A majority of the last six months has been spent prepping for this spring. This is our first year seriously homesteading and it's going to be a year of experimentation. Last summer our 11 acres produced enough lavender to stuff several small pillows, 3 red globe peaches, more eggs than we could eat or sell, several dozen gallons of goat's milk, some inedible goat cheese, and a very small portion of our vegetables. It was a fantastic way to dip our toes into farming. But it was definitely not enough to sustain a family throughout the year, let alone the summer. That's what we're hoping to change this spring.
My husband and I first discussed the homesteading movement several years ago after watching a series of food related documentaries on Amazon Prime video. We thought it sounded like a great idea to save money on food and eat healthier. We didn't really know what to expect since neither one of us had ever lived or worked on a farm before. So, when we did move out to our land (confession: We lived with my husband's mother for 5 months to save money.) we began putting our plans into action. However, money has been very tight and homesteading is not cheap. No one ever told me that a load of top soil would be upwards of $200! Now imagine buying 6 loads- all at once- unexpectedly! This is what 2014 was filled with. I felt like I was bleeding money. But I have to say I'm a much smarter and heartier woman because of it. (confession: we didn't have a working shower for 4 months and showered outside using a garden hose until we saved enough to put a shower in.) Even though we were extremely lucky that my husband's boss just happened to be getting rid of the steel building we made our home, it still came with a lot of unexpected costs. When we planned the blueprints for the inside of our home we estimated it would run us about $35,000-$40,000 to build. I'm not going to tell you how much it ended up costing- but if you multiple that by three you'll be in the ballpark. We weren't entirely prepared for the costs. Luckily we're both extremely frugal and resourceful. (confession: we had about 1/3 of the total cost saved prior to building and that made a world of difference.) It all boils down to what my father-in-law told me the day we poured the slab:
"everything in construction takes twice as long and costs
at least double what you estimated."
What can I say, I was an overly optimistic 24 year old and knew nothing about construction.
If you're planning on building a home because it looks so easy and fun on HGTV and Pinterest- I say go for it! But expect the unexpected, like showering outside. Also hope for the best but be financially prepared for the worst. All in all I couldn't be happier with how our house turned out and am beyond thankful for the amount of man-hours my husband, Kent, and his father, Jeff, logged into building it themselves. (confession: my mother deserves a mention for listening to my daily construction and financial related meltdowns for an entire nine months. Sorry, Mom.)
Back to homesteading now! 
We've just constructed a series of raised beds. We chose differing sizes and depths for companion planting and a higher yield. This year we've chosen to grow corn, cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, watermelon, carrots, collard greens, and squash. I've actually just started some of the seedlings this past weekend on account of the 75 degree weather we're having in central Texas. Also a majority of them take about 6-8 weeks to mature large enough to transplant into our raised beds.
Earlier today I took a walk around the property and was greeted by about a million buds on our fruit trees. It makes me kind of nervous that they're budding so early. One of two things will probably happen now: A] we're going to have an early and scorching hot summer or B] we're going to get a late freeze this year and lose a majority of our Plum, Peach, and Nectarine crop
Like I said before, this year we're experimenting. We've planned out how much of each plant to grow to feed us but it's all based of web research and several dozen library books. I'm going to try to update at least once a month on our progress, yield, and some old timey wisdom and experience.
Colleen P. & The Little Red Homestead
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