There are many “should’s” in homesteading.
When we first started dreaming about land, gardens and animals, skimming through seed catalogs, scouring you tube and instagram… It was very much like drinking from a firehose.
There was an abundance of voices, advice and opinions.
You should wait a year and observe your land before any big and permanent decisions are made.
Watch where the water settles after a hard rain.
Discover your different microclimate.
Learn what grows naturally and wild.
Learn your soil type.
What amendments are needed.
Pay attention to the sun, where it saturates the ground.
Observe the land before trying to change it.
Get your perennials in the ground and established first.
Fruit trees.
Asparagus.
Strawberries
Herbs and elderberry.
The things that take years to mature.
The things that come back each year with a little care and tending.
The fruit you can count on.
Lately, I’ve been thinking that motherhood is much the same.
In a world obsessed with quick results, motherhood is one of the most deeply perennial things we do.
Every meal served.
Every story read.
Every prayer whispered over a sleeping child.
Every correction.
Every apology.
Every conversation around the table.
We are planting things that may take years to mature and bear fruit.
People often notice the visible things with a family our size.
The sheer number of children is often a lot to take in.
They see the laundry.
Hear the noise.
The groceries.
The logistics of managing a household with all these people.
What they often don’t see are the thousands of tiny seeds sown in each ordinary day.
The routines.
The kids apologizing to each other.
The whispers of kindness ” good job Ellie, thats a great elephant”
The heart being formed in each of us as we hand wash dishes or tie shoes.
The faces of the little girls on Friday night as the table is set and the sun goes down ” can we play the shabbat song?”
The memory verses tucked away in little hearts or on slips of paper and shoved in pockets and binders.
The scrappy table that serves as a foundation for homeschool, crafts, games and family dinners.
The habits and traditions that are built in a hundred little simple and ordinary ways each and everyday.
We are often eager to plant orchards and berry patches that will feed our families for years to come.
And we should.
In all your planning and doing, dreaming and planting for the future , remember motherhood is perennial.
I pray that we never forget that the most important perennial crop we tend is growing right inside our homes.
Sow your best seeds there 🤍
Bubs u r a wonderful mother, wife, and Sister 🩷 I love u. I could literally hear Shiloh tell Ellie good job Ellie 😭 Haddie too!! I love all of my nieces and nephews so much. Their hearts r so kind and grateful ❤️ a rare thing these days.