Old Fashioned On Purpose

97. What Covid-19 Means for Homesteaders

• Jill Winger

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To say the world is full of uncertainty is a bit of an understatement at the moment.  We’re living in some uncharted waters as a country and as humans in general.  I for one can say my mind has been spinning over the past couple weeks.  Even with the craziness in the world, the events of the past few weeks has reassured me the choice we made to begin the homesteading journey.  Not only are we in a position to produce for for our family, but if it’s needed, we can help the community and inspire others to adopt some of our ways.  As you listen today, I’d like for you to keep this in mind; we have a responsibility to help and share knowledge in this time of need.  How can you help? 


Links from show: 

>> Click here to get my special master-pack:  https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/masterpack

>> Head over to www.theprairiehomestead.com for from-scratch recipes, homestead inspiration, and old-fashioned tutorials.

>> Get your Old-Fashioned on Purpose Swag at www.homesteadswag.com

>> Follow Jill on YouTube: http://youtube.com/theprairiehomestead
>> Follow Jill on Instagram: http://instagram.com/theprairiehomestead
>> Follow Jill on Facebook: http://facebook.com/theprairiehomestead



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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the old fashioned on purpose podcast. We are living in unprecedented times right now. I never thought I would see something like this happen in my lifetime. I'm sure you probably didn't either. And it really feels like we're living in some sort of weird movie script. So like you, I've been processing everything that's happening right now and you know, the shutting down and the world changing and the news reports, and I've had a lot of thoughts over the last few days and I just kind of wanted to sit down in today's podcast, sort through some of them, talk through them and explore this idea of what covid means for homesteaders, both now and in the future. And I honestly like spoiler alert, I think there's a little bit of a silver lining here. So if you're just needing some inspiration and encouragement in the midst of all this craziness, keep listening. I'm your host Jill winger, and this is the podcast for the trailblazers, the Mavericks, the makers, the homesteaders, the modern pioneers and the backyard farmers. If you've ever found yourself disenchanted with conformity and be kind of like to swim upstream while the rest of the society rides the river of least resistance, well you have found your tribe. So as I start this episode, I just kind of want to preface it with saying, I know there's a lot of different emotions surrounding this topic and I've been trying to be very careful with what I say online. I've seen a lot of fights and arguments and I know tensions are high right now. And, I want to be mindful of, you know, I feel a certain way about it. You probably feel a different way about it. There's a lot of different variables here. So if you're feeling a lot of anxiety and stress, like I want to assure you that you're, you know, you're not alone and I want to acknowledge those feelings and, and hopefully in the course of what I'm just kinda rambling through today in this episode, I don't say anything that offends you or makes you feel upset, if I do, it's not intentional.

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I just know, I, you know, I have to express kind of what I'm feeling around this topic and I know that it could potentially not jive with what you're feeling. So hopefully we can have lots of grace for each other during this time. But I think at the end of the day, um, I dunno, I feel like there's a lot of positivity to come from the situation. So here's my thoughts anyway. So kind of to start it off, really we're on day, I don't know what day five of the quarantine. I don't know where we'll be, you know, as far as when this episode kinda hits the podcast and you start listening to it. But to be truthful, our life hasn't really changed that much. I guess maybe you could say we live in a quarantine state most of the time, kind of, cause that's what we like to do.

Speaker 1:

We're very home-centric to begin with, which is no secret. You guys knew that. So staying home all the time is kind of like cool. Like we're doing that anyway. We already work from home. We already homeschool. We keep our social trips to town fairly minimal just because of time and distance and such. So yeah, I would say our week is pretty much the same as it always is. Maybe even a little bit busier for me just because I have felt compelled to create more content on the blog and my YouTube channel because I feel like there's such a need for it right now. But, anyway, we're kind of life as usual at this point in time, but naturally I'm still watching the news and social media, probably more social media than the news. I don't, we don't really watch news on TV. And just watching people's reactions and what is being said and what's being reported. And I find this whole thing, I dunno, honestly more fascinating than anything else. Not in a flippant way, but watching our modern societies reactions to this has just been incredibly interesting to me. I feel like in previous generations, hardship was a little more usual. Like there were more Wars, there were more sicknesses, there were more scary things. People were more acquainted with life and death and what that entails. And I, you know, I think our generation has become a little bit distant from that. Which is, it's interesting and I don't want to say interesting in like a, uh, a weird voyeuristic way. But I find it just fascinating to see the reactions of how people are responding to a threat when we're used to really only seeing such things on TV and we're not acquainted to any sort of hardship on our day to day life. So honestly I think it was a wake up call or it is a wake up call that I really needed. I have been going through, I would say over the last maybe three to four weeks ago, kind of going through a funk in my business, which is the blog and teaching people how to homestead and live old fashioned ways. And honestly, I was kinda questioning myself. And this is normal. Like, if you're an entrepreneur, you get this, you go through periods of questioning what you're doing and kind of like self-reflecting as to, is this what I'm supposed to be doing or is this stupid? But I was kinda going through this period of like, wow, does what I'm doing really matter. Because sometimes I feel at least, you know, a month ago I was like, I feel like I'm producing all this content and I'm trying to beg people to learn how to make bread or to get chickens or show them the value of these things and they don't really get it. I mean, and I say that as a blanket statement. I know a lot of you get it, I see your posts and your pictures and you make me so happy to see you in. But sometimes it feels like I'm just in an echo chamber of like, I'm telling all this stuff and talking about it and encouraging and it just like, people are like, nah, I'm good. I'm going to go buy bread at the grocery store for$2 a loaf. Thanks. You know? And so sometimes that feels a little discouraging. And I was having like this, I don't know, crisis of faith, for lack of a better word, about a month ago. I'm like, what am I doing what I should be doing? And honestly if timing, I wouldn't say timing, could ever be good for this sort of global pandemic. There's no such thing as a good time for that. But the timing was interesting because it really has woken me up, and reminded me that not only are these old fashioned skills that you and I are drawn to, like not, this is not a hobby my friends, like maybe it was a hobby in years past and it was a cute little thing we did to pass time. Or for me it was, you know, I was a stay at home mom. I was bored. So I was trying to figure out how to do more around the house and that's where I got into homesteading. But as I see our world disrupted, this is a very stark reminder to me that this lifestyle that we're drawn to, whether you're living in a country like I am or you're living in the suburbs with chickens in your backyard, this is way more than a hobby and it has more importance than I ever maybe even imagined. You know, naturally I would think about what would happen someday if the grid went down or the zombie apocalypse happened or you know, that whole sort of prepping situation. We've all kind of, I think, I won't say fantasize, but thought through those scenarios at one point in time to kind of think about what we would do or maybe how we would be prepared. But now I that I see a version of that taking place around us. I think I would call it a mild version compared to potentially other scenarios, like this lifestyle is important, my friends. And I feel more called, I guess would be the word or I'm tasked with this job of making sure that people are understanding that they can be more self sufficient and they can take charge of their food supply and their healthcare and things like that because it really truly matters. At the time of this recording, our grocery stores are empty and honestly I have a hunch, a suspicion that, you know, once the panic buying dies down that the trucks will come back and fill up the stores and people will realize there's enough toilet paper and ground beef to go around and all will be well. But watching how quickly that happens and then experiencing the feeling of walking into the grocery store and needing something and not being able to get it. Like I don't like that feeling and I don't know about you, but that is a feeling I want to experience in any broad sense of the word in any, like at any point in the future, like I'm not doing that again and we're pretty well set up honestly. Like, we've got lots of ground beef in our freezers. We have lots of home canned food in the pantry. I have like 20 million pounds of hard wheat berries that I have in the basement in buckets from like years ago that I can grind up with my grain mill. So we're actually sitting pretty good. But even just going to the store and not being able to get the vegetables I want, or like having to call Christian who's in town and saying, well, if you can find a little bit of flour, get it. But knowing that he's probably not going to be able to find it, like never again will I be in that situation where all our food supply is dependent on the store and it's not all dependent on the store now, but you know what I mean? Even just for little things, I don't like that. So, it's given me a whole new appreciation for our ancestors who lived like this all the time. I know it has made me so much more aware of what I'm using in my kitchen or my home, whether it's food or toiletries or paper products and what I'm throwing away. Like I'm not, I'm very mindful now. Like I'm realizing I don't need to use as many paper towels as I normally do on a regular basis in the kitchen. And I'm being more mindful of, oh, the vegetables in the bottom of the fridge, let me get a little more creative on how I can use those up instead of just kinda like ignoring them and then giving them to the chickens. So I think this has been a really positive perspective shift for me, even though we're already pretty entrenched in this lifestyle and we're pretty committed to it. And my prayer is that it gives our world a little bit of a wake up call. Not that everyone should go move to Wyoming on a hundred acres and buy a bunch of milk cows. That's not the answer, I don't think. Although if you want to do that, like, you know, I'm going to be all for it. But I think that or hope that it will encourage people to figure out ways to be creative in their self sufficiency. And like I've said a million times that can happen in your backyard, in your apartments, you can start to get to know your farmers, you can start to grow things in your balcony or in your landscaping. There is so much we can do. And from someone who has kind of been living this lifestyle for a while, like if you haven't and you're listening to this now and you're feeling more drawn to being a homesteader or living old fashioned on purpose, let me just tell you that the feeling of knowing that there might not be eggs and milk and beef at the grocery store, but I have the means to produce it here at my house. Like there is no better feeling in the entire world. And also knowing that I have the capacity to help produce food for our community. That's pretty amazing. And I'm kind of rambling. I know, but it's just, I dunno. This week has been very impactful for me as I'm sure it has been for you. And I am wholeheartedly sold out to this lifestyle. I think even more than I was before, if that's possible, just because of the reassurance it has brought me over the last week. You know, going down to the barn the last couple of days, there's times like I'll be honest, like there's times like homesteading can feel heavy and you've maybe experienced this, it's a lot of work. There's a lot of chores, there's a lot of moving parts and you got the chickens and the meat birds and the cows and the calving and the milk and the vegetables. And sometimes you're like, you're seeing your friends Footloose and fancy free going to all this stuff in town, vacations all the time with not a care in the world because all they have is a goldfish. And you might kind of sit back and go, why am I doing this? Like what is the point of all this extra work and all this extra sweat? And I'd say I don't, I don't get into that state very often cause I really do enjoy our lifestyle. But man going down to the barn in the last few days, seeing the goats who are ready to kid in a couple of weeks, seeing the milk cow, who's going to be kidding. Hopefully fingers crossed the end of April, I'm looking at our meat chicks we just bought, like I am so thankful for the animals and I'm like we are in a partnership together with those animals, and caring for them and then providing us with sustenance. And it is, it's just amazing, especially when the grocery store shelves are empty. So as homesteaders, we are I think really set up to be an inspiration in this time. And I think it's really important that even if you do have the food in your pantry and you've got plenty of flour and you've got milk and all that stuff, I think it's really important that we don't take the attitude of, you know, I'm good peace out. Like good luck to everybody else who didn't prep. Cause I'm fine. Like, I think this is our time to show up and to educate and to serve our communities, whether our communities are online or in our local like in-person communities. And I think that this is not time to gloat cause I've seen a little bit of that online. Like, Oh cool, I'm super good cause I've been doing this forever and you haven't haha like you know, it's okay. I know that some of that is ingest, but I think it's important that we don't have that attitude of, you know, too bad, so sad. And we, when we show up to be like, Hey cool, you've never made bread before. Let me help you. Need some eggs. I got you covered, you need some milk, let's figure out a cow share deal. Or even just teaching skills or just inviting people into your space. Especially when this whole rigamorel said and done and life goes back to normal. We want to continue to help people understand the relevance of this lifestyle. And I have a hunch that people are going to be more open to it than ever before. So I think, I think this is a good thing. I think it's a good thing, for people to be home for a little while, for the busy-ness to die down. I think it's a good thing for people to experience a little bit of boredom. I think boredom is the fertilizer for creativity. I think it's good for families to spend more time together and to have meals around the table. I think there's a lot of good that can come out of this situation. Not to downplay the seriousness of it and not to downplay the fact that I know there are people like our healthcare professionals who aren't at home cleaning closets. They're on the front line. So I'm not trying to leave them out of the scenario at all, but I'm inviting you if you've been feeling the panic and the anxiety and the fear and the uncertainty that's so thick right now to just shift your perspective, and, and step out of that world of the unknown and focused on what's in front of you and what you have control over. Because this could very well be the catalyst to a whole new way of living for you. And I don't care if you live in the suburbs, I don't care where you live, you don't have to move to make this happen. But there are a lot of changes that you can do right now where you are that will make a big impact for you right now and in the years to come. And as just speaking as someone who is an experienced homesteader, if that's what you want to call it, I have never been more proud to have devoted the last decade of my life to this lifestyle and these skills, because they truly do have value and they truly do matter. And when our supply chains fail us and everything is on its head upside down, really what matters are just the simple old fashioned things that have always mattered. And I think we have an opportunity right now, an unprecedented opportunity to focus on those things and allow this time to be the catalyst to drive us forward. So we're in this together. My friends, I am so pumped to see so many of you making that first loaf of bread and sprouting seeds in your kitchen and doing all these things for the first time. And I love that you tag me. I love that you share the pictures online. I see it and you inspire me in your action. So keep up the good work. We're in this together and I'm excited to see the good that comes from the situation both now and in the future. So I know that obviously everybody is home right now more than ever before. We've got kids at home, we got everybody at home and there's the potential to feel maybe a little bit stir crazy, but also a little bit more inspired to learn new things. So that is obviously something I'm very passionate about and I've created a lot of resources over the years to help you learn how to cook from scratch and get the chickens and do the canning, all the, all the stuff. And so what I wanted to do, I put everything I've created around old-fashioned living and homesteading into a big bundle. It's all digital. So you don't have to rely on the post office to deliver it to you because we know that's a little bit iffy right now. So it's all digital and I've put it in a master bundle and slashed the price down, way past 50% off. So if you want to check that out, learn some new things, go on over to theprairiehomestead.com/masterpack to check it out and we'll leave a link in the show notes as well. And that's it for today. Thanks for listening to my kind of rambly episode. I hope that was helpful? I don't know, I just kinda needed to talk through it so hopefully it inspired you a little bit. But anyway, don't forget to hit subscribe if you're not already. So all the new episodes will show up automatically in your podcast player and if you found this episode enjoyable, I would really appreciate it if you could just leave a quick rating or review. It helps more people find the podcast in the future. And that's it, my friend. Thanks for listening. We'll catch up again next time on the next episode of the old fashioned on purpose podcast. It has begun gardening season. That is, and maybe you're not quite digging out in the garden quite yet. I'm definitely not because there is still snow on the ground, but odds are you're probably in the thick of planning, dreaming, and buying seeds to make the process just a little bit easier for you, whether you're a newbie or an experienced gardener. I've put together a little pack of gardening, planning, printables as well as a list of some of my very favorite vegetable varieties. You can grab the whole thing for free over at theprairiehomestead.com/gardenplan. We'll also drop that link in the show notes, but one more time. It's theprairiehomestead.com/gardenplan.