Has anyone ever told you, “Hey, you can’t do that”? I’m guessing you’ve heard it before, especially if you’re walking this homesteading path. Truth be told, I think all of us have heard those words at one point or another. Maybe it was when you decided to grow a garden, raise animals, homeschool your kids, or start a business.
Those words can be discouraging. They can plant doubt right where you’re trying to plant hope. But today, I want to offer you encouragement. Because I’ve been there and Carolyn and I have faced more “You can’t do that’s” than I can count. And yet, looking back, I’m grateful we didn’t let those voices stop us.
The First Big “You Can’t Do That”
One of the earliest moments for us came almost two decades ago when we first decided to plant open-pollinated heirloom seeds. At that time, you could hardly find them, except from a little company called Baker Creek.
Everyone we knew told us it wouldn’t work. “You can’t do that. Those seeds won’t grow.”
But we believed otherwise. We didn’t want big corporations controlling our food and seed supply. We believed God designed seeds to reproduce, and we wanted to step into that natural cycle. So we tried. And you know what? That first big garden exploded. It was the best we had ever had.
Now, 18 years later, we’re still saving seeds. Right now, as I write this, we’ve got parsnips, beets, and carrots all going to seed at one end of our garden beds. A little experiment that began with people telling us we couldn’t has turned into a way of life that blesses our family year after year.
Another Naysayer Moment: No-Till Gardening
Fast forward a few years. We stumbled across Paul Gautschi’s Back to Eden film about no-till gardening. The idea was shocking: don’t till the soil, just cover it with mulch, and it will thrive. Again, the voices rose: “That won’t work. You can’t do that.”
But we tried anyway. We laid mulch down on heavy clay soil in Tennessee. That year turned out to be one of the wettest we’d ever experienced. Neighbors couldn’t even step into their gardens without sinking.
Meanwhile, our garden thrived. We were harvesting food when everyone else was stuck inside. We even shared some of our bounty with folks who still said, “You can’t harvest that right now.”
The proof was in the produce. Learn more about no-till gardening and the Back to Eden gardening method here.
Beyond the Garden
This pattern has shown up everywhere in our lives.
- Homeschooling our kids? People said, “You don’t have the education for that.”
- Starting businesses? People said, “You’ll fail.”
- Launching the School of Traditional Skills? They said we’d never pull it off. Four years later, thousands of families have been equipped through that work.
The “you can’t” often comes from those closest to us… family, friends, even people in our own homes. And sometimes, let’s be honest, it comes from our own minds. I know I’ve had plenty of days when that inner voice says, “Josh, you can’t do this. You’re not strong enough, smart enough, or prepared enough.”
But here’s the truth: most of the time, that voice is wrong.
You Can Do This
The homesteading life is not easy. It’s full of long days, hard work, and sacrifice. You give up certain comforts (weekends at the movies, extra hobbies, quick entertainment) for something more profound, more meaningful.
But that trade is worth it.
Things worth doing are often the hardest. And you can do them. Not because it will be easy, not because you won’t face failure, but because you’re willing to persevere. Failure isn’t the end. It’s just a lesson, another step on the journey.
Faith, courage, and fortitude are what carry us through. Faith that God is guiding. Courage to take the risk. Fortitude to get up and keep going when the weeds threaten to take over.
Don’t Listen to the Naysayers
If you’ve been hearing “you can’t do that” lately, let me remind you: you can. With wisdom, planning, prayer, and persistence, you can do this.
Maybe it’s starting your first garden. Perhaps it’s preserving your own food. Maybe it’s homeschooling your children, starting a homestead business, or just taking the next step toward a more resilient life.
Whatever it is, don’t give up because someone else can’t see your vision. The only real failure is quitting (or not trying at all).
So be encouraged. Keep moving forward. Trust that the hard work is worth it, because it is. And the next time someone says, “You can’t do that,” just smile and say, “Watch me.”
