I am not sure if introductions are a thing here, so I will make this short! My name is Karen and I am mostly a homesteader living in Ontario, Canada.
I grew up in the city and worked as a server most of my life. We were lucky enough to find and rent a country home in 2015 on some acreage. Over the last 6 years I have learned to start seedlings, plant seeds, forage, make medicine, plant gardens, harvest, preserve, and store food. I have dabbled in animal husbandry with chickens, ducks and bees and I am itching to get into livestock like a donkey or alpacas, and eventually cattle.
In 2019 volunteered at a farm who has a stand and I planted out a 2 acre market garden. In 2020 I managed at 3 hydroponic greenhouses for the summer, provided all the seedlings that went into them and learned how to run them. In the fall of 2020 I planted an acre of garlic at the farm next door to me, and this year will be replanting the best of the best for next year's crop.
Right at the beginning of the covid hype in the Spring of 2020, our property was sold to developers. We have until the middle of 2023 to leave here. I was (am?) devastated, I would say that the last year has been a mix of uncertainty, fear and almost like being in a fog but I am ready to fight for the next chapter now.
I am going to document my journey over the next 2 years to turn my passions into a permanent business and way of life. I am also hoping to be able to afford my own land soon, the housing market has exploded here in Ontario and prices are suddenly waaaaay out of reach. Since I can never mentally go back to living in the city......I'm gonna have to make this work!
I hope to connect with a like minded community here, and am looking forward to learning and sharing all I can.
If you have read this far, thank you and hello.