Deeply Nourished From Afar
Our family just returned from a beautiful homestead wedding. For several days leading up to the wedding we camped on a rural property a long day’s drive from our home. Our good friends chose to get hitched on the land where they currently homestead. I am feeling especially grateful for the people that came to…
Homestead for Deep Connection, to Thrive
Homesteaders of the 1800’s largely chose to homestead as a means to survive. They claimed a privilege to have access to land to make a living. Not a living wage, but to live from the land by growing and raising their own food, building their own homes, making their own clothes, crafting their own tools.…
Is Living in the Country Lonely?
“It’s so lonely here,” my mom and some friends have told me when they visited us at our homestead. This comment has always struck me with a comical irony. Of course, I totally understand what they mean. The me in 2009 would definitely agree. Back then, I loved going hiking and occasionally apple picking (for…
How to Make Your Own Miso (It’s Easier Than You Think)
If you love probiotic, nutrient-rich, and flavorful food, then homemade miso would be a great addition to your homestead pantry! Miso is a very versatile seasoning for a variety of dishes. You can use miso like boullion in soups or like soysauce for dips and dressings or as a marinade for any meat. The flavor…
Herbal Pesto (and Pistou) Recipe
Our family loves eating herbal pestos. Several years ago we branched out from basil and started making pesto with new herbs. That exploration has opened up a lot of fun and new ways to cook the various herbs that grow abundantly in our garden. Opening up pesto to other herbs has also allowed us to…
Delectable Dandelion Hamburger Recipe
I am often trying new ways to cook with weeds so that our family’s bodies can benefit from their abundant nutrition while leaving our tongues and bellies craving more. Dandelion is one of our favorite weeds because she is free, self sowing, abundant, easy to harvest and beautiful! Nutritionally, her leaves and roots are packed…
Homestead Sourdough Bread Recipe
For centuries, people have made sourdough bread in their own homes using just flour, water, salt, and household tools. In Europe and many parts of the world, sourdough was used as a natural leaven and baking sourdough bread was integral to agrarian life as bread was the main source of energy for long days of…
What is Homesteading? and Choose to Start Now (Wherever You Are)
Are you feeling the tug to start homesteading but don’t know where or how to begin? I am here to tell you that it may be much easier than you think. Becoming a homesteader starts with an intention, with a choice. Choosing to start homesteading was a difficult choice for me to make. I loved…
Sourdough Culture: From Then to Now
Sourdough came to me, along with many other homesteading skills and interests, at Camp Joy Gardens, where I apprenticed between 2016-2017. At that time, because my heart was open, I learned everything with the sponge-like curiosity of a toddler. I didn’t have any judgments or preconceived notions about what a “good” sourdough bread was supposed…
Healing My Relationship With Consumerism Through Homesteading
Modern homesteaders are invited to live in two worlds. In one reality we are active participants in a global growth economy that refuses to slow down. In another reality we are participating in a de-growth economy as we choose to slow down and look closer at meeting our basic requirements to thrive as whole, natural…
How To Craft Your Homestead Intentions
My path into homesteading started with a strong intention to follow my passions and my heart. When I made the intention and spoke it out loud, I could hardly believe what I was hearing myself say. My heart was beating and I felt more alive. Since that moment of choice I’ve realized the power of…
How To Brainstorm Homestead Income Ideas
Brainstorming is a helpful tool for exploring a new idea or practice, such as a homestead business, or ways of generating income from the homestead. But more than that, a good brainstorm can be fun, refreshing, inspiring, invigorating, empowering and enlivening. I’ve used this process to brainstorm many things in my life. I’ve often used…
