Parents' or grandparents' opinions?

I grew up on a tobacco/dairy farm, I swore I would never do it. While what I am doing is very different I am sure everyone would be supportive if they were still around.

My parents were raised on farms in the 20's and 30's and hated it. When they learned I planned to marry a rancher/farmer my Mom hopped on the first available plane to come out and tell me the errors of my ways. My Dad called with a long diatribe about how stultifying country life was. My mother's mother wept with sorrow. My father's mother wept with joy and sent me a kerosene lamp since "Rural Electric was probably still a bit unreliable." My grandfathers were dead by then but I know that the one I knew as a child would have been thrilled that one of his ten grandchildren was going back to the land! And 45 years later I am still here and still love it!!

My parents liked that we moved to the country although we had not gotten the garden and animals going good before my dad passed. My mom should be a great source of info but she just doesn't remember things. When my parents were my age they were on a little almost self sufficient farm. IDK how many acres it was but I do remember the garden was huge, actually three or four garden spots. And we had animals......chickens, ducks, turkey, rabbits, pigs, goats.

I remember the summer kitchen and canning stuff or watching my mom do it. I remember the butchering times. I was little though. It breaks my heart to ask mom "how did you do this or that"......and she just looks blankly at me and says "I don't remember."

The MIL and FIL were thrilled. MIL passed a few years back but she was encouraging us to get animals and get a garden going etc. FIL has a little cabin on our place and he enjoys watching birds and feeding the chickens etc and stealing my eggs.... lol (he always only gathers the biggest ones) and enjoys garden stuff too.

As far as the rest of the family they think that I work my tail off and I do work hard. I have a "real" job and then work the land (25 acres) 4 am til well midnight tonight probably because I'm gonna work at my part time job. But it is worth it. I made my first batch of pickles yesterday. I am positive they will be better than store bought.......and I can not wait to get to making my pasta sauce and other things we love. Frying up the first zuccini and okra of the season. I was thinking the other day and I have not bought meat at a grocery store in several months. That is really something when you think about it.

One set of GP always had a garden, some chickens & geese.
She canned everything.
I always got sick while visiting. Don't know if it was botulism, salmonella or eating off her old Fiesta ware.
Must have been that cause I learned how to can & never served on those plates.
She was raised on a huge farm in St Jo. My dad had fond memories of staying there during the summer.
He bought a small farm & tried to make a go of it. Mom was a city girl through & through. She hardly ever served chicken. Later I learned her dad had a chicken farm during the depression & that's all they ate.
Up until a few years ago my dad always asked about the goats. He can hardly remember his own name now.

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Laughing Stock Boer Goats
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and the meat goes on....
Near Seattle

Our parents thought we were crazy! And we were in our forties! They worried about the work and living in a house that had no running water or electric. My mother almost had a stroke when we moved in and there was no telephone. The telephone company had to come and lay the line underneath the road from the corner to the house. This is in the middle of the state forest and the roads are all dirt. It was no big deal really. When we put up a solar panel, they all said it wouldn't work. Well, pretty soon solar started being in the news in these later years, and our fathers lived to see us getting more power and more electric in the house. But..........they never saw us get the running water in. Shoot, we could have lived without the solar and without bringing the water in, but since we are both in our sixties now, I think we will like the running water and the washing machine.

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Solar Baby
Reflections of katlupe

Only one set of grandparents were farmers and they were glad to see us do it. Parents all thought we were nuts. They do like getting food from us though.

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"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." C S Lewis

It's probably not fair for me to comment, Since my great great grandfather bought the farm I live on now, through the years the 90 acres got trimmed to 20, a power substation took 40, my sister got about 20 and the bypass took about 2 or 3, so I don't have much left, I rent about 10 of it. My father was glad I stayed on the farm. I have arranged so if I and my wife die it goes to my daughter. My father always had a wood burning stove, so if the electricity should go out we still could stay warm. I do the same. Always had a garden, and chickens. Used to have cattle but we had snow every day for two weeks and it was too much weight on the old barn, so it heated the house for a couple of years. My father lived through the great depression as my mother did, and was always brought up that things like that can happen again so be prepared. We always canned and froze food, some things taste better frozen than canned, like winter squash and peas. For the future I foresee what some are calling the greater depression, since I head this family it's my responsibility to foresee the future. I'm sure my father and mother would be happy to see we still live close to the land.

So neat to learn about everyone's experiences. I know my family will be supportive while they are picking on me. Lol

I inherited my love of animals and gardening from my dad so he was always extremely proud of us and our farm. But, this is not how we made our living so he may have felt differently if we had chosen a life of poverty over careers. My husband's family think we are so unique and cool and tell everyone about how we milk our own cows and make our own cheese etc. People love coming to our homestead on vacation to get a taste of the country life and the best part is the great food and getting to see how we grow and make it.

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Living Large Down on the Farm.

Mom's initial reaction was, "You're crazy!". She couldnt wait to get off the homestead and into town. Now she is all for it, again, and loves to visit and hear our trials and stories. She volunteers to watch the place for a week each year while we go play. Not bad for an 80 year old.

Dad was bed-bound with Alzheimer's when we dove in. I am certain his reaction would have been extreme satisfaction and happiness. He was born and raised on the farm, and couldn't wait to get out of the city as an adult. Just like me. He went back to the city as an elderly man, lets say, unwillingly.

MIL was "huh?" and still is.

FIL's reaction was extreme satisfaction and happiness. He got to relive many of his childhood and youth memories shortly before passing.

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Honesty and integrity are homesteading virtues.

My mom is kinda meh about it...she grew up in the country but evidently didn't do much farm-wise.
My dad would've loved it.
Never knew either of my papaws, they both died before I was born.
Granny never lived to see me on a farm.
My mamaw? Loved it. Reminisced about it. She was soooooo proud of me

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" It's better to ride even if you get thrown, than to wind up just wishin' ya had."

Chris Ledoux

Came back and started reading the thread again...several of the post left me in tears. As hard as life may have been for some of our elders, I do think they would be proud.

My grandmother and my father hated the farm life ( poverty mindset ); but if they had lived I strongly believe they would enjoy sitting on a porch swing listening to the sounds.

I'm very lucky, both our parents are supportive in whatever we do. It helps that my brother has been farming for years and my sister growing all her own veggies, fruits and grains for years as well. I think it puzzles my parents why we all do this and just love to eat our own food. But they forget that it was their influence! They were city kids who moved to Maine which was always my dad's dream. My mom was horrified that the stores only had canned vegetables and the first year he put in a huge garden for her. He loved his fruit trees. He was always talking about the Nearings, and their self sufficiency, who had moved to Maine by that time.

My mom grew up in NYC but went to her grandmother's farm every summer. She hated it, she had to help her grandmother can all summer in a hot basement. She hates canned food to this day Well, except the brandied peaches she and my dad made every year. She does think I'm a little crazy for canning. "I prefer fresh food" and "you're still doing that?", but that sounds harsher than she means it.

They do think my sister and I are a little crazy for our prepping. (It is great to have a sibling of the same mindset!) When we discuss it at all, they say "what? that would never happen". But, my mom is the one who always made sure we had blankets and first aid kits in our cars...

I have really enjoyed hearing about everyone's homesteading experiences! Thank you for sharing.

If there is ever a disruption in our food supply, and I DON'T want to see that happen, the people that have learned to grow, put up and make do will be in a lot better state than those that have never learned these skills and sampled this lifestyle.

My mom seems vaguely amused at the fact I'm raising animals and intending to eat them. She knows I've always loved animals and that I'm good with them, but she just sort of smirks when I tell her about my plans. For what it's worth, she does celebrate with me when I get excited over my critters, and she's all in favor of my garden and my orchard.

My dad regularly gives me seeds and plants, and he is thrilled that I'm raising my own meat. We actually got into a spirited discussion with my stepmother who grew up in upper-class Detroit on the merits of raising our own food and knowing what goes into the animals we eat, and he supported me all the way. He grew up on a Navajo reservation, and he is pretty familiar with raising and butchering animals. He cracks me up--I have rabbits and quail and I intend to have meat goats soon, and when I told him, his reaction was, "All three of those are really really tasty." Yes, Dad, I get the hint. I'll bring you some.

Truth be told, I'd have a hard time butchering animals for my own use. You get to know them...

But I have tried vegetarianism and I don't believe it a healthy alternative.

I can kill fish and have gutted chickens and processed. But if I was feeding my children or grandchildren or anyone dependent on me I think there would only be a temporary problem... I do eat meat that others have killed and processed.

Just curious: What did he do that doesn't exist any more?

My great grandmother (83) always gets a little nostalgic when we talk about it, trailing off her sentences. "Chickens are such sweet creatures..." and then she gets into discussion about the depression and says "you never know when you might not be able to get to a store, so at least you have animals. I just stocked up on coffee and chocolate cause I heard there's gonna be a shortage...."

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My husband and I've discussed this. He is a city boy but is excited about raising our own meat animals because we want to know what went into our food but we both are a little nervous about taking the life of the animals we have spent time with and raised. I may get my dad to help. ;-)

Coffee and chocolate... She knows her priorities. :-) I like her!