How many people get to live their dream? Hopefully, many do, but I know how fortunate I really am. My husband is a hard worker and good at his job. Thankfully, his job provides enough for our family that I can stay home enjoying the kiddos and pretending to farm.
I dabble and I play and I pretty much spend all my free time and all my free money on my hobby. I can guarantee you that (when you are small scale) doing things yourself often costs just as much as buying the end product at the store. Sure, it is healthier, fresher, and usually better quality, but it is no cheaper. When you factor your time in, the cost goes up exponentially, so you had better enjoy it.
I might complain about how last year, we spent a fortune on feed for our beef and ended up with a $52 profit for the year. Not much, considering I had to go out twice daily throughout the winter and chop holes in the ice of the creek, whether I felt like it or not. BUT I take comfort of knowing that the meat I feed my children wasn’t fattened on antibiotics, hormones and glucose pellets. Plus, I LOVE it when people rave about how great our beef is and their friends call, wanting to get a side the next time we butcher. I guess my point is, I don’t raise any of our food because I have to, I do it because I love to! I plant, and prune, and weed, and doctor, and milk because that is who I am. It fulfills me.
