Pioneer for the New Year?



Photo borrowed from TV Blend

Husband and I are obsessed with Alaska: The Last Frontier. Have you watched? If not I highly suggest it. The program follows two generations of the Kilcher family (oddly, it is the family of singer Jewel although she doesn’t appear on camera). They live on 638 acres of land in Homer, Alaska without running water or indoor plumbing. So far we have watched them farm, fish, garden, cut lumber and prepare for winter. People have criticized them for utilizing farm equipment and electricity (I believe run by generator), but come on people? Can you even imagine?! It hasn’t showed us how they shower yet. I keep wondering how the girls (who are young and cute) manage with that- particularly their hair? I could give up my blow dryer, straight iron and curlers but couldn’t stand feeling greasy or smelly L

I have always wanted to be a pioneer. I admire their resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and simplistic life style free of complications. When I was a little girl I would retreat into the woods around my childhood home and daydream that I was a homesteader. Today I daydream that Husband and I would trade the city for a big, fat plot of land and sustain off our own two hands. Who knows, maybe someday…

M’kay, so today when I opened our fridge I was faced with a lot of produce that was starting to get to that crucial “sink or swim” stage; just starting to wilt, not good enough to eat raw but fine if cooked. I usually buy in bulk and I try to keep a lot of vegetables on hand to promote the farce that we eat really healthy. Now I’m playing the “what can that be made into?” game.  Today’s contestants are broccoli, bell peppers, carrots and brussel sprouts. Making the most out of everything we purchase and ensuring that nothing goes to waste makes me feel a little like a pioneer. A girl can dream, right?

So what about you: dream of living off the land, or does that sound like a nightmare come true?

-M