Season 2 Episode 2 PP
If You Are Going To Homestead, You Better Learn To Pivot!
Whether you are new to homesteading or are a seasoned homesteader, there is one word you will learn and know…and that word is PIVOT!
In today’s, episode we will talk about what it means to pivot, and just why and how you need to become a pro at pivoting if you want to be a homesteader. Are you ready?
Hi and welcome to the Prepping Positively Podcast! It is so great to be back in the swing of things again. I swear I am one of those people that live completely under Murphy's Law. You know that law right? Everything that can go wrong will. Well that’s me, my family, my homestead, and my life.
It seems like just when I have a solid plan, and I think everything is going the way it needs to, BAM! Something happens out of nowhere at the worst possible time and guess what? I gotta start again. Ugh. Can you relate to this?
Leonard Snart from The Flash says it best when he states, “make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan. Follow my lead and you'll be fine.”
That quote sums up my entire life, and more so now that I am a homesteader!
Let me explain a little background here.
I went to Pennsylvania in January to watch my eighth grandbaby be born. I planned to stay 6 weeks to help my daughter until she got back to work. While I was there, many opportunities surfaced that made us consider giving up the Florida homestead that we have been living off of and take a leap of faith in a new state and closer to my kids.
Lance had a great job opportunity lined up, I had tons of places to start gardening at, and I even got an offer from a landscaper to start teaching his clients to create their own edible yards. Seemed like a no-brainer!
I mean, a new job opportunity, more income for me, closer to my kids and grandbabies…seemed like the most sensible answer!
So the changes began. I stayed in PA and started to line up work and make plans to move our maintenance business up there. Lance started selling off the animals and anything we definitely didn’t need to take North.
We planned, made changes, sold things, organized, researched and researched, and finally come the first of April, I was ready to come home, pack the house, and rent a moving truck. On April 11th, I flew to Florida to pack.
I left everything including my car at my daughters house. After all, we were just packing and moving right?
Wrong. 2 days after I got back to Florida we found out that we could not transfer our business to Pennsylvania without Lance first working under a general contractor for a period of time in order to get the license that my daughters town required.
Secondly, although the county she lived in allowed many “farm” animals, the ones we planned on were definite no-no’s. And if that wasn’t enough, The expense of changing our cars, trailers, and other necessities were as much as the moving truck.
We had to step back. We had to - wait for it - PIVOT.
3 months of some really great plans were no longer realistic. I may have jumped the gun, or maybe I didn’t research the information enough. Or maybe, it wasn’t meant to be.
There is another saying from John Lennon that says “Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.” And guess what, life does happen. It is so true.
So we took a step back and took some time to think. I took out my handy dandy notebook to do some replanning, or pivoting. By the way every time I take that notebook out, Lance says, “oh no its planning time, there goes my free-time.” And you know what? He was right!
I told him that “that’s it! I am going to start doing all of the things I always wanted to do here. I am gonna start with a nursery, then include cottage foods, and then I am going to start selling our wooden signs and the crafts we make.”
I’ll be honest with you here. Do you know what he said? “Well, ok, what’s first?” He really is a great guy huh?
So we made the pivot. He built me one heck of a produce stand from pallets. He laid landscape fabric down in the shade and in the sun. This way I could sell shade plants and plants for the sun.
He tilled the garden beds, added good compost and soil, installed sprinklers for me, covered the greenhouse with new shade cloth, and then said, “there you go.”
And that’s exactly what I did! I planted over 200 sun and shade plants, and started all my seeds I could fit. I filed for a fictitious name, and I bought a domain name so I can make a local website. I am currently designing business cards, roadside signs, a brochure, and a local website!
Step one: Start a nursery…check!
Next, after I get that all going, I will start selling cottage foods. Eventually I will incorporate products we create like wooden signs and garden decorations too.
You see, we had to pivot.
And you will too at some point if you haven’t had to already. We can make the best laid plans, but nothing is permanent, and everything is up for change. Even when we don’t expect it too.
When you have to pivot it doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative experience. I mean, I was very disappointed to stay so far away from all of my family. But I knew it wasn’t feasible.
And guess what? Now that my daughters know about the situation, they are going to take turns coming down over the summer with us! The oldest will be here with her three kids in June, the second oldest will be here for two weeks in July, and my youngest and the new baby will come in the fall. So I still get quality time with them.
That is what compromise and sacrifice is all about. And when you are homesteading, everything is subject to change. You have to adapt and overcome. That’s what pivoting is all about.
Do you relate to this episode? Have you had to pivot with your plans? If you did do not feel like you are alone. It’s part of life, it happens, and it is definitely part of homesteading.
I hope you enjoyed today’s episode! I'll see ya next Friday! Happy homesteading!
