As of today, there are 86 days until we move into our new rental home. I expected the excitement and anticipation to build as the days go on, but what I didn’t expect was for a reawakening of sorts to happen. I’m talking about my homesteading dreams that I’ve been holding on to for about 6 years now.
My living situation with my parents right before I got married and also the first house my husband and I rented both gave me a decent number of opportunities to pursue my homestead dreams. Since moving to our apartment almost two years ago, those dreams have been majorly suppressed and I’ve had to let some go.
- Cooking with Cast Iron
- I have had a cast iron skillet since 2018 when I bought one on Black Friday that Lisa of http://farmhouseonboone.com suggested. Lisa really is responsible for most of my farmhouse-y interests. I have, until very recently, been a very poor cast iron cook. I figured out how to cook without things sticking and figured out how the seasoning process should go. The world is my oyster.
- Lacto-fermenting
- I have some items in my kitchen that I purchased (Lisa’s suggestion) for canning and once made my own fermented dill pickles. I’m definitely ready to get back into that.
- Composting
- Hands down, this is the number one thing I have been longing to do again, that has not been feasible in my apartment. I create a ton of organic food waste. I feel so much better about it when I am able to compost. The whole practice excites me. I’m giddy just typing this!
- Sourdough
- Unfortunately, this time around with a sourdough starter, I am gluten-free. Gluten-free sourdough is not nearly as exciting. It’s definitely going to require me to do some tweaking to recipes. I am determined to figure it out.
- Local food
- I got away from trying to eat local as other priorities for my finances came along. However, when we move, we are going to be close to a very impressive produce stand for produce and meat alike. I believe my husband and I, probably not in our first summer, will have some food growing in our backyard.
- Dairy
- I am still receiving raw milk weekly from farmers a couple hours away from me. I was just informed via email today that they will be delving into chocolate milk and also milk kefir! I have expressed an interest in any raw cheese they are willing to sell. I plan to make yogurt pretty soon too. I’ve only ever made yogurt with store-bought pasteurized, homogenized milk, however, and the process with raw milk is a little more complex. It can still be made in my Instant Pot, however, so that’s great.
- Spending time outside
- I have spent a ridiculous amount of time indoors as of late. Some of that is because our apartment has been so cold and going outside where it is even colder seems like a really dumb idea. I also really dislike the lack of privacy here at our apartment.
So that’s the gist. I’m so excited and inspired and I know that once I get into that beautiful kitchen I will call my own, I will be inspired all the more.
SARAH HARPER 