Homestead realisations

I realised something important about my homestead today.

I’m building Legacy Ridge from the ground up — literally.

Not starting from a fresh lawn.
Not from raised beds someone else installed.
I started with wild ground, roots, weeds, and sand… and I’ve cleared it all with my own hands.

Every patch of earth I’ve uncovered, every tyre I’ve moved, every plan I’ve drawn — it’s mine because I did it.

It would have been easier to start with a perfect block.
It would have been faster to buy animals before the pens were built.
It would have looked like progress to fill the space quickly.

But that’s not the kind of homestead I want to build.

I don’t want animals arriving before I have infrastructure.
I don’t want rabbits in Kmart pens or chickens crammed into tiny runs.
I want safety, ethics, and proper standards of care — the kind I can be proud of.

I’d rather take a slow, steady year clearing land, building pens, setting foundations…
than collect animals with nowhere suitable to house them.

And yes — one day, I’ll leave this block.
This isn’t forever.
But I’m still building as if it matters, because it does.

When that day comes, I know I’ll be emotional walking away.
Not because of the dirt itself, but because I carved that garden into existence.

Some things will stay:
The veggie beds,
The grape tunnel frame,
The parts of the land I rehabilitated.

Some things will go with me:
Cuttings,
Plants,
Lessons learned,
The systems I designed,
The standards I will never compromise on again.

This isn’t permanent — but it’s still home.
And that matters more than rushing to “look like” a homestead.