A little inspiration...made from scratch.

There is another person out there somewhat like myself.  Her name is Jenna Woginrich and she lives in Jackson, New York.  I discovered Jenna about four or five days ago.  I was perusing Mother Earth News Online and saw a link which promised to describe my obsession.  I clicked on that link and found a blog post entitled "Barnheart: Yearning to be a Farmer."  Now the world is a lot less scary.  I know I'm not alone in my desire to live simply, raise chickens, a goat or tow, and maybe some sheep.

What is Barnheart, you ask?  I highly recommend reading the blog post by Jenna, but in a chicken egg-shell, it's "unequivocally knowing you want to be a farmer - and for whatever personal circumstances - cannot be one just yet."  There was no specific moment when I knew I wanted to be a farmer.  The desire has crept up slowly over the past few years.  It started with thinking that I wanted some chickens someday, so I started dreaming up the perfect chicken coop and naming my rooster and hens.  It's blossomed from there.  I've said it before, I want one or two of everything - goats, sheep, pigs.

Like other sufferers of Barnheart, I find myself daydreaming about what I would plant in my bountiful garden, outsmarting a sly goat, and relaxing on a back porch watching the sun set over chickens pecking at the ground.  I ease my symptoms by reading, planning, dreaming, and doing simple things that move me one step closer to a home on a small chunk of land.  I don't want a sprawling farm of hundreds of acres - my gut and wallet tell me that's not true farming (a whole other tangent for another day).  I want to be self-sustainable, and that doesn't mean I have to live an Amish lifestyle.

For now, and for many, many years, I will work a 9-5 job.  Well, it's more like a 12-8 job, but you get the idea.  Brent and I will soon hit the big time (a.k.a. working our butts off to make our own "big time") and be landowners.  Until then, I'll ease the symptoms of Barnheart by making homemade lemonade, baking bread, growing carrots on my patio, and pumpkins at Green Acre.

So, yes, I stand-up and say I have Barnheart and contently prepare for the eye-rolling, snickers, and pessimistic jokes that are bound to come my way.

Now, back to Jenna.  I said she was somewhat like myself.  She's a dreamer, a writer, a photographer, and a lover of all things simple.  The difference between she and I ... she's about 15 steps ahead of me.  She already has her chickens, ducks, goat, sheep, and honeybees.  She has a fascinating, inspiring, and entertaining blog about her life as a twenty-something homesteader at Cold Antler Farm.  I highly recommend her blog.  I've been reading it and living vicariously through her for the past week.  Just last night, I started her book, Made From Scratch.  

I'm proud to say that more and more of my life is made from scratch.  I find sweet joy in planting my patio garden every summer and then making salsa with my respectable crop.  I haven't purchased a loaf of bread since last December.  I make some surprisingly delicious pesto sauce and super scrumptious, all-natural granola bars.  And the list of things that I want to make from scratch is growing on a daily basis.  Stay tuned for those developments...I'm sure some will be tasty!!