Decisions, Decisions….

Hey y’all! Deidra here. So, I wanted to share with you all a little of our journey.

We used to own our own home a few years back. Unfortunately, Antoine was caught up in the technology bubble bust and was laid off. While he had some time at home, he decided to build our first garden. We had two young children and a dog and we knew we had mouths to feed.

He was really good at it. He grew okra, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, peppers….anything that could fit in our square foot garden. I think that’s when the bug really bit him. From that point on, no matter where we landed we tried to grow something.

Bringing you guys up to speed so I won’t bore you, here we are again, growing stuff. But this time, we rent. And one thing about renting is, you don’t have autonomy on what you can do and where. Our landlord didn’t want his grass destroyed by either digging or building something on it, so we were kind of stuck. We have a very small patio out back, so we began a little container gardening. But that soon got to be a little annoying because between the containers and the grill, there was really no real space to grow or move. We got creative and grew ginger in our barely used, and aptly named “garden tub”. That was a huge success until it started to look like an amazon rain forest in the bathroom.

So, we started letting ourselves think about owning again. That was December of 2016 and it has been a hard road since. There are a lot of decisions to think about when trying to decide what kind of homestead you want, if you are there with me I’ll share with you some things we thought through.

1. Location. This was a big deal for us. Antoine still works outside of the home. So wherever we end up, it has to be easily accessible for him to get to and from work. Also, the commute can’t be too long. What’s the use of having a beautiful place to call your own if you spend most of your time driving to or from it? Our children are homeschooled, so school districts weren’t that important, but they are involved in competitive sports so getting to and from practices and competitions is always on the mind. Last, with all of the driving, we own one “old” van and a newer one. We have to consider the miles we will be putting on them as we drive back and forth.
2. Acreage. We know we want a minimum of three to five acres, preferably five.  Antoine has plans on creating a greenhouse or two for his hydroponic system and whatever else his thumbs can come up with. And I of course want a place for my dairy goats and other animals I plan to raise for nourishment. This means that we know we won’t be staying in the city and we will need enough space to get our desires done. PRO TIP: In your search for land space, make sure you check the local and county zoning. If you are in a neighborhood check the HOA or neighborhood rules.
3. Water. One thing I am adamant about is having some sort of alternate water source other than public water. A stream, pond, creek, even a well will do. It will serve two purposes. The first, our personal use. When I was younger, our city went through a bout of Cryptosporidium. We were under a boiling advisory and many kids and older people got sick. Then thinking of what’s happening in Flint, MI and other places like it without usable water, it just makes sense to me to have a source other than what’s offered by our government. Second, water on your property can be used for irrigation, for your animals, and if it flows fast enough, for energy.
4. Proximity. It’s my preference to be away from everyone. Not like my next neighbor is 5 miles away, but more like, not in the hubub of city life, no matter how small. I’d like to be off the beaten path where people really have to “work” to get to you. Antoine is just the opposite. He’d rather be around people and easily accessible. Hopefully, we can find something that somehow meets both of our desires.
5. Buildings. One thing we’d like is either an existing home on land, or if it’s just raw land we’d hope to have an outbuilding on it of some sort. That way there would be less that we’d have to do as far as structure.

Wherever we end up, the key to getting there is going to be patience. We have to remember to not make rash and rushed decisions. We are making a huge investment in our family and it’s going to definitely have to be a Jireh Provision.

What other tips do you have for us in our search? We’d love to hear feedback from you!