Homesteading Is an Energy, Not a Place

Notes from the Farm · October 26, 2025

Hey Farm Family,

Sometimes it feels like the whole world is spinning at a hundred miles an hour. We scroll, refresh, consume and try to keep up with a pace that was never meant for humans...or chickens. 🐓

For a long time, I tried to keep up. I ran the same race everyone else was running - doing, achieving, hustling, posting. Even when we started our homestead, I carried that same energy right into it. I thought if I just worked harder, organized better and woke up earlier, I’d eventually find peace. Spoiler: I didn’t.

Then came the accident.

In October of 2024, life came to a literal screeching halt when a horse hit me square in the face - breaking bones, rearranging plans and handing me an unexpected invitation to slow the heck down. For eight weeks, I slept upright, healed slowly and learned what quiet actually feels like.

Somewhere between the swelling and the gratitude, I realized why homesteading had started to feel so heavy.

I was trying to live slower while carrying the energy of a world that never stops.

This past year, our rhythm has shifted. Nell still locks herself in her home office Monday through Friday for her full-time gig trying to ignore the sounds of chickens, homeschool math debates and NKOTB kitchen dance parties while MJ and I spend our days homeschooling, feeding animals and juggling farm chores. And the to-do list is still long...but it finally feels peaceful. More breathing in between the doing. More laughing at the chaos instead of trying to control it.

We’ve learned that the true gift of this life isn’t the perfectly stacked woodpile or the ever-growing to-do list.

It’s presence.

It’s pausing long enough to hear the chickens gossiping in the yard or to catch MJ quoting Sheldon Cooper while feeding the rabbits. It’s singing along to NKOTB while kneading bread, crocheting through a rerun of Friends or watching the sunset with muddy hands and a grateful heart.

Homesteading isn’t about acreage or animals. It’s an energy - one that anyone can cultivate...anywhere.

Whether you live in an apartment, a suburban neighborhood, or out in the woods, you can bring that same homesteading energy into your everyday life. It’s not about having everything you dream about...it’s about finding meaning in what’s already around you.

Here are a few simple ways to begin:

1. Bake something from scratch.
   It doesn’t have to be sourdough (unless that’s your love language). Pancakes, cookies, banana bread - if it fills the kitchen with good smells and laughter, it counts.

2. Grow one thing.
   A pot of basil on the windowsill, a tomato plant in a bucket or a patch of zinnias out front. Watching something grow - especially when you’ve tended to it - changes how you see the world.

3. Compost what you can.
   Even a small countertop bin makes a difference. Plus, it’s weirdly satisfying to turn “trash” into something that feeds new life. Science lesson optional, but encouraged. 😉

4. Mend or reuse instead of replace.
   Sew a button, fix the hem, patch the knee, repurpose the jar. Around here, the “junk drawer” is actually a drawer full of second chances.

5. Cook a meal with intention.
   Turn off the screens, set the table, and eat together...even if it’s grilled cheese and soup. Slowing down enough to taste your food is revolutionary these days.

6. Learn one old-fashioned skill.
   Crochet a dishcloth, make broth, hang laundry in the sunshine or learn to water-bath can (and proudly call it your “grandma era”). These little skills connect us to the people who came before us.

7. Support local.
   Stop by the farmers’ market, buy a handmade soap or trade eggs for honey. Every small connection keeps the bigger world spinning a little slower, a little kinder.

8. Spend time outside every day.
   Bare feet in the grass, morning coffee on the porch, stargazing before bed - nature has a way of resetting your soul faster than any app ever could.

9. Make something beautiful.
   Paint, write, crochet, sing in the kitchen or teach your chickens interpretive dance (kidding… mostly). Creating for joy, not perfection, is pure magic.

10. Pause with gratitude at sunset.
    It doesn’t matter if you’re watching the sun sink behind trees, buildings or a line of laundry...just stop for a moment and breathe. That’s where homesteading begins and ends.

You don’t need acres, animals, or gardens to live with homesteading energy...you just need a willingness to bring a little simplicity into your days. To look up from the noise, breathe and be grateful for the moment right in front of you.

For us, that looks like muddy boots by the door, cups of chai-tea half-finished and laughter echoing through the house while the rabbits thump and the chickens gossip outside. It’s messy and meaningful all at once. The kind of life that doesn’t photograph perfectly, but feels perfect when you stop long enough to notice it.

Maybe the real harvest isn’t what we grow on our land, but what we grow within ourselves - the patience, the peace, the presence.

If this rhythm speaks to you, join our Farm Family Circle for cozy stories, slow-living inspiration and gentle reminders to breathe a little deeper - straight from our homestead to your inbox a few times each month.

With love and muddy boots,
Lynn & the Little Forest Crew 🐓🐇