The Next Generation of Homesteaders

I was 18 and pregnant. I should have been a statistic; instead, I became a success story. Had you told me so many years ago that I would be running a thriving quail farm alongside my husband, I would have told you that you were crazy! Here I am at 43 years old doing exactly that. I’m living dreams that I didn’t know were dreams at that time.

Seasons of Life

I knew from a young age that I wanted to get married and have children; those things came to me sooner rather than later in life. This year we’ll celebrate 23 years of marriage. We’ve been living this homesteading lifestyle on and off for more than 15 years, mostly blindly flailing our way through, and now we spend our free time teaching others about the things we wish we knew. When we started this journey as young adults, the information wasn’t as readily available as it is currently.

We’ve raised children while being unemployed, employed and now I’m happy to say, self-employed! I’ve been a stay-at-home mom and a working mom; both roles came with their challenges, but we’ve managed to raise two wonderful adult children and we have one little bird still in the nest.

We were raising children who were active in school, sports and friendships, so our time was divided. We had to navigate through the seasons of life, which sometimes meant that homesteading went to the backburner. That’s one of the great things about this, even if you must pause to live life; you retain that knowledge, which allows you to step back into it as fast or as slow as you’d prefer.

15 Years of Homesteading

I was a 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) kid growing up. This world wasn’t new to me, so it came as no surprise to anyone when I decided that it was time for us to have a few chickens around the house. Those few chickens led to a few quail, which led to a full-blown business.

Fortunately for our family, when the pandemic hit, I had much of this knowledge already stored and I was able to put it to good use. Not only did it give everyone a much-needed distraction, but it also provided us with fresh eggs and vegetables and an opportunity to teach our children some valuable lessons.

In 2020, our first social media page was created to share what we were doing; in 2021, we created our YouTube channel. I remember that first video and sharing the hope that one day I’d be able to quit working and run our homestead full time. In 2023, that became a reality for me.

In 2026, we have a month long wait list for our coturnix quail hatching eggs. It was a dream built over the years that did, in fact, require our blood, sweat and tears. I still get excited that this is my actual life!

A Way of Living

I’m giving you my point of view from a very “traditional” family unit, and I know that it can be controversial, but in this lifestyle, I think we all have something in common. We’re all doing our best to get back to a healthier way of living.

Discussing the trends towards this more traditional lifestyle seems to remain a hot topic. I am all for anyone and everyone learning about self-sufficiency, but I can only speak to my experiences in this world. We don’t live on acres upon acres of land, and yet we still manage to produce hundreds of pounds of food a year.

Is the work easier? Absolutely not! Is the work valuable? Of course. Once you really learn about our food systems, you realize that this is an important contribution to your family. I think that’s what drives so many women into this lifestyle; we want to take care of the people closest to us.

More Women in the Space

Over the years, I’ve seen a growing presence of women in the agricultural world; they’re gardeners, they’re homesteaders, they’re farmers, they’re beekeepers. The list goes on and on. What has traditionally been considered a man’s world has opened up to so many women.

I’m friends with women from all walks of life, and I do mean all. I know so many successful homesteaders and farmers who never really imagined themselves in this position, including myself.

The women were normally delegated to the supporting roles, and now we’re coming to the forefront of the industry in many ways. Not only are we raising families, but now we’re raising awareness about the broken food systems in this country, we’re teaching self-sufficiency skills and we’re running farms and businesses. We’re breaking the “traditional” agricultural norms.

I truly admire the women I consider friends. It would be impossible to list them all, but I know of those who have done amazing things just by teaching others what they know through social media.

I’m friends with a fabulous market gardener who’s raising small children and running a successful business, all while involving her babies. I adore a fellow quail farmer who’s in the trenches of motherhood and building her own successful business. I appreciate my friends who are just there to learn new skills and quietly cheer from the background. What I truly admire are the women in my circle who are supporting other women in both their successes and failures.

New Homesteaders

We were all motivated by “something” to start down the homesteading path. For myself, it was a long-ingrained idea. For others, it may have been the pandemic that tossed them so harshly into this lifestyle. For some, it was the research they did into our food systems, ingredients and how they affected our families' bodies.

No matter the reason, the trend towards growing and preserving our own food has been on the upswing for several years now. The urge to be able to provide for the people closest to us has given rise to a whole new generation of women going back to traditional gardening, homesteading and farming.

I want to encourage whoever is reading this article, be it woman or man, single, married, raising a gaggle of children or maybe childless by choice, to follow your passion and your dream. If my introverted self can go out into the world and teach others how to fulfill their self-sufficiency dreams, I do not doubt that you, too, can accomplish whatever goals you've set for yourself.