What Can A Pig Teach Us?

This is Pork Chop. She is a 6 month old Bluebutt pig (Yorkshire/Hampshire cross) and is destined for the butcher in about a month. She is our first pig and has taught us a lot about pigs. Firstly, pigs do stink and are dirty, but that's not really their fault. They're made to want to wallow in mud. Pigs, like most animals, don't care where they go to the bathroom. They don't go where they sleep, but will go in their wallow, and then wallow in it. So a wallow is not just mud, and subsequently they stink, as do the pigs that wallow in them.

Pig's don't just wallow in the mud to get dirty. They do it to keep cool. It's simply in their nature. They were born that way.

There's an allusion to people here that Peter made in 2 Peter 2:22:

"Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'"

Pigs are born with a nature that makes them want to wallow in mud and excrement, just as man is born with a nature to wallow in sin and depravity. That is why man can not stand against sin without God. He may try to change his habits, but he can not change his nature anymore than a pig can change it's nature. No matter how many times we try to wash her off with water and make her look nice again, her nature is left unchanged, and she runs right back to the wallow to soak.

But like I said earlier, a pig does not get dirty for the sake of getting dirty. She gets dirty to cool her flesh. In the heat of the day, pigs have few options for cooling off, and will get sunburned and bug bitten. Her only chance for relief is to wallow in mud. It gives her pleasure and comfort, but also makes her absolutely filthy.

The comparison is the same. Tempatation causes a person to burn with desire for whatever sin tempts them. It may be a compunction for gossip, a desire for something they don't have (envy and discontent), anger and grumbling, food (gluttony), laziness (sloth), or sex (lust). The only way to cool their flesh is to dive into that sin. It feels good but leaves them filthy and stinky.

The only way to change our nature is to undergo a dramatic change, as dramatic as a pig changing into another animal. We can not make that change ourselves. It requires the power of the Creator, and the sacrifice of a Savior. Only through repentance, forgiveness, and the power of the Holy Spirit in us, can we ever be saved from the sinful nature with which we were born, and begin to desire something else: a closer relationship with God and His righteousness.

Our Birds

I thought I'd do a little show case on our current flock of birds.

This is Fabio, the head rooster in our flock. He is a Buff Orpington, and looks very distinctive from the other chickens. He is not aggressive, as some roosters tend to be, and is a little selfish. I've read that roosters are supposed to protect their little harem and cluck to his ladies when he finds food so they can run over and eat it. There's no clucking with this guy. If we put something on the ground in front of him, its gone quick. That could be the reason we rarely see him running around with a group of hens. Who wants a selfish jerk to run your harem?

Sergio is our other rooster. He does not stand out as much as Fabio in appearance, but is just different enough for us to be able to pick him out. He is also a buff orpington. As far as we can tell he's second in command. We haven't seen him running around with a harem either. He tries to blend in as just one of the hens.

Fabio recently started crowing quite often. I love that. The two sounds I think make a farm atmosphere are a cow's lowing and a rooster's crowing. It makes me smile.

These are the ducks currently. They are three weeks old and growing nicely. We originally purchased six, but two have died. That surprised us because everything we've read said that ducks are hardier than chickens. We now do not have enough ducks to cook for Thanksgiving and try one before hand. If we lose any more we'll have to buy a small turkey to have enough food. Oh well.

These are the meat chickens at 3 weeks old. Man they're ugly little things. They look like these crazy little mutant birds. Their legs and breasts are HUGE compared to our laying hens. Their feathers are also coming in which makes them pretty ugly looking.

Regina has pretty much said that if the quality of the meat is poor that she will be highly unmotivated to try meat chickens again. Fingers crossed. We'll find out in 5 weeks.

This is the chicken lady and her little chicken protoge feeding the girls. They mob her every evening. It's like on TV where those throngs of fans mob a celebrity.

And yes, that's a baby attached to her front. My wife does the farm chores with a baby attached to her. Hey, remember our tag line here: "A land overflowing with milk and honey"... and children.

Fall Garden

Fall is almost here (its hard to believe) and that means only one thing: gardening. Most people don't bother with a fall garden. The gardening bug bites in spring when you're tired of being inside and want to work outside. By this time of year its hot, the weeds have mostly discouraged your effort, and you just don't feel like it anymore. Not us. Gardening is more than just a hobby around here. We do it to help save money on food, and to feed the family healthy stuff. Things have been at a lull in our garden lately. Besides the constant tilling I've done over the last few weeks trying to reconquer the garden from the weeds, we really haven't done much. It's pretty much been all about watering regularly.

This weekend we planted the last of the fall garden. Here's the tally of what we have growing: peas, green beans, pumpkins, watermelon, corn, tomatoes, various herbs, carrots, lettuce, bell peppers, jalepenos, strawberries, and buckwheat.

What is buckwheat, you might ask? Well, it's a type of wheat you can harvest, but we didn't plant it for food. Buckwheat can be used as a "green manure crop" in beds you don't currently have veggies in. That means you grow it because it is rich in nitrogen, will shade out the whole bed (preventing weeds and lessening water requirements), and will be tilled back into the soil before it goes to seed, so all that good plant matter can be composting in the bed over winter. It is a relatively cheap seed that sprouts quickly and crowds out the weeds. You can also plant bush beans or peas as a "green manure crop". We did in one section. The seeds are more expensive, but you get a harvest out of them, so it's worth it. This is our first time trying a "green manure crop" and we're hoping it works as advertised.

We also added some perennials to our garden. We planted 3 rose bushes for some color and so Regina could harvest rose hips (apparently they're good for you and can be made into a tea). We also planted some cherry bushes. The cherry bushes have done great and are sprouting green foliage already.

One valuable lesson I learned this weekend is to not let your gas-powered tiller run out of oil. I wasted a good hour or more repairing it because I was too stupid to check the oil. On the bright side, I didn't have to take it to a mechanic, and learned a little about how tillers work.

The majority of the work now will be watering and weeding until harvest time.

I will post a few pictures from time to time so you can see our progress.

Is Raw Milk Safe?

The real answer is: it depends.

Here at Promised Land, we drink raw milk. The only time we drink pasturized, store-bought milk is when our cow is dry and we run out of raw. We find raw milk to be incredibly tasty and full of flavor. It is creamy, rich, and full and after drinking it for 3 months, pasturized milk (even whole) just tastes bland and dead. The term "chalk water" comes to mind.

We have all heard

about the dangers of raw milk and the praises of pasturized. In reading an article on the subject, I read one USDA official quoted as saying that feeding your kids raw milk is like giving them a ticking time bomb. What made that comment astounding was that this same official grew up drinking raw milk on a farm and never once got sick. So what's the truth?

Well, like I said before: it depends. If the cow is healthy, milking and processing practices are clean, and it is stored properly, raw milk is perfectly safe. In fact, raw milk is heathlier for you. Did you know there's good bacteria and bad bacteria out there? I ask because there are a lot of people out there that don't know some bacteria are good. We've been sort of brainwashed to fear bacteria, and super-sanitize everything. There are bad bacteria out there that we should guard against, but there's plenty of good bacteria we should appreciate. Our skin is covered with bacteria, both good and bad. The good bacteria actually protect us and keep the bad from taking over. If you were to kill all the good bacteria on your skin, the bad

would have a royal road in, and make you massively sick.

Well, these good bacteria are also present in our guts, and help us break down our food. The good bacteria in raw milk helps boost these good guys in our intestines and make us healthier. Raw milk is also full of good enzymes that are catalysts for all the processes in our cells. Pasturization kills these good bacteria and destroys these enzymes. Pasturized milk is still good for calories and calcium, but that's about it. Raw milk sours when the good and

bad bacteria grows to a high levels. A little souring is good, and makes butter, sour cream, and yogurt taste better. However, when milk is pasturized and all bacteria are killed, only the bad bacteria get back into the milk from the air, and the milk doesn't spoil...it turns rancid.

So if raw milk is so good, why does the government require the milk companies to pasturize it?

Well, the answer goes back to the 1800s. As people began moving off of farms, access to milk began decreasing. Some tried to ship it in from the country, but people got sick because it spoiled due to lack of refrigeration. People then tried setting up milking operations inside the city to get fresh milk to people faster. These were usually small lots in cities where cows were crammed together in unsanitary conditions, and would often develop fatal leg problems from standing on concrete all day. Not to mention, they were fed whatever was available, which was usually moldy grain or garbage from restaurants. Again, people got sick from unsanitary practices. Pasturization and refrigeration solved both these problems by killing all bacteria in the milk and helping it to last longer. Modern milk production and distrubution would not be possible without pasturization, so it's a good thing where needed.

However, if a person has access to raw milk that comes from a healthy cow, and is processed correctly, it is just as safe and even more healthy for you than pasturized. The best way to ensure these things is to raise and milk the cow yourself. Then there's no question. There are still some things to worry about. Brucellosis (undulant fever) is a disease spread by cows infected with brucella bacteria. Brucellosis can infect humans through raw milk and cause fever, sweating, weakness, headaches, and muscle aches. It is temporary, treated with antibiotics, and not fatal. It is also very rare in American dairy cattle. In fact, most states declare themselves brucellosis free. Texas recently lost that designation due to some cattle that got infected from Mexican cattle on the border, but there has not been a widespread outbreak in this state in decades. Cows can only get brucellosis from other cows. (Our cow is by herself in our pasture, and has no other cows around her in adjacent pastures.) Lastly, all dairy cattle are vaccinated for brucellosis annually as a preventitive measure. The risk is negligible. Most people that get sick from raw milk become ill due to common bacteria that get into the milk due to unsanitary milking and processing practices. Most farm families do not become sick, even from slightly spoiled milk because their bodies have built up immunities to the bacteria around the farm.

If you can get raw milk from someone you trust, I highly recommend it. Be prepared to pay a hefty price though. Organic raw milk can cost from $8-$13 per gallon. It is much cheaper to have your own cow. We probably pay the equivilant of what store-bought milk costs when all is said and done, so we get our raw milk at a significant discount. With milk prices heading up, we may actually end up saving money soon.

Getting Rid of Cable

In 2005 we made it official. Cable TV got the ax. I still remember talking to the cable representitive on the phone when I called to cancel it. She asked why we were cancelling, probably expecting the usual excuse that we were switching to satellite TV or something. When I told her we just don't watch enough TV to justify the cost, I could tell she was surprised. I think I had to tell her twice.

There were several reasons for this move. First, cable was getting way too expensive. I think we were paying something like $50 per month after taxes. That just seemed excessive to us. Secondly, we just didn't watch it that much. That's hard to imagine for a family that had no outside-the-home commitments except church. After Cameron (our third) was born, we were just too busy. But it was a good busy. We were busy playing, reading, and laughing. Plus, I started noticing that if I tried to plop down in front of the TV after work, Regina couldn't fix dinner because she had 2 kids crawling up her leg, and a baby who wanted to be held. I had to help more or I'd soon cause the "stink eye" to become a permenant look on my wife's face. (You know that look you're wife gives you when you're being an idiot) Lastly, there was too much stuff on there I didn't want the kids seeing. Even the news had inappropriate stuff in it, along the with commercials between the news segments. I seemed to be cringing more and more often when certain things would appear and Sean was watching. So, we pulled the plug, literally.

I never realized how much time I spent watching TV, especially on weekends. The darn thing made me lazy. When I didn't have it around to entertain me, I'd find myself with time on my hands, and I inevitably filled it (after all, who likes sitting around staring at static for hours?). For starters, I began playing with the kids more. Instead of viewing their laughing and playing as a nuisance that kept me from being able to hear my show, I started joining in on the fun. Secondly, I started going outside more. I had time for those "honey do" projects like weeding, mowing, etc. Thirdly, I started becoming a better husband. Instead of plopping in front of the TV after work, I would gravitate into the kitchen and actually talk to my wife (imagine that). On weekends, I would help clean the house, do indoor projects, or play with the kids. We started finding time to go to the park, or swimming. A nightly walk became part of our routine.

So what in the world does this subject have to do with the homestead? Well, having the homestead has made it even more practical not to have cable. With animals, a garden, and land to take care of, our list of projects has grown exponentially. (I have to be careful not to let the homestead take me away from the family too) If ever we had a reason to get rid of it, this place is it. We would get nothing done around here if we watched TV as much as we used to.

We still watch movies, but the level of control on what the kids see has gone way up. TV is not the enemy, and you can still have cable and be a good parent, its just harder. It was hard to give up cable at first, but pretty soon I started wondering what the heck I was missing. Except for the occasional fuzzy episode of 24 on the rabbit ears, our evenings consist of talking, playing, swimming, and reading.

What Makes A Good Homestead Wife?

1. Enjoys the outdoors.
2. Likes gardening (so much so that she does it in the blazing heat while 9 months pregnant).
3. Likes driving the riding lawnmower (so much so that she does it in the blazing heat while 9 months pregnant).
3. Likes to cook from scratch (and doesn't care how much weight her husband gains as a result).
4. Loves animals
5. Can shovel manure without gagging.
6. Can eviserate a chicken without gagging.
7. Washes her hands after shoveling manure and eviserating chickens before she touches her husband.
8. Finds animal birth a beautiful and fun event and does not gag.
9. Can turn a compost pile full of manure and rotting vegetables without gagging.
10. Can feed and water a pig, get slimed with mud/manure by said pig, and not gag
11. Can look at a muddy, dirty, stinky pig and talk about how cute she is.
12. Can look at a muddy, dirty, stinky pig and at the same time talk about how good she'll taste.
13. Can milk a cow who just pooped and pee'd right by her head and not gag.
14. Can milk a cow who just pooped and pee'd right by her head and still talk about how pretty she is.
15. Is not grossed out by drinking raw milk, even after seeing the ugly side of the animal it comes from.
16. Enjoys making her own butter, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, etc when most women would rather buy it from the store (and not see the ugly side of the animal it came from).
17. Can get filthy dirty and sweaty on the homestead working her tail off, and still look amazing 30 minutes later when it's time to go out for dinner.
18. Can watch a cow eat her own placenta after birth and not gag.
19. Is mind-numbingly beautiful (ok, that ones just a bonus).
20. Loves Star Trek as much as her husband (alright, I'm getting off track. I think the list is big enough).

Wonder of wonders! Regina has all these requirements! I knew I picked me a good country woman.

Why Homestead?

Before I answer this question you must understand that, like most things in life, there are extremes to homesteading. There are people who call themselves "urban homesteaders". By choice or not, the do not live in the country but homesteading still appeals to them. They may grow a small garden in their backyard, can their produce, grow their own herbs, and might even have a chicken or two. When Regina and I lived in Louisiana, I considered us to be "urban homesteaders". On the other extreme, there are people who literally live like we're still in the 1800s. I'm not talking about the Amish or Menonites. They reject technology for religious reasons. These "extreme homesteaders", as I call them, literally live in a cabin in the woods with no heat, air conditioning, running water, or flushing toilets. They cook on woodburning cookstoves, plow their fields with horses, and use outhouses. Then there's everyone in between. We're one of those. I'm all about rediscovering our heritage, but there's some modern conveniences I won't do without.

One thing homesteading is not is a rejection of technology. That has never been the basis for the philosophy. What homesteading is is self-sufficiency. Everyone is self-sufficient to a certain degree. We can all dress and feed ourselves (hopefully), we can cook meals, and do basic repairs around the house. Homesteaders desire to move further.

Part of it is an attempt to get back to a simpler way of life ... a life not so inundated with busyness. Instead of doing a million plus things outside the home, we try to create a lifestyle that centers around "home". Instead of running to endless PTA meetings, basketball games, and dance recitals, we'd rather sit outside and watch the sunset together, or feed the animals together, or work in the garden together. The point is that instead of us all going off and doing our own thing, we're together.

But I digress. Homesteading is not as much about "togetherness", as it is about self-sufficiency...doing things for yourself. It's not that technology is bad, but there is a sense of pride and accomplishment in hard work that people are forgetting. Hard work is one of those things that has been used to build character in people for centuries. It used to be the backbone of our society. The difference between then and now is that, back then, hard work was something you HAD to do. You didn't have a choice. During the depression if the garden wasn't growing or the cow wasn't milking, you didn't eat. I'm reading a gardening book written by a guy who grew up during the depression. He said that without the family garden, his family would not have been able to put food on the table, and you'd better believe every member of the family was out there helping. But as technology advanced, people naturally grabbed on to things that could make their lives a little easier.

The tragic thing is that our lives have become so easy, that we hardly have to do anything for ourselves anymore. We fill the extra time in our lives with "stuff". More and more it seems to be the kind of stuff that means less time together and not more. Now that we have mechanisms in place to do everything for us, homesteaders recognize that there was in inherent value and goodness to that hard work. Not only did life center around the home, but the work itself taught character, responsiblilty, and an appreciation for the things you have.

Like I said in my first post, we started homesteading to save a little money and eat healthier food. It has moved so far beyond that. It's more about the lifestyle and experiences now than anything else. For instance, having meat chickens actually saves us nothing. We probably spend a little more per chicken growing them ourselves than buying them from the store. But the pride and sense of accomplishment of knowing that you are filling your family's freezer and putting food on the table from the sweat of your own brow is so rewarding. That's what I want our children to take away from growing up here. Even if they decide not to live the "country life", they'll still build valuable character that will serve them well in life.

Walnut Tree

When I was growing up, I used to visit my grandfather's farm in Queen City, TX about once or twice a year. It was always a memorable time for me, mostly because my grandfather and I were so close, but also because I love the outdoors and wide-open spaces. I suspect this is where my desire to live in the country and own a little land started.

One particular memory I have is of a GIANT black walnut tree that grew on my grandfather's land. I have no idea how old it was, but it had obviously been growing for many years. My grandfather used to pay me $10 and send me out to that walnut tree with a wheelbarrow to pick up all the walnuts and take them to his barn. It produced so many that it would take me the better part of an entire afternoon to collect them all.

Sadly, the picture you see here is not of my grandfather's walnut tree. It was bigger than this one. I wish I had a picture of it. It's still growing out there, but someone else owns the land now.

I can remember the first time I was sent to collect walnuts, I couldn't understand what I was looking at. We've all seen the finished product that is shelled and sitting in plastic bags in the store. Some of us have seen it still in its shell and could recognize a walnut easily, but did you know that's not what they look like growing on trees?

Looks nothing like a walnut you normally see, does it? When it falls off the tree, it turns black and gets all shriveled up. It also leaches dark purple juice that stains your hands. I cherish those memories.

That's another thing about country-living that makes it so appealing to me. There are so many experiences that have been lost to our generation that I think are important. Some may see no importance in knowing what a pre-processed walnut looks like, or in getting your hands stained purple. But if that is so, why do those experiences sear themselves in our memories so concretely? There's a lot of basic knowledge that people just don't know how to do anymore. For some reason, that saddens me. It's kind of like we've lost a connection to our ancestors and our past. People used to pass knowledge and experience in things like this down to their children, but somewhere along the way, these things stop being told. I guess that's part of the reason we homestead. It's our way of trying to regain a little of our past, and the simplicity that accompanied it. There's value there for everyone who wishes to seek it.


We planted a walnut tree on our land last week. It's only a stick, and hardly looks like it has any potential. It is hard to imagine that it could some day grow into a collosal tree like the one that still grows on that farm in East Texas. Maybe someday my grandchildren will see our walnut tree, and remember it with as much sentimentalism as I remember my grandfather's.

Update to "Weeds!"

I can feel God brow beating me to clarify my post on weeds. I've always been a stickler for not taking scripture out of context. I have to admit that I did it a little in my "Weeds!" post.

Matthew 13:24-26 is really talking about something a little different. The field is the world, the wheat being sown are the believers (true converts) in Christ, and the weeds are those who don't know Christ. The weeds are agents of Satan and sow dissension, malice, anger, and deceit in the church and among believers. Later on in the passage, when asked if the weeds should be pulled, the man who's field it was said:

"No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn." Matthew 13:29&30.

And just where do I get this insightful interpretation of the parable: from the man himself...

"[Jesus] answered, 'The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.'" Matthew 13:37-39.

I think you would agree the analogy is still sound. The Bible often talks of yeast as being equated metaphorically with sin. It is sort of the same thing. The yeast gets worked into the bread and effects the whole loaf.

There, now I can go put some ice I my head.

Calm Before The Storm

Regina and I were talking the other day about how quiet things are on the old homestead right now. The cow is dry and just needs to be fed everyday. The pig is growing like pigs do, and requires very little attention. The laying hens have still yet to start laying and just peck around the yard all day. The meat chickens and ducks are hanging out in their brooder, growing like their supposed to. The garden is relatively bare because the spring planting harvest is over.

It's kind of like the calm before the storm. We've got a busy couple of months coming up around here, and it all seems to culminate in the month of September.

At the end of September the cow will calf and not only will we have a calf to take care of, but we'll have to start up twice-a-day milkings once again. That will last for about 6 weeks until the calf is bigger and drinking a lot of milk. Then we'll switch to once-a-day milkings. Having a cow in milk means tons of milk on hand...more than we could drink, so cheesemaking and butter making also get added to the list, along with yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, and all the other wonderful things you can do with fresh raw milk.

The end of September is also when the chickens should be in full egg production. That means at least 17 eggs per day that must be collected. The ones we don't eat (and 4 kids can put away a lot of eggs) go into quiches, cakes, and all manner of other things.

Around the same time, the pig will reach her slaughter weight. Besides building a crate to haul her to the butchers in, that doesn't mean a whole lot of work for us, but its one more thing to worry about.

The meat chickens will also be ready to process in late September. We're going to process them ourselves, which can be time consuming. We've done it on a small scale before (1 at a time) but we'll have around 18 to process this time. An experienced team of 2 could probably do 3-4 chickens per hour, so I'm expecting about 1-2 per hour for us. Luckily my mom has offered to come watch the kids while we have our big processing day.

Lastly, our fall garden will be in full swing around that time too. There will be constant watering, weeding, fertilizing, and harvesting going on.

Like I said, the storm is brewing in the distance, but its as exciting as it is frightening. It's what homesteading is all about, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Weeds!

This is not our garden, but ours was not much better than this one.

This year is the first year that I have helped Regina in the garden. I've always been interested in gardening, but our previous garden in Louisiana was so small, Regina really didn't need any help. This year our garden has grown from about 80 sq. ft. to almost 6000 sq. ft. (Not every square foot is planting space, but that's the area the fence encompasses) So the need for my help this year was obvious. We tried organic gardening this year, which requires a little more work, and a lot more "know-how". Regina, being the smarter of the two of us, has been the resident expert on animals and plants (although she would not assign herself "expert" status), and I have been the manual labor. I have endeavored to learn as much as I can, but its much easier to let her plan the garden since she's got the experience and a better ability to retain things she reads.

Well, this year we got in a little over our heads. We were completely unprepared for the massive amounts of weeds we would have to contend with. Being a novice gardener, I thought: "One good tilling with a rented tiller, and we'll be good to go!". I couldn't have been more wrong. With Regina's experience, she most likely knew the weeds would be worse than I thought. Regardless, since we were without a gas-powered tiller for most of the year, we were woefully unequipped to deal with the "Great Weed Invasion of 2007". Actually, they didn't really invade. They were there first, and had no intention of leaving without a fight. Now that we have a borrowed Roto-tiller (thank you, thank you, thank you Nanci and Bill!) we have reconquered the garden. Still, it was a lessoned learned. It is so completely depressing to put tons of work into a garden at the beginning of a season, only to stand there a few months later looking at weeds higher than your head (that's 6 ft for me!).

Now that we have reconquered the garden, I REFUSE to let the weeds get out of control again. I go out there at least every other day and attack any baby weeds I see with a hoe. If I just devote a little time to it every now and then, its completely manageable. Its when I get lazy and complacent that I get into trouble.

Now's it's time for the obligitory biblical reference. After all, you can pull all kinds of good analogies out of life and use them as reminders and inspiration in your spiritual walk...

"Jesus told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared." Matthew 13:24-26

At the moment of our conversion, God plants the good seed of His word and spirit into our hearts. However, that does not release us from the temptation of sin. The enemy actively sows weeds among the good wheat in our lives. If we're not careful to squash those weeds when their getting established, they'll grow out of control.

"Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." James 1:15

We've all seen it. Take adultery for example. (Don't worry, its just an example) Do any of us think that adultery just happens? Absolutely not! It begins with that first little weed seed planted by the enemy: the temptation. We allow it. We see the weed and just ignore it. But it doesn't stay little. It grows bigger and bigger and still it remains unpulled. Eventually the desire gives birth to the actual sin, and once that's fully grown..death. Death of a marriage, death of a family (metaphorical), death of a relationship with God. If a garden is full of weeds, the crop will die. Without regular care and watering, it can not survive.

No matter where we are in our relationship with God, our faith needs TLC. We can not expect to combat the devices of the enemy if we do nothing to keep our walk straight and strong. Reading His word, praying unceasingly, and remaining vigilant in our defense against sin are the best ways we can maintain a healthy garden. After all the Lord has done to till the hard surface of our stubborn will, make our soil healthy and ready to receive Him, and then planting His seed in our soul, how can we do any less?

"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you." Hosea 10:12

Again, not our garden. I wish it was.

Homesteading vs. Farming

So why do I call our place a homestead, and not a farm? That is a question I've asked myself many times. I started at the dictionary to see if that offered any guidance on what to call this place:

homestead: 1 a: the home and adjoining land occupied by a family

Sure, we have that, but doesn't that pretty much describe everyone who owns a home?

farm: 5 a: a plot of land devoted to the raising of animals and especially domestic livestock

Well, that one actually gets closer. Promised Land Homestead is a plot of land devoted to raising animals. We have a pig, a dairy cow, 20+ laying hens, 2 roosters, 18 meat chickens, 6 ducks (Thanksgiving dinner), and a VERY large garden. So why am I still so reluctant to call this place a farm? Maybe because I don't feel like it's big enough: we only have 7.5 acres. While this is ideal for our purposes, its tiny compared to my grandfather's land. He had 450 acres in East Texas. I loved going there as a kid and I always called it a farm, but was it?

Another criteria I've always thought made a farm a farm was what it was used for. If you try to derive a decent income from the use of your land, and especially if you work it full time, it qualifies as a farm, in my mind. My grandfather didn't farm full time. He was a school teacher, and farmed on the side. He did raise feeder pigs for some side money, but I have no idea how much income it brought. Since his place fit 75% of the criteria, I guess it makes it to farm status.

The real reason I call this place a homestead is because I consider our family to be part of the "homestead movement". Webster's Dictionary hasn't gotten the word on this yet, but Wikipedia has, and gives a good basic description of what we do here:

"Currently the term homesteading applies to anyone who is a part of the "back to the land" movement and who chooses to live a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle...a simple living lifestyle, incorporating small-scale agriculture, sustainable and permaculture gardening, and home food production and storage."

That's pretty much us in a nut shell. All of the food we produce here is for us, and us only. We don't derive any profit, nor has that ever been the goal. It started out as an attempt to move towards a simpler lifestyle, and maybe saving some money by raising our own food. It has moved so far beyond that, which is a subject for another post. For now though, I think we'll just stick with the "homestead" designation. It suggests a more quant and small operation, which is exactly what we hope to remain.