Looking at those two words it is likely an image pops into your mind to represent each. For me, a farm evokes an image straight out of a child’s picture book. A little white two-story house with an apron wearing woman shucking peas on the front porch and her husband; overalls and twill hat out driving his tractor in the soybean fields complete with a golden retriever by his side. Nearby, a bright red barn filled with hay, a few pens filled with mud and happy pigs. Cows and horses leisurely getting a drink from a tree lined stream and of course a chicken coop filled with red and white hens. Just like that picture book, or that Fisher Price farm set from the 1970’s complete with the mooing barn door.
Homesteading brings similar visual thoughts, except the men all have beards and graphic tees. The woman wear long skirts and dread locks or buns, it’s all very ideologically split in my mind. No one is wearing shoes, especially the children. Maybe they’re some subconscious blend of hippies, hipsters and religious homeschoolers. They have goats instead of pigs. The chickens are everywhere. There are no fields, instead many, many non-gmo, chemical free gardens. Yeah, permaculture gardens. There’s still a dog.
The “kids” and grandson
Seriously though, Fourteen Acre Wood is a little bit of both. We’re categorically a farm because we sell products (hate that term for food) grown here. Honey, candles, eggs, jams, etc.… We are registered with the United States Department of Agriculture, that makes us a farm. We are also in some ways homesteading. In case you thought for a single second I was making fun of homesteaders, well, you’re allowed to poke fun at yourself. We are by no means completely self-sufficient. My husband does have a beard and we all have overalls. We have a tractor and a field, but at the same time nearly everything we grow is non-gmo, chemical free and with permaculture principles. I wear shoes, but only when I have to. We don’t have goats, but we too, have a dog.
Life is uncertain. Always has been and always will be. Being able to create your own healthy food, food that travels a few feet to your plate instead of thousands of miles simply makes sense. Of course inflation is a motivator. Knowing most of our vegetables are grown with water from drying lakes and/or in more fire prone regions is a motivator. Also though, working the soil and planting a seed with your bare hands is a soulful experience. So is being a part to the life of a honeybee hive. Watching a dozen baby chicks grow out their feathers. Hearing the first crow of a little rooster which sounds like the moment a child first tries to play a trumpet. Finding and celebrating the first egg of a young hen.
We are not alone in choosing to make our home as much of a source of providing as many of our needs as possible. We are not alone in selling what we aren’t going to eat or use. Thousands of Americans have began to become more self-sufficient and found ways to earn income from their own back yards in recent years. The pandemic revealed to us all how absolutely fragile our global distribution system is, especially our food sourcing systems. I’m honestly not a fan of labels and Fourteen Acre Wood can’t be textbook labeled anymore than I can be. We’re part of a local food system. We share our food with our neighbors (loose term out in the countryside) and they share with us. We sell some of our food directly to customers and during events such as local fairs. We buy some of our food from the local farmers market and nearby farmers. There are no semis, CAFO’s, chemicals, or horrible labor practices involved.
I encourage everyone to grow something. If you don’t have a yard, grow some herbs in your kitchen window, a tomato on your deck or be part of a community garden. If you do have a yard, use part of it to grow some food. Nearly all Americans did that during both World Wars, in fact the Department of Agriculture printed “How To” pamphlets during WWII. Just get outside and get your hands dirty! It is a wonderful thing to do and in this crazy era of division, it is an excellent way to connect on true common ground. You don’t have to be a farmer or a homesteader to partake in this human practice that is nearly 12,000 years old.
Audrey L Elder
Fourteen Acre Wood
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