So, for a little back story on all of us here at Red Bird Ranch…

There are six of us living and working on our compound, commune, colony, (all things we’ve been referred to as) let’s call it a homestead. There’s me, my husband and daughter, my parents, and my aunt. We all have our own houses but with all of us in proximity on the property, we are definitely not the typical family unit.

When we were dreaming this plan up, most of the folks I discussed it with in California looked at me like I was insane. Everyone was nice about it, a few were even encouraging, but it was clear that the overwhelming reaction was that we’d lost our minds. Yep, that’s right, we’re selling our tract house in the suburbs of CA and moving to 22 acres in rural Texas. Why? Oh so we can grow our own food and raise animals to eat. The whole family? Well, I think we were pretty realistic about the amount of effort it was going to take to pull this thing off. More people equals more work getting done and more support. It’s not a radical idea, just not a modern one.

Cut to us in Texas, we get a lot of the same reactions. People are always kind but seem to be under the impression that we’re doomsday preppers. I don’t have anything against being prepared but I’m also not anticipating the zombie apocalypse. I just want to know that the food I’m eating is clean and the animals that become our meat have had a happy healthy life.

Along the journey so far, we have been lucky to meet a handful of likeminded people. I’m inspired and refreshed with each encounter. Our local farmers market starts in a little over a week. I’m hopeful that this will be a great way to meet even more of these people.

And in the event that I’m wrong about the whole zombie thing and we wake up one day to a real life episode of the The Walking Dead, I guess we’ll be ahead of the game.

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