What are we Missing Today?

Is there anything you use on a daily basis that you could make for yourself? Can you grow the foods you like? Can you forage or hunt? If medicine were not available, do you know the natural cures that nature provides? These questions and many more frequently cross my mind, and too often are not given a thought to by many. But this is what’s missing today.

What’s missing today is a sense of self-reliance and willingness to keep alive the practices of our grandparents and great-grandparents. It seems that most people just take it for granted that the grocery stores will always be stocked, that electricity will always be present, that stores will provide all the needs for everyday life. This may be true, but history shows us that is not the case.

Self-Reliance is Freedom

I often think of the men and women who took what little they owned and headed to western North America in the early days of our country. They had little idea what they would find, but the promise of land, freedom, and opportunity was too much to resist. To me, that is the Spirit of America. Where has that gone today? If you are dependent on retail stores, repair professionals, utility companies, government agencies, or the like, then are you truly free?

I don’t mean that you have to be able to do everything yourself. Not even the hardiest pioneer was an expert in everything. I’ve found, though, that most people today don’t even have the desire to learn life-sustaining skills. If you know nothing about how a car works, do you know if your mechanic is being truthful? Do you have to call a plumber to replace a valve in your toilet – a job that takes $30 in parts and will cost you at least 5 times that to have the plumber do it?

Today there are plenty of YouTube videos to show you how to fix almost everything. One of my favorite websites is iFixit (https://www.ifixit.com/ ). Their philosophy is, “If you can’t fix it, you don’t own it.” I love that. Make sure you check out their manifesto.

We Will Blog About Our (mis)Adventures

When we started our homestead, we didn’t know a lot (still don’t!). But we had a desire to learn. I’ve discovered that raising animals and farming/gardening are things that are done as many different ways as there are people doing it. The important thing is to research, try, and then improve. We will share some of our successes and failures, and more.

Lisa is an experienced Master Herbalist, and we sell many different teas, tinctures, and salves for healing, as well as lotion bars, soaps, and men’s products. Be sure to check out our products at purplegatefarmmo.com and we will be sharing a lot of useful tips and recipes in the future.

Happy Homesteading!