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What Makes a Farm/Homestead?

     So if you haven't heard we've been accepted into our local farmer's market.  It's pretty big news like scream it from the roof tops news.  Someone pinch me, because I'm not sure all this is real...did we really sign up to grow food for others?  Yes we've talked about it before, about maybe having a little stand to sell our extra vegetables but who knew it would be this season.

Oh so many strawberries.


     After we first put in our application I began to think about what makes a farm or homestead.  I began to feel like maybe we aren't ready for this step or if people will take us seriously.  When I think of a farm or homestead I think of people raising beef or the massively huge vegetable and fruit producers who have workers because there's so much to pick and plant.  But here on our homestead it's quite literally a mom and pop homestead.  We provide food for ourselves and any extras we give to friends and family which includes eggs and vegetable starts along with extra veggies when in season.  So is that a farm?

One of the ladies keeping the eggs safe for us.


    This week we were out with the sun working our property and tending to all our vegetables which made the light bulb go off and I realized that we are farmers.  We may not have thousands of pounds of meat, vegetables, or fruit but we are growing what we can and feeding ourselves as well as other families, so I'm pretty sure that's a farm.  Our eggs have been feeding our family and others for a few years now.  And because I'm a seed hoarder I'm always planting more than I can handle and end up giving away the starts I can't use so they can grow their own food.  We are a small farm just starting our journey and we have dreams of expanding to one day hopefully raising pigs and continually enlarging our garden.  I've always thought about a farm pertaining to size, but I don't think that's a deciding factor.  I think it's what you're doing with your land and how you're working with it.  I know we work pretty dang hard here and I'm thrilled to see what being market people is all about.  Alright now back to the homestead.

Bartlett Pear, I can't wait to taste fresh fruit.

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