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Homestead Dreams ~ Life on Apple Tree Farm

January 15, 2016 By Deanna Piercy 10 Comments

If you haven’t been following me long you may not know that along with my passion for Paris, I also have a thing for farms. It may have something to do with all those episodes of Little House on the Prairie and The Waltons I watched as a kid. Whatever the reason, there’s a part of me loves the idea of a piece of land with a garden and chickens. And a farmhouse with a real working kitchen where the family’s daily bread is baked and garden produce is “put up” for the winter.

Homestead Dreams

When we bought our place eighteen years ago, Y2K was a topic of interest to many. There was widespread concern that much of what we have come to depend upon in this country would be turned upside down at the dawn of the new century, all because of a computer glitch. We now know that Y2K was a non-event but in the years leading up to it experts really weren’t sure.

Lots of people became convinced that life as we know it would disappear and we would all be forced to return to our grandparents’ ways in order to survive. Personally, I thought those fears were overstated. I felt certain that we have enough smart people in this country to figure things out and get everything up and running even if there was a collapse initially. I did think it was possible that we would experience a short period of problems, though.

This was about the time we got our first computer and I started researching how to do basic things without electricity in case the grid went down for awhile. That led to a fascinating study of the modern homesteading movement. I started printing articles about everything from food storage to raising chickens. I eventually ended up with a 3 inch binder stuffed full of information about homesteading.

We didn’t move to the country because of Y2K but I did figure that if something happened we’d be in a better position to deal with it on our 40 acres with a pond, fruit trees and room for a large garden. After the uneventful dawn of the year 2000 I continued to read homesteading books and message boards because I found the subject fascinating. I amassed a rather impressive collection of books and learned a lot. I bought a wheat grinder and Bosch mixer and began baking our bread from freshly ground wheat. I did a little bit of canning. I grew tomatoes and a few other things. After several years of begging I eventually talked David into letting me get chickens. He will tell you plainly that he is NOT a farmer and has no interest in such things. But even he had to admit that chickens were pretty low maintenance. That is, until raccoons decimated our flock, but that’s another story.

Since writing my post the other day about learning to love my home I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Since it looks like we may be here for the long haul perhaps it’s time for me to get back to thinking of this place as a homestead of sorts again. We jokingly named it Apple Tree Farm when we bought it, despite the fact there were only a couple of apple trees and they have since died. But I could plant some more. I could plant a garden and get more chickens. I could go back to baking all of our bread. In fact, I did bake a couple of loaves earlier this week and I was reminded again of how utterly delicious homemade bread is.

Yes, I think I’ll re-read some of my homestead books and dig out my old copies of Mother Earth News and Countryside Magazine. And the seed catalogs should start arriving soon…

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Filed Under: Country Living, Featured Posts, Home & Garden

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Comments

  1. Roz says

    January 15, 2016 at 10:52 am

    Do you have a copy of Readers Digest “Back to Basics”? I used to read it and dream of having a farm!! I just looked for my copy and can’t find it. May have to search out a used copy from Amazon!! Also, my Aunt had all the “Foxfire” books, and I read them from cover to cover!

    Reply
    • Deanna Piercy says

      January 16, 2016 at 8:01 pm

      Yes, I do have a copy of “Back to Basics”. Good book! I don’t own any of the Foxfire books but I’ve browsed a few at the library.

      Reply
  2. Glena says

    January 15, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    We got our first seed catalogues this week.

    We also got a baby chicken catalogue.

    Reply
    • Deanna Piercy says

      January 16, 2016 at 9:33 pm

      I got a seed catalog a few weeks ago which seemed really early. Haven’t seen a chicken catalogue yet, though.

      Reply
  3. Tori says

    January 16, 2016 at 6:01 am

    Sounds like a great plan, and I look forward to reading anything you post about your adventures in homesteading. 🙂

    Also… Mmm… Fresh bread!

    Reply
    • Deanna Piercy says

      January 16, 2016 at 8:03 pm

      I might start a regular feature on the topic. Maybe a monthly post about a homesteading topic? Hmm…

      Reply
      • Diane Heuser says

        August 12, 2021 at 7:00 am

        I hope you continue to post articles about homesteading. I never get tired of reading about this subject!

        Have you realized your dream of having chickens and planting apple trees?

        Reply
        • Deanna Piercy says

          August 12, 2021 at 10:03 am

          Hi Diane. I did have chickens for several years and really enjoyed them. Sadly, they were taken out by raccoons during a severe drought. Every year since I’ve thought about getting more but for one reason or another, haven’t. I haven’t given up hope, though.

          As for the apple trees, no. My original plan was for an orchard as we have a perfect place for one. However, we started hosting an annual 3-day music festival and that area gets taken over with tents, frisbee games, etc. At this point, my homesteading dreams are just that – dreams. As my husband gets closer to retirement we are thinking about downsizing. I’m starting to give thought to what I might be able to create in a smaller backyard. We’ll see!

          Reply
  4. Diane Heuser says

    August 12, 2021 at 6:56 am

    Dee, I’m not new to Life with Dee, but I’m finally finding time to enjoy and read your posts. You are creative and it shows in your writing.

    I am a homesteader at heart although we live in town. When I read that you were making or plan to make bread, I had to share this book: 28 Popular No-Knead Breads by Steve Gamelin. He also has a YouTube channel, artisanbreadwithstev. Today I’m going to bake Holiday Sage Bread. It’s a family tradition for Thanksgiving, but it’s so good and the texture is perfect so we enjoy it for sandwiches.

    Reply
    • Deanna Piercy says

      August 12, 2021 at 9:51 am

      Thank you so much for the recommendation! I keep saying I’m going to get back to baking our bread but then don’t follow through. I’m going to check out the book and YouTube channel and maybe this fall I’ll get back into the habit. Thanks again!

      Reply

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I’m Dee, a Francophile with a hippie heart, trying to create a beautiful life in the country while dreaming of Paris.

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