Are You Ready To Quit?

Those Insta-Reels that hooked you into homesteading didn’t show you the absolute devastation that can come with homesteading. Maybe you bought your land in hopes of sticking it to the man, only to find out that you still need the grocery store, the feed store, and the lumber yard. Maybe you knew something was missing in life and you thought that homesteading would fix you or your life. Or maybe, you just wanted to try something new or different. While you aren’t afraid of hard work and don’t mind getting dirty, homesteading hit you with the full force of responsibilities that you were not prepared for. Are you ready to quit? Before you do, let me help you out a bit.

Are you ready to quit?

Before you do, I want to let you in on a secret…. Most of those Insta-Reels that you see, don’t show the whole story. In fact, after homesteading for 4 years, I can tell you that they don’t show the majority of this life. And it’s not always the influencer’s fault. They have 60-90 seconds to show you some version of a homesteading task. Collecting eggs, cleaning coops, planting a garden, harvesting a garden, butchering an animal all take WAY longer than 60-90 seconds. And I KNOW that you didn’t think that it would be easy. But I don’t think most people realize just how hard homesteading actually is.

Ready to quit on the animals

You’ve lost a ton of chickens to a raccoon that got into the coop. You’re not getting any eggs. Milking is a lot harder than it looked. Stuck kids, lambs or calves that resulted in dead babies or mommas. You’ve got an animal cemetery that is running out of space. You are ready to throw in the towel because it’s so damn heartbreaking and frustrating.

But don’t. Not yet.

While it’s absolutely okay to quit on the things that just don’t work for you and your family, don’t give up on something because you are tired, worn out, or in over your head. We all get discouraged, especially when we don’t have anyone to teach us these skills.

Instead, look at ways that you can reduce the strain on yourself, your family, your homestead and your wallet. Sometimes, that looks like herd reduction. Or it looks like getting the kids more involved. And sometimes? Sometimes, it looks like sending animals to freezer camp.

We reduced our herd this year for a lot of reasons. The first being that feeding 16 goats through winter was just not in the budget. Second, we are moving towards full sized Nubians. Third? I just wasn’t loving what some of those girls were producing. That’s okay! These animals aren’t pets!

Giving up on the garden

Y’all, let me tell you, there hasn’t been a garden yet that, by August, I haven’t thrown in the towel. It’s NORMAL! The summer garden is the most prolific, hardest, and time consuming garden. Plus, it’s freaking HOT! I don’t do well in the heat. So yea, come August, it’s time for the chickens or the goats to go in and clear the garden for me.

Have I put up all my produce for the year? Absolutely not. Have I dehydrated all the peppers, tomatoes, squash, etc? Nope. That’s okay. Because I have enjoyed my garden. I have put up most of my jars of goodies. It’s okay that I didn’t get 100 jars of tomato sauce put up. It’s okay that I didn’t get 100# of squash dehydrated or frozen.

I get to try again in the fall.

My fall gardens are huge, beautiful and mostly hands off. I don’t do much of anything after planting in the fall garden. Plus, it’s significantly cooler and I am much happier. And most of those vegetables can stay in the ground over winter and I don’t usually have to process them unless I want to…. which I usually don’t.

Ready To Quit On Your Projects

I know you wanted to get that deck built, but money and time ran out. I know that you wanted to get that new garden started. Life happens. We were supposed to get 16 20ft beds built and filled this spring. Guess what? It didn’t happen. And that’s okay! We were supposed to get our wrap around decks built. Did it happen? Nope. And I’m not sweating it!

Instead I’m stepping back and punting. I am looking at some projects that I can get done this winter that will get us moving in the “right direction”.

The right direction being any small measure forward.

Because I think that’s the problem that a lot of us face by being brand new homesteaders. We think that we have to do everything RIGHT NOW! But the reality is that we don’t. Sure, it would be great to get everything in and done as soon as possible. But that leads to burn out, which leads to resentment.

So this fall/ winter, I am planting our fruit trees, shrubs, and bushes. We are going to finish up the rest of the garden beds in the big garden and then when we are actually using ALL of them, we will add the rest.

Being realistic with what you are doing is far more important than getting everything done right now.

I know you are ready to quit

But instead, look at all the things you’ve gotten done! Even if it’s “only” clearing space for a garden. Or “only” getting chickens. Because “only” is still moving forward. Don’t try to keep up with the Jones’. Keep your eye on your goals and speed up where you can, slow down when necessary.

I can honestly say that I have never wanted to quit homesteading. But I have threatened to throw in the towel on chickens, goats, the garden, preservation, etc. Sometimes it’s just freaking HARD! Especially if you work full time, or are the stay at home parent. But don’t sweat the small stuff.

If you didn’t get all those cherry tomatoes put up, it’s okay. If your squash plants got overrun with bugs? Okay! It’s OKAY to not be perfect!

It’s okay to get things wrong. You are human. You are learning. Most importantly, you are TRYING!

So don’t sweat it and don’t give up!

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