It humors me when I look back on our lives. I don't even have to go back that far. I mean, who are those impostors? Those two young kids who agreed to walk down the isle together. They really had no clue what lay ahead of them. The birth of 4 children. Building a life... Continue Reading →
I know. I know. I can hear the sighs. What do you mean you don't home school your kids? Isn't that a big reason why homesteaders...homestead? Maybe. Before I go off the deep end with this post, I want to point out very emphatically that we have LOTS of wonderful friends and family members who... Continue Reading →
You've heard them before. I know you have. Maybe you've even tried some of them. It seems like gardening has more myths passing around than any other hobby. But how do you know what's true and what's folklore? Just because it's been passed around on Facebook a million times doesn't make it true. Seriously, this... Continue Reading →
So you did it. You found the piece of property you can start building your dreams on. You may have been waiting for this moment for a long time. But what now? How will you manage your land? I was there not that long ago. We were so caught up in the idea of having... Continue Reading →
I walked into the house, ignoring the chicken poop spread across the white siding next to the back door. Yep, you read that right. Chicken poop. Not sure how it got there, but the location suggested a little person. I didn't bother asking, knowing I wouldn't get a straight answer. All hands get washed and... Continue Reading →
Alright. I've got some things I need to get off my chest. It always baffles me when I'm on a homesteading forum or FB page and I see people shamed by others for not being a "true homesteader". Seriously, what does that even mean anyway? I'm gonna keep it real here friends. Unless any of... Continue Reading →
When you're dreaming about farming or homesteading, it's easy to be consumed with the exciting things. Baby chicks. Fresh eggs. Pulling the season's first sun ripened tomato from the vine. Sun drenched fields of green on still summer days with cotton puff clouds softly floating by overhead. You know, the things we usually take pictures... Continue Reading →
When we first told our family that we were hitchin' the wagon and moving to Iowa, my grandpa gave me a bit of elderly wisdom. "Iowa," he said. "They have weather in Iowa." I didn't know exactly what he meant. I mean, I'd been traveling back and forth between Iowa and Oregon for several years... Continue Reading →
Oh winter...we have a love-hate kinda relationship. I love the rest you offer, and the unwinding of busyness you force upon my life. I'm in awe of the picturesque beauty you cast upon our frozen landscape, like the silent purity of falling snow on a Sunday morning. And I appreciate the excuse you give to... Continue Reading →
I apparently believe in fairy tales. I knew Iowa had really cold winters. Surely all those days with freezing temps must mean Iowans deal with less sickness in the winter, right? Germs can't survive the extreme cold. Or at least that's the fairy tale I believed when we moved here. It makes sense, in a... Continue Reading →