Hi, all! My name is Erica Gassmann and I will be sharing my homesteading life here for the next few days. I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband, Will and our almost-three-year-old daughter, Rose. My husband is the Vegetable Production Manager at @dickinson_farm where he grows ten acres of organic veggies and trains apprentices to become farm managers themselves. The farm also raises beef cattle and lambs on pasture.
We are fortunate to have some space on the farm for our personal homesteading habit. We have ten laying hens who provide delicious, nutritious eggs (and endless entertainment for Rose), as well as broiler chickens for meat. Rose and I have a little personal garden where we’re growing some flowers, herbs, and veggies. We preserve as much food as we possibly can to keep us eating well all year long. I also dabble in beekeeping and herbalism and I’m hoping to do a lot more of both in the future.
To be honest though, most of my days are spent parenting, cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry and homesteading happens somewhere in between. Our life is messy and exhausting, but it’s exactly how we want it to be. I’m excited to be here to share our messy life and our journey through farming, homesteading, and parenthood with you all. It’s been a wild ride, that’s for sure!
One of my goals for this year is to up my herb game, so I’m growing and drying new-to-me herbs and experimenting with different ways of using them. Most will be dried for tea and oil infusions, but I’m also going to try my hand at some tinctures this year. I would love to get to the point where I’m able to provide the majority of our household medicine cabinet (and supply our excessive winter tea habit). A girl can dream, right?
Rose and I did a silly little painted number craft this afternoon with rocks we collected at the creek yesterday. She is turning three on Friday and she’s super interested in learning to count and read (she’s OBSESSED with books). I have plans to homeschool her and I’m excited to start exploring our options for nature- and play-based curriculums (I’ve been eyeing up Little Oak Learning, Peaceful Press, and Oak Meadow). I have this grand romantic vision for what our homeschool experience could be, especially homeschooling on the farm, but I’ll admit I’m a little intimidated and unsure if I’m “qualified”. I’d love to hear how other homeschool mamas pull it off! Any insight into managing a homestead while homeschooling? I’m all ears, mamas!
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced as a mother has been trying to find space for myself – emotionally, mentally, and physically. The first few years of motherhood were a blur of breastfeeding and diapers and now our days are full of intense toddler energy and endless messes. It’s hard to find time for myself in between (even just posting on Instagram this much has been tough). I am forever grateful for being Rose’s mama, but I also need to be Erica. Can you relate?
That’s the true purpose of this garden. We don’t technically need these vegetables, since my husband grows more than enough for us on the farm, but I *need* this garden in so many different ways. Having this tiny patch of dirt to dig in is deeply therapeutic for me. Growing plants provides a sense of purpose that I haven’t found anywhere else in my life. Feeling connected to the land keeps me grounded and I am forever in awe of the generosity of nature.
Growing food and raising animals makes me a better mother, of that I’m sure. The space nature provides for me to just be me has been life-changing. We all deserve to feel wild – mamas and children alike. And now I get to share the gifts of nature and the space it holds for us with Rose. I hope she feels that connection as deeply as I do and knows she can depend on nature to allow her to just be herself.
I am not well traveled. I’ve never flown on a plane. I’ve never been north of Ohio or west of Texas.I’m not as well traveled as some may say one should be, but this piece of land has housed all of my fondest memories…
Do you ever worry that your kids will miss out because of this homesteading lifestyle choice? This fear crosses my mind time to time. I’m sure many, if not most of you, could agree that it can be extremely difficult to get extended time away from the homestead for more than a full day, especially in the busy summer months when daily chores demand our regular attention…
“In some Native languages the term for plants translates to ‘those who take care of us’ … the land knows you, even when you are lost.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass…
Babies, Business, and Bumper Crops: How I am Learning to Homestead with Babies in Tow
Have you ever had one of those days? You know the days when you are cleaning the baby’s diaper, milking the cow, scooping poop in the barn, wiping noses, and cleaning more poop off of kids’ shoes…
Hey there, Homesteading Mama’s!
I’m Rachel from @frontier_homesteading. My husband Ryan, three children and I have been homesteading for about 10 years now, first in Wyoming and now in Alaska.
We currently have milk goats, pack goats, sheep, a pig, a cow, chickens, rabbits, bees and a dog. Seasonally, we also have more pigs, meat chickens and turkeys….
Let’s make something fun, beginner friendly, that’s super easy and nourishing too! Remember Mary Poppins and her song about how a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down? It’s so true, for kids, and just about anyone else I know….
I have always been told I am an old soul, and overly optimistic…. but, I believe there is a purpose in everything, every hair on your head is numbered and known to the Creator, every fiber of your being flows with His energy…. each of us has been wonderfully created, with a purpose, just the way we are…
Stained glass windows date back to the 7th century. With the earliest known reference dating
from 675 AD when workmen were imported from France to Britain to Glaze the windows of a
monastery…
Homesteading and growing food is not the easy way out of this life, i would say it is the hard way as there’s nothing convenient about it. It’s a lifestyle, a life change not a trend or hobby. Well, that’s my opinion any way…
