Having a homestead growth mindset is KEY to your sanity and level of patience as you homestead!
What is a Homestead Growth Mindset?
Be warned. Here comes the teacher in me. 🙂
A growth mindset {as opposed to a fixed mindset} is having the attitude that you’re always learning and growing. You may not know it yet, but if you keep working at it and researching it, you may figure it out and even master it.
You may not know how to grow things from seed…yet. You may not know how to knead the bread just right…yet.
That three-letter word, yet, makes all the difference with a growth mindset.
A Little Background about my Fixed Mindset
My dad has kept a garden as long as I can remember. Whether in our yard or on someone else’s property {with permission}, he’s always had a garden. To me, my dad was a “master gardener” with the biggest green thumb of anyone I knew.
Me, on the other hand? I always felt I had a black thumb.
It seemed that every plant I even looked at would die, so I completely gave up trying to keep plants alive. I had a fixed mindset. I felt I could learn nothing new. I could not grow beyond my black thumb. Plants hated me. End of story.
Until the summer of 2021…with the way the world was going, I knew I needed to figure something out.
I decided it was time to learn, so I committed to just two potted tomato plants. My main goal was to keep them alive. And I did.
They weren’t the best tomatoes I’d ever put in my mouth {because I never fertilized them one time}, but I got red tomatoes I could eat!
With this new-found confidence, I asked my hubby to just build one or two raised beds.
Fast Forward to the Spring
I had not only kept my two tomato plants alive, but I had successfully had a harvest of lettuce and spinach from my raised beds. What?!?
In early spring, my dad set up some grow lights in a room in the basement of our house. I was now going to be in charge of helping seeds/seedlings grow. And not just any seeds. His seeds. {Gulp.}
I kept a close eye on them, watering and fertilizing just as he said.
Then it happened. One of the seedlings was dying! What was I going to tell my dad?!?
When he came to check on his seedlings, I confessed my black thumb had killed the seedling.
His response?
“Welcome to the joys of homesteading. You’ll always be learning.”
Was this the secret to his green thumb after all? Having a homestead growth mindset?
I believe so!
What are you currently learning in your homestead? How’s it going? Leave a comment to share your story!
Enjoy homesteading!
~Becky
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Growing what your family loves makes the garden most successful. Eating all fall and winter from canned or frozen foods isn’t only better but more satisfying. Everyone gets enjoyment from the hard work
Yes, all that hard work can pay off with delicious and nutritious food!
I’m loving learning to grow food and preserving it. My backyard garden is small but I’m trying to get as much as I can plant in the small footprint.
Awesome! My backyard is pretty much a giant hill, so it’s a challenge for sure. It’s fun to learn though! 🙂