Welcome to our little suburban homestead!

My name is Melissa and I’m so glad you’ve found my blog!  It is my hope that this blog can be a place where folks who desire to live a more self-sufficient, simple and frugal life can exchange ideas and learn from one another.

WHO WE ARE

John & Melissa

I’ve been married for 22 years to my awesome husband and best friend, John.  We live in a small town and one day hope to have a home in the country with some land.  Until then, we do what we can with what we have.  Thankfully our town has a strong agricultural history and continues to value the importance of self-sufficiency.  The town codes actually allow for the keeping of livestock within the town limits as long as there is enough room, proper fencing and the animals are well kept.  People keep goats, rabbits, chickens and one family even has a cow.

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Our little suburban homestead is about a half acre in size.  We currently have a fairly large garden, a couple of fruit trees and 5 laying hens.  We hope to add more garden space, ducks and honeybees eventually.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that we both have full time jobs away from the home.

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WHY WE DO IT

September 11, 2001 showed me how fragile life is and how things can change in a minute. Then,  a few years ago we began to see more changes.  The housing bubble burst, some people lost their retirement funds others lost their jobs.  Still today, despite what we are being told, the economy is not good and there are terrorists who want to kill us.  John and I began to feel more and more impressed that we needed to do what we could to take care of ourselves and help others.  As so began our suburban homesteading adventure

I don’t claim to be an expert in homesteading.  As a matter of fact, some folks would take issue with my use of the word “homestead”.  But, to me, homesteading is more of a state of mind than an actual place.  It is our desire to be as self-sufficient as possible but we understand our current limitations and do our best to work  within   them.  So, if you too have the desire to do as much for yourself as possible and to live simply and frugally then you’ve come to the right place.  I look forward to having you join me in the journey!