One of the best ways to make your homesteading dreams happen to is have a solid, yet realistic plan for how to achieve your homesteading goals. In my own life, I break my to-do list into three parts: Business, Homeschooling, and Homesteading. Making a commitment to homesteading means not only that I get things done, but I truly get to create a life that I'm passionate about. My best tips for setting and achieving homesteading goals are below, and if you click on the image below, you can download a free printable worksheet that you can use to put your dreams in writing; after all, it has been shown that writing down your goals makes you more likely to achieve them. Let's get … [Read more...]
2015 Holiday Gift Guide
Holiday gift giving is an wonderful opportunity to stretch your crafty muscles and to support small businesses. If you're feeling particularly DIY this season, this post has you covered with 100+ handmade gift ideas (if you are pressed for time, try one of these ideas). But if you'd like to support some small businesses this season, I'd love to introduce you to the following shops, all of them run by homesteading women whom I greatly admire. Farmstead Soap and Salve from Reformation Acres Quinn formulates nourishing, long-lasting bars of farmstead soap made with rich and creamy Jersey milk. Her herbals soaps and salves are created with botanicals harvested right from her organic farm. … [Read more...]
Celebrating your Homestead Accomplishments
Did you began the year with a long list of homesteading projects to do, or homestead dreams that you wanted to turn into reality? I sure did: Yes, this is a very long list of projects and infrastructure, because really, that is where our newish homestead is at right now. But beyond just being a list of things to do, or projects to make and build, this list represented the direction that I want our family to move: Growing food to enhance our health and self-sufficiency Building infrastructure to increase our connection to our friends and our enjoyment of our natural resources Creating tools and structures to help us cook and store food in delicious and sustainable … [Read more...]
Overcoming Homestead Setbacks
Blogging about real life on a homestead can be an interesting challenge. On the one hand, I don't want to use this blog as a platform for whining when things go wrong, as it's my vision to inspire and uplift others on their homesteading path. But to not share the challenges of homesteading seems unfair and unrealistic as well. The truth is, we all have homestead set backs. A few months ago, I mentioned to a close group of homestead blogging friends that I was feeling particularly affected by a long list of personal challenges: Our property is currently threatened by a high-voltage power line project. A lower back injury has taken months to resolve and I've been left with some minor … [Read more...]
Fiercely D.I.Y Guide to Seasonal Living
Living in Oregon for 13 years, I almost forgot what four seasons really felt like. True, we had a colder, rainier winter, and certainly the dry heat of summer was a marked change, but somehow the seasons seemed to melt and blend into one another, and not entirely aligned with the calendar. On the other hand, our time in Missouri has truly been a lesson in seasonality. Always one to celebrate the turn of the seasons, I have fresh appreciation for the cycle of the seasons after living outdoors for an entire summer and essentially living indoors for the winter. Summer on our homestead was all about the pond: swimming in the pond several times a day, retrieving water from the pond to … [Read more...]
Books for Homestead Inspiration
When the sun sets at 5pm, and you don't have electricity to light the house, there is not much else to do in the evenings but read. While I have always been a huge lover of books and reading, I don't think have ever read as many books as I have this winter (well, perhaps when I had nursing newborns!) Over the past few months, I've excitedly poured through Waldorf Education curricula, zipped through a few novels, listened to several children's novels that Brian has read aloud to Ella, and mostly, read many, many homesteading books. While I have homesteaded over a decade, there is really no end to the learning that I will do. There is always a new skill to learn, always an interesting … [Read more...]
February Challenge :: Week Two
(This photo of Ella is a great illustration of how I felt after my first week of the February Challenge!) Good morning! Last week, I introduced the February Challenge. If you did not have a chance to read about it, it's an opportunity for each of us to self-identify areas of our life that could be more simple, natural, and joyful, and to take baby steps toward our goals. Each day on the Homestead Honey Facebook page, there is a thread for anyone that wants a little support, accountability, or just a shout out! This past week, I have been tackling areas of Personal Organization. Brian and I both work from home, homeschool our two young kids, and make virtually all of our meals from … [Read more...]
A February Challenge
First, I'd like to introduce you to two new Homestead Honey Sponsors. Then I have an exciting opportunity for you, so read on! These women are bloggers, mamas, and exquisite craftswomen. I hope you take a moment to visit their shops, and learn more about them! The Sitting Tree. Featuring upcycled wool longies, knitting patterns, hand dyed yarn, homemade soap, and more! Find their etsy shop here, and read about their homestead in progress on their blog. Gypsy Forest. Hand-dyed play silks, beautifully crafted quilts and other artful bits. Visit Stephanie's store here, or read her beautiful blog here. And of course, I'd love for you to visit our new etsy shop, Acorn Hill Handcrafts. … [Read more...]
Celebrations
We had three celebrations last week: my birthday, Everett's birthday, and Ella losing her first tooth! I had a bit of an urge to get out of town for my birthday, so we traveled north to Fairfield, Iowa a small, funky, new-agey town in SE Iowa. It had been highly recommended by friends for its Green Building Supply store, quaint downtown shops, Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts, and ethnic restaurants. I enjoyed a cup of organic hot cocoa, a locally raised buffalo burger, and a trip into a few cute shops. It felt like a trip to the West coast, honestly, which felt like such a treat for me. But the best part of the day was coming home to host an intimate birthday dinner … [Read more...]