brings us closer together, and reminds uf of what is important and what to be thankful for

Ecological Balance

• taking the path that leads away from the practices that are harming my beloved island
• using resources that are produced organically and close to my home
• finding a balance on our property between providing for our needs and providing habitat for wildlife

Spending Time Doing What I Love

• I love plants and animals, cooking, baking and preserving
• I get excited over finding ways to be frugal and do more with less
• Above all, I love doing these things for my family