Why I Homestead: Food for my Family and for my Dogs

Most people who own dogs share the same sentiment - that their dogs are like their children. I know I feel that way. Jumping into the homesteading lifestyle was a decision that I made to positively impact all of the lives around me: my family, my boyfriend, my friends and of course I can’t forget about my dogs!! I’m going to talk about one of the reasons why I started a homestead for my family and my dogs, and maybe you will be inspired to do the same!

I want to make a shift towards a more simple existence, especially when it comes to food. We all know food is very important! We cannot survive without it. As an Biomedical Engineer, I am also acutely aware of how eating a little bit of something every day can add up to a big amount over time. We also never know how that ‘something’ will truly affect our bodies and our health. An example of this in nature revolves around the pesticide DDT and bird eggs:

Farmers sprayed DDT pesticide on their fields to protect their crops from insect pests. Rain would carry the DDT and its waste products to larger bodies of water, where small aquatic plants and fish were ingesting it. The small organisms were eaten by bigger and bigger fish, and then finally birds of prey like the Bald Eagle consumed the big fish. At every step in the food chain, the DDT became more concentrated - therefore the highest amounts of DDT were found in birds who were at the top of the food chain. This chemical or DDT byproduct caused the birds’ egg shells to not form properly, and then they would break. Birds like the bald Eagle were having huge problems getting chicks to hatch because of this.

So, how does this relate to us humans (and dogs) and what we eat? A lot of processed foods contain chemicals or ingredients that I would rather not consume and have in my body. I’d much rather learn how to cook, bake and grow my own food to avoid ingesting these additives that may or may not cause harm to our bodies after consuming them for years. Why take that risk?

If I don’t want to eat that way, I don’t want to feed my dogs that way either! They do not have a say in this, so I want to do my best to provide the best food for them. In our first homesteading ventures, we have chickens and have a garden during the warmer months. I also take the chickens’ food sources into account when thinking about all of this. The dogs (and the chickens!) get garden scraps that are healthy for them: tomatoes, zucchini and strawberries are just a few of the examples. All in moderation of course! The dogs also get their share of fresh eggs - shell and all! The calcium in the shell is actually good for them. Their ancestors ate bones, and that extra calcium helped them digest and pass solid stool.

I am slowly transitioning the pups to a raw or BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet. The only problem is that it can be expensive! I am definitely taking my dogs into consideration when deciding how to expand our Homestead over time. We are thinking one of the next steps would be to raise small animals for meat such, as rabbits. They would support us as well as the dogs!

So what do you say, let’s build that chicken coop and grow that garden for all of our loved ones - human, furry and all! Let us know what you think about this in the comments!

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