Week 1, 2018
Well Hello.
This is where we tell you a bit about ourselves. But first, why “The Piedmont Homestead?” Only a few of our grandparents or great-grandparents can remember when homesteading and community was the foundation of this great nation. A time when the families produced food for the whole community. It was a local economy, your food came from your neighbor.
There was even once a “Piedmont Homestead Project” not to far from here outside of Atlanta, GA in the mid 1930’s(pre-WWII) that our president Franklin D. Roosevelt helped to create. He established “The Piedmont Homestead Project” as a way to build a new community of homesteaders. The families in this community were left with nothing or lost their farms as a result of the Great Depression. Each family specialized in producing something valuable to give back to the community (chickens, milk, produce,…) all supported by the government. The project is remembered for providing a boost in employment and solid citizens thereafter.
So who are we: soap makers, furniture makers, home cooks, gardeners, wannabe homesteaders, DIY’ers, lovers of the outdoors and most importantly, trying to get back to our roots and become a self-sufficient homestead.
Being located in the Piedmont of North Carolina we like to break away to the Appalachian mountains to be restored and recharged. We believe in a holistic lifestyle, the power of healing with food and furthering our knowledge of keeping a non-toxic home and land.
Just a home.
We moved to this property in 2013 with a few simple ideas and one goal, have a little piece of land. We both worked regular jobs, we had no plans on supporting ourselves from the land and home.
It all started with a few simple changes. We made changes to the way we ate and started working out. We grew our first garden and spent more time outdoors. Our first garden was semi-successful, we got produce, but we knew there was an opportunity to cut our grocery bills. That snowballed into looking for other areas to save money and become more self-reliant. Installing wood-burning heat, perennial crops, making our own furniture, personal care products and cleaning supplies.
What am I working for? Do I really need to buy this? How is my food grown and where does it come from? What would happen if we lost power?…
Basically, we had a bunch of questions and went looking for the answers. Little changes led to bigger changes… and you get the idea.
Our goal is to become self-reliant and enjoy spending more time with each other. We want to take pride in knowing that we can provide for ourselves and for others. We want to make a positive impact on the land that gives back to us.
Figuring out how to do all of this on our own can be challenging and we will make mistakes. Thank you for coming along on this journey.
