Who Am I?

I thought I would introduce myself to the world of steemit.

My name is Dawn, I have been married for almost 30 years, have five children and two adorable grandchildren. I homeschooled all my children and the youngest will be graduating next year.

I have always been interested in homesteading. My grandfather raised chickens for eggs before I was born but was pretty much out of the business when I came along. He always had a large garden, which my grandmother and father continued to put in even after my grandfather passed. I remember many days helping in the garden. It never seemed a chore to me, and who can resist fresh tomatoes straight from the garden.

I almost always had a garden of some sort my entire adult life, but having animals seemed out of the question. We never really had much land where we lived, and well, with five children, homeschooling and running a small home business I didn't really have much time. About 8 years ago a dear friend of mine acquired some ducks and chickens and I was very intrigued by that. Her husband started building and selling chicken coops and I asked him to build me one. They also threw in 4 chickens and I was hooked. Soon after I was having my husband build a chicken tractor so I could raise meat birds and two years ago I convinced him to build a pig run and house so I could raise my own pork.

I love being able to raise much of my own food. I gave up most processed foods a few years ago when I found myself getting heavier and feeling awful about my self. Getting into the garden, exercising, and eating healthy I started to loose weight and feel much better about my self. I had more energy. Slept great at night (most of the time). And loved spending time in the dirt, watching things grow.

I have enjoyed helping my friends get into gardening and animal raising. I don't know everything there is to know and am learning all the time, but I am always willing to share. I tend to do things a bit unconventionally. I like to experiment.

I hope I can share some of the things I have learned along the way, and show my successes and failures.

Thanks for stopping by!