10/08/2026
🌾 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Homestead — Part 1
I’ve been a nurse for over a decade. I have a BSN, a MSN, and somehow made a career out of clinical risk management.
So when we started adding animals to our property, I came into this with what I can now admit was an embarrassing amount of confidence.
I’m a nurse. I can handle this.
😂😂😂
The homestead said, “That’s adorable.”
Nothing has humbled my education quite like standing in a chicken coop after dark, wearing a headlamp, holding an angry chicken like a football and trying to determine whether the situation requires medical intervention or if she’s just…being a chicken.
Nursing taught me how to assess a patient.
It did NOT teach me how to assess a patient who is actively flapping, screaming, pooping on me and attempting to return to the flock against medical advice.
I have learned that chickens possess approximately zero survival instincts. If there is ONE object on several acres capable of causing bodily harm, somebody will locate it.
I have learned that I apparently practice veterinary medicine now. Wound care? Sure. Medication administration? Absolutely. Foot soaks? Of course.
I have learned that farm math is very different from regular math.
Three ducks = eleven ducks.
A few chickens = thirty chickens.
And somehow “we’ll save money by having our own eggs” = building accommodations nicer than my first apartment.
I’ve learned that gardening will give you a superiority complex in June and absolutely destroy it by August.
One minute you’re walking around admiring your beautiful garden thinking, Wow, maybe I’m actually really good at this.
Then you come outside the next morning and an insect the size of a grain of rice has eaten $200 worth of plants.
Stay humble.
But that’s probably the biggest thing this little homestead has taught me.
Humility.
You can read every book. Research everything. Have multiple degrees. Make the perfect plan.
And then nature will remind you that you’re still a student.
We’ve lost animals. We’ve saved animals I wasn’t sure would make it. We’ve had incredible harvests and complete garden failures. We’ve hatched chicks, battled predators, learned new skills, made expensive mistakes and had plenty of moments where I’ve thought, Well…we won’t do THAT again. 😂
And I’m actually really grateful for all of it.
Because every season we’ve gotten a little better.
Our kids are watching us learn that you don’t have to know everything before you start. You can make mistakes, figure things out, try again and eventually become pretty capable at something you once knew absolutely nothing about.
And there is something really special about walking around this property now and realizing:
We built this little life by learning as we went.
I’m still not an expert homesteader.
But give me a chicken with a questionable-looking comb at 10 PM?
Finally. A consult within my scope of practice. 🩺🐓😂
🌾 What has homesteading, gardening, or raising animals taught YOU?
