It’s said the best place to start a story is at the beginning! Initially, I considered the purchase of my home to be the beginning of Chayotix Homestead. Recent times spent with other homesteaders around the world taught me that homesteading is a state of mind. So, if we’re calling *that* point the beginning, my first homestead failures started with a variety of mindless gardening attempts in 2015.
At this time, I was renting but had plenty of land to work with- I just couldn’t do anything permanent. I would buy seeds and little pots and house plants that I really had no idea what to do with. Starting out, the seeds would grow beautifully! But then it would come time to put them in the ground and that’s about where they’d end.
I’d fall through this same pattern every spring where I’d plant my seeds in a cup with a dose of hope and give up when they outgrew the cup. Moving to a trailer park briefly put a pause on the journey, but it didn’t stop me from believing I could grow houseplants with no access to sunlight indoors.
Fast forward to 2020; we had just moved to a new home with an acre when Covid-19 reached us. At the time I worked as an essential employee in a pad and diaper factory. It doesn’t scream homesteader, but bear with me! Throughout the first year of the pandemic, I had been put into quarantine on 5 occasions. At two weeks each, it was plenty of time for research and distraction. My sister bought a dozen chicks at her house, and I’d go attempt to help with them. I wandered outside looking for what plants I had on my land when a family friend came over and showed me the pokeweed, blackberries and honeysuckle I had at the back fence line. I joined a seed trading group online and found new excitement to try different plants, buy several packets of seeds from a dollar store, and trade and collect seeds like a game.
And then there was a post in that group. They were asking for seeds to a plant with a certain medicinal property. I was intrigued. Of course, plants being medicinal wasn’t a new concept to me, but it wasn’t something I thought of frequently at this point. I just wanted to grow pretty flowers and healthy vegetables. I got sent down a rabbit hole. This plant helps with coughs, that one is good for allergies, this weed in the driveway alleviates bug bites and stings. I was fascinated. I bought books, joined more groups online, bought more specific seeds. But I was renting and afraid to dive in any deeper than a seed starter tray or cups of dirt. So, I stopped. I felt like I was wasting time and money buying seeds to essentially throw it all away. Books were bought and I joined varying groups connected by single threads with each other. I researched.
A book on self-sufficiency gave me new confidence. “You could be self-reliant with just a quarter acre!” it promised. I wanted everything it discussed- chickens, energy, gardens, herb spirals, greenhouses, you name it. But I was still renting. In late spring of 2023, I had a mental shift. I wanted to do these things. I didn’t want to wait for a landlord to allow me to or keep everything so temporary. In the spring last year, I pulled a chunk of my 401k out (a bad idea, I know) and used it for a down payment. My mum and I found a trailer on an acre in my budget and while it’s not perfect, it is mine! So here, Chayotix Homestead (the physical version) begins! It had absolutely nothing on it, nothing to forage, not even a lonely tree. It’s perfect for putting everything right where I want it!
A couple of months later, I started seeing my boyfriend, Marcus, and he joined in on my homestead adventures. He’s helped me build a shed, dig up some tilled plots, straighten out the land a bit, (SEVERAL home improvement projects) and has been super supportive of all the education and failure that goes into becoming self-sufficient!
I’m excited for the future of this home and maybe a larger future one if life allows. My goal with this blog is to track everything I’ve done, tried, failed and keep it as a record for myself, but also maybe help someone else with the same goals along the way!