Meet Niki from Aunt Niki’s Farm
Hello, I’m Niki! Welcome to my Farm!
I have been a wife for 20+ years, a mom of 2 boys for 16+ years, and a homeschool teacher on her second year. My husband and I have lived in a big city, a small town and two rural properties. We recently moved to our second rural property on 10 acres. I did not know it at the time, but I was doing this whole ‘Modern Homestead’ thing even when I lived in town. Here’s how my journey went…
When my boys were young (2 and 4 years old) making breakfast changed my life! I had moved away from the ‘normal’ sugary cereal type breakfasts that so many of my friends had in their routines and opted for a ‘warm breakfast’. Instant Oatmeal was the answer (or so I thought…)! My boys would be filled with a warm nutritious start to their day! Woohoo – Go ME! My boys were always well….boys; wild, crazy, dirty, but this was excessive! They were COMPLETLY out of control!! I finally got them to bed and fell instantly to sleep myself; I felt absolutely defeated! One morning I went to make breakfast to find out we were out of oatmeal – no biggie, it was grocery day, so I would grab some more. Hmmm what to make now? Eggs and toast I guess. (Note I had made plenty of eggs in my years, but generally just on the weekends or special occasions – I mean who eats eggs everyday!?) So I made breakfast and we went about our day. The next morning I made instant oatmeal, so we were back to normal….or were we? I realized about an hour after breakfast that the uncontrollable little boys were back!! Wait. A. Minute! It dawned on me…..they were NOT like this yesterday!!! Hummm……and that is what started my dive into food and the control it has over our bodies!
While living in town I grew a small garden, purchased meat raised locally from the butcher shop, purchased farm fresh eggs, and even raised and butchered chickens with a friend who lived outside of town. At the time I did not realize that I was living in town and beginning to learn the valuable skills that have taken me through to today. After moving back to the country, I purchased a ‘Homestead Course’ and began digging deeper into the lifestyle I was begging to live. I purchased some chicks and began making more and more food from scratch. I learned how to can foods properly, how to ferment foods, and how to preserve foods in cold storage for the winter months. One year my garden did awful, so I shopped the Farmer’s Market in my area and was able to preserve the foods I purchased from locals in my area just as if I had a thriving garden of my own. Modern day homesteading is a lifestyle that I feel can be achieved anywhere. It’s a way of learning old fashioned skills and buying locally to serve you and your family. You may need to ask around until you find some sources for farm fresh eggs or local meats, but they are out there and within full reach.
Since moving to the country we have gained a lot of animals on our farm. Some of my favorites are our chickens, peafowl, Scottish Highland cattle, Katahdin sheep, the llamas, and our horse named Ace.
I am 20+ years into striving to live the life that I LOVE! This journey has not come easy. I am a country girl at heart who was born and raised in the city, finally moved to the country, only to sacrifice living in town for over 10 years again. We didn’t do a lot of the things or take trips with our friends because we were moving ourselves farther in our journey. We do not have the latest and greatest of anything because we have sacrificed ‘new’ for ‘no debt’. People think the things we do and the decisions we make are weird, but those weird decision have put us where we are today.
We will forever be learning and growing and I would like to share all that I have learned so far and all of the new challenges that I have yet to face. I want to show you that making food from scratch doesn’t have to be hard and that you too can live a more secure life of your own – no matter where you choose to live!
My blog was named for all of the kiddos who love to visit our farm and all of our animals. They always tell their mom’s how they love to go to ‘Aunt Niki’s Farm’, so I thought it was the perfect name! I am so happy that you followed in the kids’ footsteps and I hope that you love it here as much as they do.