A couple sites I visit have recently had discussions on homesteading and what, ideally, is our goal or dream.

I know that for now, we won't be close to real "homesteading". Even though I grew up (mostly) on a farm, I have to say I didn't really absorb lots of information. I was upstairs reading Sassy and Seventeen dreaming of my life in the Village as a writer lol. Funny how things have come round. Now I'm wishing I'd learned more about gardening and canning and raising chickens and milking cows. Sure, I'm learning now, but it would be a heck of a lot easier if I'd just paid attention back then.

But I guess my "dream" would be...growing and preserving much of our own food, chickens for eggs, a Jersey heifer for milk, solar and wind power, a greywater system, composting toilets...totally off grid...the whole shebang. For now, it's going to have to be some trial and error organic gardening to get my feet wet, er, dirty. Maybe some canning/freezing at first (though I really prefer canning). Possibly some chickens next year. We are going to be using all natural products in the house, but I'd like to try soap making and herbal preparations as well. I'd just like to be able to do those things myself.

As far as the energy issues, well those might wait the longest. The solar and wind anyway as they're a bit expensive. The greywater system, composting toilets and rainwater catchment, those could be anytime really.

For now, we're pretty much going mainstream (as far as energy anyway) mainly to make this a gentle transition for the kids. It's not really fair, in my opinion, to make them cold turkey change everything. So we're trying to go slow and make it seamless.

I'm still excited though! We've planned this for so long and we're finally doing it. I think having a deadline has been good, as we've really had to get things done this past week (and in the coming few!). The decluttering has begun and I feel lighter already. This is going to be a good thing :)