Categories: Homesteader // Homemaker
We never intended to be homesteaders….in fact, I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with that label for us. We’re just a family that grows and preserves food, raises chickens and bees, cooks from scratch, turns to natural remedies first, and tries to live a simple, DIY lifestyle. It’s just what we do….
Hello there! I’m Bailey Van Tassel and I somehow find myself as a gardener, a wife, a mother, and an entrepreneur. A bit of a suburban homesteader, if you will. For me, to homestead is to return to roots. To choose a handmade life that is focused on self-sufficiency at the level which you can commit…
Tips for the New Canner
Hey, Homestead Mamas! It’s Jessica here from Three Rivers Homestead and this month I would love to talk to you about food preservation. August is the month when the harvests are plentiful for most gardeners, and if you aren’t growing the food yourself, you can typically find bulk local produce for great prices through local farmers.
The next question becomes – “How should I preserve all of this beautiful produce?”…
Hello fellow homestead mamas! It’s such a joy to be able to share with you all a glimpse into our little homestead here in New Zealand. I’m Lauren Macfarlane; wife to Jono (a pastor of a small church in town) and mama to 4 amazing humans. Their ages are 8, almost 5, 15 months, and I’m pregnant with a “surprise gift” baby #4! Our little home up the far lane is in the beautiful Pohangina Valley here in the Manawatu (central North Island of NZ)…
There are probably many reasons I could name for why I prefer cooking to baking. One of them certainly being that precise recipe-following is just not my style! I cook by taste and smell, and prefer meals that are just simple and healthy. So take this recipe with a figurative (and literal) grain of salt! Experiment, use what you have, and make it your own…
If I have learned one thing during our journey, it’s that homesteading looks different for everyone. While most of us have a goal in mind, it is an ever evolving learning process. Different folks are in different stages and that’s the beauty of it. But all you have to do is start somewhere. Start small, give yourself grace and don’t become discouraged. It might look learning to garden, or getting chickens and using your own eggs. Maybe getting a few meat animals to learn how to harvest. Whatever the case may be as long as you start somewhere you’ve began your journey…
I can remember sitting at the table watching my mom make a large batch of Amish Buns. She would have her very largest bowl over flowing with the best yeast dough ever!…
My mom is here in Iowa for a visit from over 1000 miles away..
2 weeks ago my husband’s parents visited us from Pennsylvania as well. My mom and my in-laws are in their 70’s, and I’ve realized that visiting with them every chance I get is important, because the day will come, just like it did with my grandparents, where I wish I could sit and visit with them, ask them questions about growing up in the 50’s and 60s.
What was it like raising a family of 9 in the 70s, 80s and 90s? ….
For HM Members only!
There is no denying the fact that most of us wait all year long for spring and summer to sink our
hands into the soil of our gardens, and harvest bounty to tuck away for the coldest months of winter. Traditionally when homesteading, the summers are spent working hard for the winter – harvesting, canning, cutting firewood, processing animals for the freezer. It is assumed that most of the harvesting/putting away would be done within these months, however, sourdough thrives in an opposing season…
The peak of summer always seems to sneak up on me. I imagine that it comes from a bit of mental fatigue— we’ve been pushing hard since early spring (late winter, really) to sow seeds and plant transplants and amend garden beds, etc etc etc— and with my head and hands to the ground, all of a sudden I look up to discover… July! Midsummer!…
Truthfully, I dislike the word homesteader. I feel it has sort of a negative, back-woods connotation, suggesting you are hoarding your goods away for the next crisis. I prefer to call myself a farmer, although the local USDA laughed under their breath when we told them how many acres were part of our ‘farm’ when applying for one of their incentive programs…
