It takes nearly an hour to get anywhere. Our driveway is a 3 mile bumpy, off-road adventure in itself. We don’t often go to museums or kid-centric places. And calling in takeout will never be an option.

But I hope they remember this life fondly.

May they someday look back and appreciate the silence of living in the middle of nowhere.

May they develop a sense of adventure and autonomy by running wild on this land.

May they feel a connection to nature and appreciation for growing.

It’s impossible to know what the future brings. But I so dearly hope this unusual life lays a foundation of exploration, self-sufficiency, and connection.

I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time. And I certainly can’t claim to be doing it well.

But I hope they know they were loved. And that even with kids in-tow, we decided to seek adventure. Despite society telling us to speed up and get ahead, we made the concerted effort to slow down, change course, and raise ’em wild.

The post Raise ‘Em Wild appeared first on Wild Mountain Homestead.

After being disappointed by countless listings, we decided to take a chance on a property with an unclear location and terrible property photos. It had a long, four-wheel-drive-required driveway and was only equipped with a basic hunting cabin. It was perfect.

We quickly made an offer and moved in.

The only problem was, it didn’t have a well. Hauling water would work for a short time, but if we were going to grow a garden of any substantial size we were going to need water.

The first hurdle was getting a well company to even consider driving our incredibly rough two-mile long driveway. Luckily we got a recommendation fro Finney Drilling.

If you’ve never seen a well-man look for water it is an experience. Here comes a burly, completely salt-of-the -earth, blue collar man, who then pulls out a “witching” stick and lets it lead him to the water. Finney noticed us watching and shrugged, “I don’t know, it just works.” He marked a spot with his boot, the stick had spoken. This was where we would drill.

The drilling day arrived and we held our breath. You pay whether they find water or not – and we didn’t have any money to spare. You also pay more for every foot deeper they need to drill before hitting water.

The rig set up and rumbled to life. Finney and his sidekick fed pipe after pipe into the ground. When suddenly water started pouring out. We were in luck. We hit water and it was flowing strong.

This homestead dream stood a chance. We could hydrate animals, fill a bathtub, and water a garden. No more watering the fruit trees with a watering can, it was time to get serious about farming.

The post Let There Be Water appeared first on Wild Mountain Homestead.