Also born and raised in the country. We never seriously gardened or raised animals as a food source, though. My Dad got meat animals a couple of times, but no one else in the family was interested in it. Sure, we kids had to do most of the feeding, etc., but when it came time to actually eat the critters, I became a vegetarian. I loved growing up barefoot, making up our own games, the privacy, it was such a simple life.
I left home at 18, and spent the next 20 years in several different parts of the country. I had a vegetable garden everywhere I lived, without exception. My home was usually in suburbia, or actually in town. Then I got divorced, and decided to really think about what would make me happy. I sat at this computer one night and typed in "homesteading", and the old Countryside forum came up. I'd had John Vivian's book "Practical Homesteading" when I was younger, and how I loved that book! After reading about other people living in the country, and Voluntary Simplicity, I knew I finally had a direction to go in. And go I did. I spent 5 years getting here, but I've never been happier.