Tis the Season for gifting those crazy homesteaders who seem to want to do all the things! There are so many options out there, that we decided to help you guys out and share with you our Homestead Mamas Holiday Gift Guide! From the beginning we’ve been about supporting one another; supporting the homestead community. Many of the women listed below we’ve featured, and many more we look forward to featuring. We cannot think of a better way to end 2020 than by supporting our own! This gift guide has some special discount codes from our favorite Homesteading & Farming companies too, so you can get something for everyone on your holiday list, and save money as well!
First we want to tell you all how much we appreciate your sharing this gift guide, and wish you luck if you are sharing to enter the drawing for our HUGE Giveaway that’s happening over on our Instagram account @Homesteadmamas !
We of course will start the gift guide off with our favorite things from Homestead Mamas! Remember folks, to *most likely* ensure your gifts from Homestead Mamas arrives before Christmas, order BY DECEMBER 4th! Our number one seller still remains – Mama Puts Up! We love this shirt, and can’t wait to sport this during canning season! Our second best seller is for the homestead kiddos – Chicken Wrangler! Inspired by all your amazing kids! We love seeing the kids in any of our homestead shirts! We know they make them feel proud of their hard work in the coop, pasture, and around the barnyard! These are just our two top sellers, but we have TONS of amazing merchandise over in our shop and right now for Black Friday Weekend, you can get 15% off when you spend $100 or more when you use coupon code ‘HOLIDAY15’ in the cart BEFORE checkout!
*Offer expires 12/1
Now that you are geared up and looking fresh for the New Year in your new Homestead Mamas Merch, its time to get organized for 2021! THIS one is at the top of my list this year! The Homestead Journal Planner by Amy Fewell and her team at HOA! This planner has everything you need to keep track of, all in one high quality, flat setting planner. With a light vintage gray card stock cover that allows flexibility, this planner is something you can keep on your bookshelf (and look nice!) and easily reference back to for years to come. Amy just told me that they are NEARLY SOLD OUT of these planners, so grab it now while you can! Amy also sent us over a code ‘HOA20’ to use on their store items over on the HOA website, and that will be live till Dec 1! *This code doesn’t include the planner, or tickets/gift cards to next years events.
I know you are already planning out that amazing 2021 garden and are just now starting to get seed catalogs in the mail. If you’re like me, you will soon have them spread out all over the floor as you sit by the fire and dream about getting your hands in the dirt and planting those seeds! I know my favorite catalog to look through has ALWAYS been Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. With all they have to offer, you can plant to your hearts content and beyond! I know I would be THRILLED to receive a Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Gift Certificate under the tree!
Speaking of trees… One of my favorite gifts over the years has been to receive bare root trees! Yep! Little sticks that come in the mail in that long skinny box! Ah, I can hardly wait! My parents have bought trees for me nearly every year, and I have also received Gift Certificates to my favorite tree nursery, which is Stark Brothers! You can’t go wrong with a gift certificate from Stark Brothers. They, just like Baker Creek (another Missouri company!) have an amazing catalog of trees, shrubs, vines, and so much more that you should get in the ground THIS YEAR to ensure that you have fruit every year thereafter!
So you don’t know what to do with these trees? Let my friend Stefan teach you everything you need to know in his extremely enjoyable and educational DVD called The Permaculture Orchard. It is teeming with tons of information from how to plant, prune, and train your trees! He also goes into implementing the best practices to get the best and healthiest harvest ever from your orchard, all while keeping your orchard healthy with organic, and beyond organic management! I really love this DVD, and refer back to it many times a year!
Planting food crops is extremely important in times likes these, but I am personally very excited to add flowers to my garden this coming year. Feeding the soul in these uncertain times is a very important thing to do on the homestead, and adding things to your garden specifically for beauty will keep your heart fed too. We were thrilled when Floret Farms sent us a couple copies of the book “A Year in Flowers” for our giveaway, as flowers are something that I have yet to explore on the homestead, but I am so beyond excited to learn from Erin at Floret Farms through her books, and free online courses. Check em out here!
A lot of folks are just now starting their homesteading journeys, and we all know you can’t have a homestead without Chickens! They truly are the gateway drug into this amazing homestead life! While the middle of winter may not be the best time to get itty bitties, you can (and SHOULD) order them NOW for a Spring shipment! Last spring, hatcheries across the nation were selling out fast due to the pandemic, so don’t wait! Pick out and order your bitties (or older pullets) now for a spring shipment! You get to choose your hatch dates! Finding a good hatchery is very important, and we have had amazing luck with Murray McMurray hatchery! They are the oldest, and largest, rare breed hatchery in the United States, and their team selects every chick in each order by hand, and does everything possible — from the highest quality chicks, to custom-made, reinforced boxes, to ensure each box of chicks shipped arrives at their new home safely. We can’t recommend them more!
Now that you have Chicks ordered, your gonna need to get set up for brooding those babies, and a have a safe set up for the birds once they are grown! I have used Premier 1 Supplies over the last 7 years of my homesteading/farming journey, and I cannot thank them enough for all the high quality products they put out that have kept ALL my animals safe and happy! They have a ton of equipment for the brooder, including heat plates (which we love to use, and are far safer than heat lamps!) and everything you’ll need for your birds once they are out of the brooder, and on pasture! I have used their electric nets and energizers for all my animals, and they are invaluable to have on hand! If you are looking for a great gift, check out their store here to find what you are looking for! They have a ton of sheep stuff too, which can be hard to find!
Now when it comes to stocking stuffers, I am a huge fan of magazine subscriptions – its the gift that keeps giving all through out the year! As a homesteader, educating ourselves is of utmost importance, and what better way than to add the joy of receiving magazines year round that are filled with information and inspiration on how to get the most out of your homestead ! We were super excited when Mother Earth News, Grit Magazine, and Hobby Farms Magazine all chipped in, and offered our followers discounts on subscriptions for the 2021 year! Check out the links below, sign up now, and sign up someone you love too!
Now you can’t do much stocking stuffing without the Stockings, am I right? I am so excited this year to get into FIBER! As a lot of you know, I am a proud Shepherdess! My flock may be little, (2 ewes! Ha! As little as a flock can get!) but my flock has already provided us with so much this year, including milk, meat and wool! Sheep are such amazing creatures, and I am so excited to learn more about the art of fiber works in the years to come, and hope to knit our families stockings for next Christmas with our own wool! I was so excited that Janet Garmen, writer of Many homesteading books, contributed to our giveaway for this gift guide the book “The Good Living Guide to Keeping Sheep and other Fiber Animals” because I personally own, and love this book! It’s a must for sheep owners, and wanna be shepherds! She also gave us a 10% discount on her books and products over at her website when you use code ‘USEWOOL’.
Once you have all these animals, you are going to start noticing you are covered in dirt allll the time. This is ok when you have Muck Boots! I have been a huge fan of Muck since I got my first pair in 2014. For my birthday this year I received a pair of Originals, and I cannot tell you how comfortable these boots are! I wear them every. single. day! And, they also happen to look amazing, so I can wear them anywhere, and get compliments ALL the time! I am a fan and you should be too!
I also wanted to share some of the books that were written by our very own Homestead Mamas, or mamas who are on our calendar for upcoming takeovers! Gifting these books to your homesteading family and friends is an amazing way to support these hard working mamas!
Beka Garris, as you all know inspired the Mama Provides Bow Hunter shirt, and we are so happy she is inspiring so many thousands of mamas to get out in the woods with their babies! Here we have her Hunt. Gather. Eat. Cookbook, and it is a MUST for you mamas of the woods!
Marissa Froese was one of the mamas who inspired the “Mamas Happy Place” shirts, and had an amazing takeover just a while back that was extremely encouraging and moved us all. She has two gluten-free cookbooks now and we love them both!
Natalie from @Heyyitsagoodlife will be taking over in December, about one month before she is due with her and her husbands first child! Natalie is worm expert, and with her book, she will help you learn how to compost in a small space with worms!
This next book, “Sweet Maple” has me super excited since we have just moved onto our new property, and we have some trees that we will be able to tap! I am very excited to tap (mhmmm) into the wealth of knowledge that Michelle brings with this book, and am so looking forward to her (@Souly.rested) takeover that will be happening during the sugaring season later in the spring!
@Girlnextdoorhoney is going to be doing a takeover for Homestead Mamas in just a couple weeks, and she has some really cool bee games and books in her shop, and also has many amazing “bee-sources” available on her site on learning how to keep bees ! Hilary is a new mama to a precious baby boy, and is one amazing Beekeeping mama! Check her out on Instagram too – as she is an amazing photographer, and educator!
One thing we cannot stress enough is to support local this season! This year was hard on just about everyone, so supporting small businesses is more important than ever! Yes buying from the well-known bigger companies might be the best option for you, but do try to support local also with at least a handful of gifts this year!
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….
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…
Awakino Station is a child’s dream. There is the river to splash in, tussock covered hills to explore, animals to raise and a bustling kitchen with a baking tin full of something yummy to eat…
After a busy daycare week for our toddler, and the hectic joys of infant co-parenting + farming, weekend mornings are eagerly anticipated family time; the weekend promise of adventures great and small is so refreshing…
