Why did you start the homesteading lifestyle?

The Foxfire books and The Mother Earth News got me started when I was a teenager. Then I went to college, got married, had two kids, got divorced...lived a "normal" life till about five or six years ago. I'm not a super-religious person, but I believe that God talked to me. He told me that I was not living the life for which I was intended. I started looking for a bit of land, planted a garden, bought a pressure canner, got some chickens and a cow...and never looked back. My family thinks I'm insane, but they love to come over and eat homebaked bread with butter from my cow and honey from my bees.

I was raised this way....always lived in the country and grew our own food and done lots of gardens and canning and freezing...my grandmother taught me well....back when i was growing up it was called surviving cause we was poor...today its called 'homesteading'.......

I grew up in a small town that I swore would turn into a ghost town as a kid- I was wrong being it was part of the Wine Country in CA. Nonetheless, I was introduced to a good honest days of hard work, putting up a fence, painting, gardening, clearing fields, raising livestock etc... my grandparents taught me the most. As I got older I swore I would become the first woman president or move to New York City, become an actress, etc... I spent time in major cities, military, college, marriage, kids, etc... I also became a bank manager for one of the largest corrupt banking systems in N.America. I resigned due to "ethics." Very long story short, I have missed real people, maybe not the most "culturally sophisticated" but the most honest, hardworking, and who have the most to offer in terms of what "I" feel is important. We now have a small homestead raising our pigs, chickens, rabbits, garden, numerous fruit trees. I couldn't be happier! Because of my advanced education tho, my DH wants me to go back to the ugly work

Hello -

This seemed a fitting thread for a need I'm facing. My name is Danielle; I'm a producer for Marc Summers Productions and Shooters Post & Transfer, the production companies behind Food Network's "Dinner: Impossible."

We are developing a series profiling families opting to trade in status quo lifestyles for something more intentional and meaningful, whether an urban homestead, a rural homestead, or any other plan!

If you fit this bill, plan to make a change within the next year, and are interested in being considered and hearing more, I'd love to hear from you. Please answer the following and email it to danielle@shootersinc.com. If the logistics of your family fit what we're looking for, I will contact you to set up a phone call.

Name?
Family members' names and ages?
Phone number?
Email address?
Where do you live now (city, state, and type of home/lifestyle)?
Where to you plan to move? (city, state and type of home/lifestyle)?
When will this happen?
Why are you making this change?
What needs to happen between now and your move?
How do your immediate family members (spouse, kids) feel about this change?

My grandpa favorite animal was a cow and my grandma's favorite was a chicken. MY dad wanted to but my mother was too worried about what others thought.
I would read his motherearth news when I was young. So I guess it was in my blood.

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He who thinks he knows, doesn't. He who knows he doesn't know, knows.~ Joseph Campbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMrK...AE7062ADE5A19C

While I have not officially started the homesteading lifestyle I am in the process of educating and preparing myself for this lifestyle.

I grew up in a small town and spent many hours each week in my grandmother's backyard garden. She taught me to garden, make jams and jellies, how to pickle cucumbers and other wonderful homesteading things.

As I grew up I married and moved away (to the big city). My hubby and I have decided that after 3 kids and 27 years of marriage that we want to live a simpler/slow paced lifestyle. In other words, get the heck out of Dodge and move to some land.

Our goal is to spend the next 3 years looking for our perfect homestead while we prep and sell our home and items we simply don't need or want anymore. Our children are grown and are beginning to have children of their own now so it's important to us to have a place they can come, experience life and learn some valuable lessons.