Every homestead begins with a seed. Ours began in a small suburban backyard.

What better way to get started on Little Seed Big Harvest than to talk about how we got here and what homesteading means to us. This article is about our journey into homesteading, a little bit about our personal philosophy, and some of the reasons why we started Little Seed Big Harvest. We are proud of our accomplishments and yet humble in realizing that the work is not done, and never will be.
We’ve come a long way from that first little garden. Looking back on each day of labor, each project, it never feels like it is moving quick enough. But the idea is to keep putting one foot in front of the other, over and over. This site is much the same — another line of effort, another place to invest our time and hopefully find purpose in each article. This article is like the first strike of the shovel to soil, the first seed sown in a garden, or the first step on a long journey.

It is my personal belief, that in each season of farming you can witness creation. The spring gives way to new life in the form of newborn animals, hopeful new seedlings, and the return of growth. From cold and barren ground springs forth beautiful and abundant life.
And each fall reminds us of another truth. The days grow shorter, the air turns colder, life begins to wane, and we harvest.
Year after year, this cycle gives us a profound awareness of own impermanence and the deeper meaning of life itself.

The First Seeds

When we got started homesteading, we did the same thing, we took that first step – the difference then was that we didn’t know where we were going. Our hearts set a course, and we started walking in that direction.
What I mean by that is simple: we bought some seeds. We didn’t even have a place to plant them yet. A small garden sprang up in our suburban backyard in 2012, we did surprisingly well. Each year we moved the needle a little bit more, raised beds, some containers, more plants, a garden plan, drip irrigation, row covers. I look back on those days with admiration, both for how beautiful and simple that garden was.

Outgrowing the Suburbs

When we got started, I don’t recall ever seeing homesteading popularized the way it is now. I’m certain it was already becoming better known, but social media wasn’t quite as prolific, and we just weren’t exposed to it. We were simply following where our hearts were leading us. By nearly the end of a decade at our home in the suburbs we had outgrown our space. Good plantable land on our quarter acre lot was being stretched thin, we had a new baby boy and wanted more future play space for him, and the town ordinance was seriously limiting our dream of chickens. Isn’t it funny how that happens? Suddenly we wanted chickens.

Searching for Land

We worked with a few realtors through 2018 and 2019, searching for the perfect place to put down our roots. By the early part of 2020 we had looked at dozens of properties. We were looking for 5 or more cultivatable and continuous acres, and a nice enough house. In the northeast, you might be surprised at how hard that is to find. Land is often protected, wetlands, ledge or heavily forested if you can even find the acreage without an exorbitant price tag. We looked at the property that would become Little Mustard Seed Farm three times before putting in an offer. We closed on the property just prior to the COVID shutdowns, fortunately interest rates were down and we hadn’t yet experienced the housing scarcity that followed – which incidentally worked out in our favor when we sold our primary house later that year!

Building Little Mustard Seed Farm

Our little homestead in Stafford Springs, Connecticut began in 2020. It was a perfect piece of property at the top of a south-facing hill with perfect sun exposure. Horse pastures quickly became gardens, and we moved our first dozen chickens into our 5-stall horse barn. We started with a quarter-acre garden, relearning growing all over again – growing in plots is far different than growing in raised beds. Each year, we continued to evolve just as we had done before. We increased growing space to a half of an acre, added more chickens and some turkeys – the obligatory homestead goats – and eventually pigs, sheep, much more. Our homestead was taking form.

The View From the Mountain Top (Or Hill)

Looking back on our journey now, it’s like someone else besides us had the plans and we just kept going along with it. I know many homesteading men are along for the ride as their lovely lady guides the journey, but it wasn’t the case here. We just followed our hearts from one endeavor to the next. Much like climbing a mountain, the surest way to see how far you’ve come is to look back at the journey from the summit. This homestead has become a part of us, and we have left a mark on it’s 80 year history. We restored a blueberry patch of over 100 highbush blueberries that date back to at least 1970, installed an orchard, a strawberry field and cultivated thousands of pounds of produce and meat. Most meals we eat are raised and grown by us. We have achieved a true homestead and done it in a relatively short time. And once again, somehow did it without knowing we would end up here.

Becoming Homesteaders

As much as I have pointed out that we set out in a direction without knowing our destination, I can say that the last year or more has brought clarity. Like a painting nearing it’s completion, the picture eventually becomes obvious! We are homesteaders.

We don’t always know what our hearts want. My mother cultivated a love of gardening in me as a young boy, that love blossomed into a beautiful tree and bore fruit’s. In homesteading I have found connection to our roots, a way to connect to my own children, peace in the darkest times, and a simpler way to real wealth in the form of quality of life. There is something missing in modern life. We no longer connect with nature the way we once did. Homesteading brings you back to the ground, literally and figuratively reconnecting you with the energy and life that exists in the soil. Raising animals connects you to creation and teaches you to respect sacrifice, especially when the arrangement entails the reaping of life.

I grew up having a garden with my mother alongside our apartment building in a suburban neighborhood in the 1980s. I remember how passionate my mother was about planting those seeds, watering and weeding. More than just vegetables were sown – a passion for gardening was as well. My mother passed in 2011, and yet each year I continue to reap the harvest. Little Seed Big Harvest is here in the spirit of sowing seeds in others, much like my mother did in me.

Why We Started Little Seed Big Harvest

Little Seed Big Harvest is the product of realizing that we are homesteaders, and finding a sense of purpose and passion in homesteading. Nothing excites me more than the next big project or the chance to share our passion for homesteading. Whether we are talking to other homesteaders, homesteader-hopefuls, or the curious suburbanite, we love talking about homesteading, sharing our bounty, or hearing other people’s stories.

In the years to come, I hope that we sow a million seeds and become part of the renewal of this way of life.

Follow Us!

If you’d like to follow more of our journey, visit Little Seed Big Harvest for more articles about homesteading, gardening, and farm life. Or find us on Facebook at Little Seed Big Harvest.

Understand The Importance of Small Farms – USDA / Small Farms