How can you tell if your previsely city kids are now homesteaders ? When your soon to be 15 year old asks for a calf for her birthday ! I almost passed out .After all the moaning about chores and know this .I guess i did make the right decission to move to the country .

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), January 16, 2001

Answers

Patty, will you give ME a calf for my birthday too?

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), January 16, 2001.

I have a goat I'd be happy to put a ribbon on for ANYBODY!!!

-- Mona in OK (jascamp@ipa.net), January 16, 2001.

My mama thought I was weird because I asked for (and got!) a roll of chicken wire from my husband for Valentine's Day last year!

Our nearly-20 year old son bought a house in the country on nearly one acre of land and he's only been there about 4 months and already has two registered Chow dogs, three cats, and two guineas (spelling?)

He's getting married in May! My mama thinks he's nuts! She can't understand why I have so many Angora rabbits!

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), January 16, 2001.

My mamma thinks I'm nuts too. Because, I have chickens, a dog, a cat, a pig, ( that was a B-day present from my kids and is a pet because I am a vegetarian), and ducks. I have also started back into canning and we are planning a huge garden for this year. Mamma thinks it's silly for me to WANT to do all this since I work outside the home full time. I would like a goat but we have had trouble with bobcats around here and wouldn't want any accidents. Both of our grown daughters were raised in the city but one was the original owner of my first duck (had to give her up after 2 years because of a move) and the other pleads with her husband to move to the country because she wants a calf. We were only able to move back to the country (we lived out before they were born) after both girls were grown and on their own. I guess it's something that is in the blood. Good for you all and wishing you the best. Cindy

-- Cindy (jandcpalmer@sierratel.com), January 16, 2001.

My 18 yr old son, who will graduate and move out in 4 months, ask why in the world we're cleaning the goat pen and dumping it up on the hill Dad had turned up recently, I told him we're planning a new garden spot there for next year, he sd" Mom your never gonna have a garden there, we may as well stop, you know it never rains here in Texas in the summer time so you may as well give it up!" We have been in a drought the last 2 yrs, and 2 yrs is a lifetime to a kid! When I told him we'd clean out the big barn in March before he moved out he just groaned! Think we started to late with him, but I have two more that complain some but like it anyway.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), January 16, 2001.

Good Job!!! I read a story once about parents who told their children they didn't have to help with the chores anymore. They could do what they pleased. It wasn't long before the children missed the animals and believe it or not, the work. I forget where i heard the story, probably Countryside.

Our friends think we are crazy because instead of getting gifts for x-mas, birthdays and anniversaries we usually get something we need for the family. After a million carpenter jobs done with a hand saw, my husband asked for a table saw. It took a year to get the money, but boy was he happy. My birthday is Valentine's Day so when i tell my friends i want a new wheelbarrow they laugh and tell me i am crazy, why not jewelery. Are they insane, I can just see me outside mucking pens with my jewels. Giggle!!

-- Shau Marie (shau@centurytel.net), January 17, 2001.

You've done great, Patty! Please keep us posted as to how it's progressing. We started a little too late with our youngest, but he helps when I really need him. Our daughter has started her girls early, 2 & 5, the youngest loves to give their chickens scratch & tosses the scraps everywhere, but she loves it.

Shau Marie, you mean you don't wear your diamond tiara with amythest center stone, cocktail rings and tennis bracelets either when mucking out?! Neither do I. If I had such things I'd sell them & buy those sheep I've been looking at! Just hope my son doesn't read this.

-- Phyllis (almostafarm@yahoo.com), January 17, 2001.

My oldest daughter (26) still enjoys the critters, when she comes over she always likes to go out to visit everyone (animals) and will always pitch in and help with chores,indoors or out. She volunteers to do chores if we have to be gone.She lives in town so can't have livestock, and her dh (city boy) won't even let her have a dog or cat. However she's recently asked me if she could buy a pig and have me raise it for her if she paid all expenses. So I think she still has the mentality.

Middle daughter (24) got to complaining about the chores when she was in her late teens. Didn't want to get dirty. She moved out on her own at 18, and after about a year, she apologised for her whining, altho she really never was that bad. She said she apparently was just going through a stage, and wonders now why she ever complained. She too has to live in town, but would like to get some acreage and a few animals.

Youngest was always the animal person, but outgrew it about 2 yrs. ago. She is nearly 17 now. She complains bitterly, altho a lot of the animals are her projects that she begged us to get for her, then lost interest in. She WILL take care of them till she leaves home. She wanted them and she will have the responsibility for them. I don't expect her to continue with anything along the homesteading line. She is also the one I worry about regarding her values in life, and yes, I do think there's a connection.

I don't know if there is any way at all to tell when kids are young or in their teens if they'll stick with the homesteading thing. The ones I thought would probably lose interest have kept or regained an interest. The one I thought would really get into it, will probably move to New York or LA if possible. My thought is that you never go wrong raising kids on a homestead. They learn life skills, and probably have more opportunity to interact with family and absorb your values than anywhere else. I don't think it's ever a waste.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), January 17, 2001.

........when your daughter's "city boy" boyfriend drives your pick-up truck - and likes it!!

(Now he wants to learn about cows!)

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), January 17, 2001.

...When the only chicken in your dining room is "in the hospital" overlooking your table while you stare back at it and try to console yourself with a plate of boiled beet thinnings.

-- William in WI (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), January 17, 2001.

......when your grandkids think all grannys have baby goats in the bathtub????

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), January 17, 2001.

Wow! A calf for your birthday! Don't let my kids hear you say that! They worked for the week at a friend's house during that last ice storm we had. They had to help with hand hauling feed for the 5000 pigs on the farm there. They were paid 50 bucks each and were so excited that they promptly bought a calf together. My husband always gets my presents at the hardware store! Love those power tools!!!!!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), January 17, 2001.

My oldest daughter comes home from the big city and plays with the baby goats! Knows the doe kid in the pen is her 11 year old Showmanship doe Poptart's kid, without having to ask! Says things like lenghth of loin, tightness of shoulders, and width throughout, in normal conversation. When you make a deal with your child that if she helps in the garden and canning, that she doesn't have to eat any of the yucky vegetables, and now as an adult she is just about a vegetarian! When she calls to ask how much the 2 acres down the road is selling for! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

Isn't the true test of a homestead not that they want a calf, but are willing to eat him 18 months later?

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), January 17, 2001.

I knew my kids were homesteaders when my 8 year old son said "Mommy when you think about it this really is a nice out-house (hey it's a 3 seater) and when my 13 year old daughter finally began to think it was cool to bathe in our outside tub hooked up to a wood stove. Now she of course takes out the wind up radio and has floating candles - but she is happy!! Kim

-- kim (fleece@eritter.net), January 18, 2001.

I wasn't too sure either of my older daughters would continue the way they were raised, but the oldest still does some canning, wants to start a garden at her new house, and, if local regs allow, plans to get meat rabbits, poultry, and dairy goats. Middle daughter, if she ever gets married, wants to raise her (so far non-existent) children in the country. Right now she's too busy to have animals, but enjoys ours when she comes home for a visit. If we had a couple of horses, we'd probably see more of her!! LOL!! I don't know if she will ever have a garden, I used to send her in to fix lunch for the rest of us when we were working in the garden, as she hated to get dirty. But she loves to cook from scratch, makes bread and other stuff in her rare free time. But mine never were city kids, even to start with. I wasn't either, nor were my brothers and sisters, but I remember when she was little one of my sisters said she wanted to live in Eugene (OR) when she grew up (the closest city to us at the time), and to this day she lives in an apartment in a town. We are all different, even when we come from the same family -- my mother used to tell us that "It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round."

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), January 18, 2001.

Hey Kim,You must be rich! We only had one and two seats.

-- Bettie Ferguson (jobett@dixie-net.com), January 18, 2001.

Unfortunately, my son will never be a homesteader. He wants the animals but not the work. He would rather stay in the house then be in the great outdoors (constant fight-I'll be outside not knowing he went back inside) I'm hoping the baby goats I get in the spring might interest him but I'm not counting on it.

By the way, my mother-in-law thinks it's funny I bought goats with my birthday money and that my husband bought me a power drill for Christmas.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 19, 2001.

.....when city boy hubby looks at goat web sites to "pick just the right one" *BIG GRIN* That just made my day!!

-- Cindy in Ok (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), January 23, 2001.

I've got to chuckle at the answers I'm seeing here. My wife, and I do love her, wouldn't know which end of a drill to use, much less which end of a goat to milk. However, she is a homesteader in spirit, and is forcing me into it as well (of course, it's not force if one is willing....). We live in New Jersey, in suburbia, on just under .5 acres. We do have a veggie and herb garden. I'm planning on expanding it this year to 48 sq. feet (I use the square foot method designed by Mel Barthalmew(spelling?). We did quite nicely last year with 24 feet.

Now, she want's to talk goat(s) for milk, cheese, yogurt, and chickens for eggs (she's a vegetarian and I don't like the thought of killing a chicken myself). So, in learning self-reliance, in understanding how to raise my own food, make cheese (this weekend may be a first if the kit comes), and, yes, we bake and cook together (she is my Sous Chef), all this other stuff, I guess we are becoming homesteaders! I like it!!!

-- Barney (bfrankel@home.com), January 23, 2001.

My son wants high boots to wear in the yard. He'd be happy if they were birthday presents.

All three kids want their own space in the garden. They are likely to shove me out. Just so long as I get my tomatoes.

Some of my favorite things...craftsman yard tools, leather work gloves, MY staple gun (it's mine, don't you touch it) and my wheelbarrow.

-- Heather (heathergorden@hotmail.com), January 24, 2001.