Yesterday evening I was watching our two new turkeys and basically just adoring them. At times like these I tend to get lost in thought and had a renewed insight in how much I love homesteading.
It struck me how much I want to share my love for gardening, the animals, preserving food and all these skills you learn along the way. Unfortunately there is zero homesteading community here, absolutely nothing.
I mean country wide..
Getting supplies for the animals like separate minerals is almost if not entirely impossible and don’t think you can head to a store to pick up a dewormer.
Everything is highly regulated and people are not connected with their food in any way. Our country is praised for it’s high tech agriculture but it definitely comes at a cost. We will most likely die from disease and not old age. People have readily accepted that.
That brings me to the most painful thing, the lack of (homesteading) culture. Recently there was a documentary about preppers. The film crew went around the globe and also interviewed a “big shot” prepper in our country. Seriously this guy couldn’t last more then a week, the rookie forgot the water issue. Dried food won’t do you any good without a water source. Also his shelter would not last, etcetera etcetera.
I’m darn sure my homestead would be a safer and better equipped place. We ain’t allowed to carry guns but we have means to protect our safety and wouldn’t leave even if a war breaks out. Our house is very old and has withstood many hunderds of years of disasters and conflicts.
It is still here...
The lack of culture also means my customers, friends and family are not connected with their food. Whatever we try to explain they don’t fully understand. They get the part where you grow veggies and don’t use chemicals but everything beyond that is too much. The funny part is that we are not even in a drought yet and water pressure has already dropped in some areas yet everybody trusts that all will be fine.
Another thing was a strike with the truck drivers who supplied food to the supermarkets. In two days the shelves were empty and people started to panic. Yet nobody did or learned anything and still trust the big unknown someone to fix everything.
How did these people that fought against any invader become sheep?
In this day and age in my country I feel like a goat without a herd. I can’t start something like a 4H programme on my own. I can’t start a farmers market or a homesteading co-op. I can’t trade my food for someones raw honey. How I would love just a small group or even one person to share my cucumber love with.
People out there in the US: even if there are restrictions on keeping animals or raw milk, feel blessed that you have each other.
We keep going, thank god for the online community!
