When we, really I, decided to start turning our backyard into a little hobby farm, I had this picture in my head of gathering eggs every morning, picking vegetables from the garden, and filling the freezer with home-raised meat.
The reality?
There have been muddy boots and clothes, bolted and rotten plants, escaped chickens, Tractor Supply orders I didn’t need, and more than one moment where I looked at myself in the mirror, wondering what I had gotten myself into.
The good news is that every mistake taught me something, and honestly, I’d rather learn by doing than never try at all.
If you’re thinking about starting a homestead, or you’re just getting started, here are a few things that I’ve already learned the hard way.
1. I Started Too Big
I wanted ALL the things.
- Functional garden
- Pretty garden
- Egg chickens
- Meat chickens
- Backyard projects
- Normal summer life
…all at once.
Instead of mastering one thing before moving on, we jumped into several projects at the same time.
Next year, I’m starting with one or two projects, getting them finished, then expanding. Just like when we started in the very beginning years ago with the horses, I jumped on the chicken train without the proper enclosures. We were racing the clock to make sure everything was built and secure at the right times. Coops weren’t ready, tractors weren’t built, and all of the supplies weren’t here.
2. I Underestimated How Much Water Animals Drink
Especially meat chickens.
I knew they’d eat a lot.
I didn’t realize they’d drink gallons of water every single day.
Keeping water clean became almost a full-time job once summer hit.
Add on, watering the Mama, Dooster Rooster, and the bad babies, the Egg Layer Crew, the Horse, and my mom’s animals, annnnnd the garden, the hose is going nonstop. Not only is it going nonstop, but it’s also hoses connected to hoses, connected to hoses strung across the yard.
3. The Garden Doesn’t Care About Your Schedule
You can’t tell lettuce or broccoli to wait until after we get back from camping.
You can’t ask weeds to skip a week because I’m enjoying family time.
Life, even plant life, keeps going. Sometimes you have to accept that things won’t be perfect and that you’ll spend a day and a half cleaning up and weeding.
I left the garden slightly unweeded. It wasn’t bad. It would have taken me less than 30 minutes to completely weed the entire thing. I came back to what looked like a field of grass in my beds. But along with the grass and weeds, a bunch of my lettuce rotted out. That’s a bummer for us, because I waited to long to pick it for our fridge, but a tastey treat for the chickens. I have also been holding out on this kale I planted….because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now that it really needs to be harvested, I keep thinking that I don’t even like kale! But the kale plants have grown so big that they are crowding out my Brussels sprouts and my marigolds.
4. Cheap Tools Usually Become Expensive
We’ve bought things twice because I tried to save money the first time.
Whether it’s garden hoses that aren’t long enough, sprinklers that don’t work well, shovels that break, or feeders that aren’t big enough…
Sometimes buying quality or buying bigger once is cheaper.
5. I Planted Too Close Together
Everything looks tiny in May.
But, by July… It’s a jungle.
Airflow matters. Spacing matters. I still will never agree that the seed packet actually knows what it’s talking about, though.
I really thought that planting my tomatoes right up against my cattle panel arch would be a perfect trellis situation. I didn’t trellis them in a way that worked, and didn’t prune them enough. I came back from camping to a jungle, literally, in the garden, and the tomatoes are the most out of control part of it. Six beds were weeded immediately, but that leaves the cucumber/pea bed, where the spinach and lettuce under that panel will turn into a bed of bush beans, and the tomato/herb/bush bean bed that will require some big thinking and creative artistry on the tomatoes.
6. Chickens Grow WAY Faster Than You Think
Especially Cornish Cross.
One day they’re fuzzy little chicks. The next I’m waking up thinking… “Wait…are we processing them in two days already?”
Time flies. Make sure you are prepared with everything you need. There are still a few things that I don’t have because I thought we had it all and/or procrastinated on checking/buying. My original plan was to hand pluck. We were able to borrow a plucker, but that didn’t happen until last week. But getting the long feeder completed never happened. Getting everything prepped, organized, and ready for processing day, didn’t happen in the way that I originally envisioned. Shoot, the 5-gallon bucket watering system didn’t happen until last week, and it isn’t even in the way that I originally wanted.
7. I Didn’t Expect the Emotional Side
This one surprised me.
Raising meat chickens has made me appreciate our food so much more.
It’s exciting and rewarding, but it’s also emotional.
And it’s okay for both things to be true.
I had two harvest dates for the chickens. Those dates were based on how the chickens were doing, Ryan’s work schedule, and our camping vacation. They were about a week and a half apart. The big factor in not doing the earlier date was that the chickens were still doing well….. until the heat wave hit right as we were getting ready to leave to go camping. We lost two chickens on the first day. 25 became 23. We, and I mean my mom using my recommendations through FaceTime, were able to get the rest successfully through the heat wave and to the later processing date. I was really disappointed in myself in not processing them on the earlier date. I wouldn’t have had two chickens suffer and die. It would have been less work for my mom. But you make decisions, and you have to live with the consequences from the decisions you make.
8. We Forgot to Leave Time to Enjoy It
Sometimes we got so busy building, planting, fixing, watering, mowing…
…that we forgot to actually sit on the deck.
Watch the chickens.
Listen to the birds.
Drink coffee outside. Eat meals out on the porch.
That’s kind of the whole point of all of the work we’re putting into it.
9. You Don’t Need Everything You See on YouTube or the socials
It’s so easy to convince yourself you need:
- $500 raised beds
- every tool
- fancy feeders
- automatic everything
Truthfully?
Many things can wait. I really thought that I would need all of the stuff that I came across when researching and looking into things. Start simple. Upgrade later. While I hate the scramble part, I am so happy that I didn’t get every single gadget that I saw. Except for the automatic chicken coop door. I would get that again and again.
10. We’d Still Do It Again Tomorrow
Even with every mistake…
I’d still plant the garden. I’d still raise the chickens. I’d still spend hours researching fruit trees. I’d still convince Ryan we “just need one more project.”
Because even when it’s messy… It’s becoming exactly the life we hoped for.
Conclusion
If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s this:
You don’t have to know everything before you start. You’ll make mistakes. Plants will die. Animals will teach you lessons.
You’ll buy things you didn’t need and forget things you absolutely did.
But every season gets a little easier because every mistake becomes experience.
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