After dabbling in backyard gardening in Baltimore City, our homesteading journey truly began when we moved to Virginia. We rented a cute little house while we learned the area and found a free chicken coop on Craigslist where we kept three illegal chickens in our suburban backyard. Eventually, three chickens grew to a few raised beds, rabbits, and too many chickens to count. It was time to find a bigger place. The sweetest farmhouse popped up in an area nearby and we were sold! We were sure that little 1-acre homestead would be our forever home. 

With a little creativity, we managed to raise goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens, and even a few ducks and turkeys. After building a small farmstand at the bottom of our road, our homestead grew to be such a magical place. Natalie hosted all sorts of workshops, from how to raise and process chickens to making goats milk soaps. Over the years, we honed our skill and made wonderful memories on our land. 

About 3 years in, we both started to get the feeling that there had to be more to this life we had created, honestly, we were a bit bored. So we challenged ourselves to live off of our and for 365 days we grew, raised, and caught everything we ate. We’d casually look at larger properties, but felt so proud of everything that we had accomplished on our 1-acre, that the thought of leaving it all behind seemed unimaginable. Then one day we found the ranch. After seeing the listing, we both knew that we had to at least take a look. So we made the hour plus drive to this little “town” we had never heard of, pulled up to the gate, and began exploring. The place was overgrown and full of ticks! But it was beautifully raw and untouched. As we reluctantly walked further, we finally reached the river. Drenched with sweat, we stripped down to our skivvies. 

We waded in that river for hours and imagined what life would be like if we just went for it. Wouldn’t you know it, change did seem so bad. It was as if immersing ourselves in that water, washed away any doubts that we had about walking away from the life we worked so hard to build. Never in a million years did we think we’d be “forest people”, but here we are living this beautifully untamed life.