Fall approaching...

Last Saturday I harvested most of our remaining vegetables. It's sad to see my garden withering away but it has served us well. Only things left are some root vegetables, squash, pumpkins, and a Few green tomatoes. I'm already planning out next spring. I will have a lot more free time now that the work is almost done and I'm trying to come up with a hobby door the winter months....

Updates

Things have been crazy here at our homestead. I grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take to maintain along with working full time, socializing, etc. I LOVE it though and I appreciate being busy with projects that save us money and bring us closer to the #selfsufficientdream. Here are some pics from our recent food projects as I attempt to "put up" the harvest....

The Littles....

Chicken Littles that is.... I have wanted chickens for sometime now. They are pretty much a homestead staple and my favorite meal is a garden fresh veggie omelet but I had no idea how fun they would be. Each has its own unique personality and mannerisms. It's nice also that they love to eat bugs and mosquitos.... Looking forward to fresh eggs in September!

Home

We are finally in. 

Together.

Lots of hard work so not much time to write.

Here are some pics of our first month in...livin the dream.

Almost home...

We are so close.

Through this process we have the joy of getting to know Mr. and Mrs. Seller. I was able to meet with them one last time today. I could spend hrs discussing the homestead lifestyle and gleening from their wealth of knowledge and experience. They offered me 30 years of tips on how to maintain this place. Our Homestead.

We walked the property with the sun beating down and the green coming up from the ground. It was quiet in the middle of all of it. I had to control the overwhelming urge to kick off my shoes and start digging in the dirt of the kitchen garden.

I am ready. Now it is time to wait.

It was fun to spend the day with them. When around them I glimpse what the Sutton future looks like. An organized home with more work to do than hours in the day. A life where you do the best with what you have and most importantly LOVE IT. They worked on this place knowing it would live beyond their time. That it's quality and efficiency must last longer.

We are lucky to not have to start from scratch on these ideas...this DREAM. It has been in the works since around the time I was born. It has been growing, developing, changing.

Now it is OURS. Almost.

THE Sutton Homestead...

Up until this moment the Sutton Homestead has been an idea, a lifestyle, a way to simplify. I hope I am not being premature on this but finally we have found a home for our homestead ideas to thrive. We have found THE Sutton Homestead. We close in a month and plan on moving in May.

Let me introduce you:





The Mr. and I are thrilled that all of our planning and sacrifice have materialized into this beautiful place. The pond will make a fantastic home for our ducks and some winter ice skating, the barn and corrals will be ample for more animals than we could hope for, the woodshop will provide the Mr. with more than enough space to create our projects, and the acreage is just enough for a large garden, orchard, and berry patch. Best of all, we were able to stay in this community in small town, Idaho that I have really grown to feel a part of.

Stop by for a visit anytime...

Food rules...

I have been obsessed with food documentaries lately. A big part of my desire to work towards a homesteading life was to be able to grow and preserve my own food. I walked through the grocery store tonight and the haunting words from one of the documentaries rang through my mind..."food-like products". It talked about the amount of processing that our food goes through to the point that you almost can't even call it food anymore. Hence the term "food-like products".

I have been on a diet pretty much since birth or at least that is what it feels like. I have always been at war with food. I have always had "food rules" which changed depending on the latest fad but they were consistently ever-present in my life. When I lived in France I felt moments of peace in the middle of my "battles". The French for the most part have a respect for food very different from the way our society views it. I remember spending an entire Sat morning at the farmers market smelling, touching, and tasting the locally grown food. It became a matter of quality not quantity. Growing up in a home where financial resources were limited, I didn't understand this concept. Hours were spent in the evening cooking and preparing the simple, fresh meals and hours more spent around the table with friends and neighbors. Food was savored along with conversation, laughter, and ambience.

My journey towards finding that peace again has been slow. I have been progressing toward a more plant-based diet and I have found many health benefits from this. Mostly the anxiety surrounding food has been greatly reduced. My new "rules" are simple. Plants, plants, and more plants. 90% plants or more. Minimally processed. Easy as that.

As I search out the future Sutton Homestead, the land has become the most important part for me. My realtor thinks I am a crazy person when I insist on water rights and irrigation. She has a beautiful home and cringes at my favorite option with its 80s shag carpet and baby blue bathtub. Soon enough, we will find home.