It’s been a minute. Thanks for sticking around while I caught my breath. I’m back-ish. I won’t promise weekly blog posts, but I’ll be around more than I have been.
You see… I haven’t had a lot to say, because I’ve been asking myself a lot of questions lately… the biggest one being:
What’s next?
Because I have no idea.
And that’s strange for me, because I’ve always known.
But for the first time in my life, it feels like I’m staring at a blank slate.
I’ve been an “influencer” (ugh) for 15 years, long before it was even a thing. I know how to grow a platform, write hooks, solve problems, and pump out content… and I was damn good at it.
But do I still want to do that? I don’t think so. At least not in the same way.
The truth is, I don’t identify with the homestead movement like I used to. Sure, I still garden and bake bread and gather eggs—but the rest feels foreign. It’s turned into an ideology and a tribe. And those are two things I’ve learned to steer clear of.
And these days, I’m more than that.
I’m running a restaurant.
I’m deeply immersed in my local community.
I’m driving my kids to a million activities.
I’m pushing myself harder with my horsemanship than ever before.
I’m still cooking, but it’s different than it used to be. Instead of baking bread with toddlers at my feet, I’m recipe testing for a cookbook and creating high-end suppers with my team in the tiniest small-town restaurant.
The forties have hit hard, man. Not a midlife crisis, but a midlife awakening, to be sure.
This shifting, transforming Jill doesn’t quite fit the box I once built here. On one hand, that feels exactly right. On the other, it feels uncharted. Which is why I’ve gone quiet.
I’ve been leaning heavily on this Wendell Berry poem all year. I can’t think of any words that fit my situation better right now:
“It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
I know I don’t want to walk away from this platform. But I don’t know where I’m headed. And it scares me—in the best of ways.
So I’m going to start showing up again, but differently. Random, real pieces of my life. The way blogs used to be—more letters from a friend than polished broadcasts.
And that feels strange, because I’m very much a “what does this content accomplish?” sort of person. But right now, the point is simply sharing my life as it is. Not the polished, curated “homestead influencer” version—just the everyday Jill version.
It may not look tidy or curated, but it’ll be real—and that’s exactly where I need to be. And you’re welcome to come along. ?
If you’re still here, thank you. Leave a comment and tell me what you’re curious about in this season—restaurant behind-the-scenes, cookbook experiments, school projects, horsemanship progress, or how I’m juggling it all (sometimes well, sometimes not).
I’m so grateful you’re here,
-Jill
P.S. To answer two of the most common questions I’m getting right now:
YES! The planner is back for 2026. You can pre-order yours here.
And I’m working on bringing the podcast back soon. Thanks for your patience with me on that!
“more letters from a friend than polished broadcasts.”
Hallelujah! 🙂
Well, I’ll bite. I still check this blog.
I’ll also be quite frank. I”m a native Wyomingite who has been in agriculture my entire life, and who raises livestock at the commercial level, although I am, like you, doubly employed. I note that as while I’ve found your blog to be interesting, and I find the homesteading movement interesting, it is, in my view, and has always been, an “ideology and a tribe”.
Frankly, it’s nearly a cult.
I regard myself as an agrarian, but a realistic one, and that’s quite a bit different. By working in town, as you likely have to, or at least see the advantage of doing so while still keeping your feet in agriculture, you’re more of an agrarian now. I see that as a positive development.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. And I agree- it is nearly a cult these days.
Thanks for writing. I check in here occasionally, pull up your podcast page frequently when driving, and check out your videos when I’m replicating one of your activities–like quartering a chicken or canning pinto beans.
Things change over time, and once you’ve reached a certain point, it may seem that there’s less that is noteworthy and new to post or podcast on. Of the things you listed, one I’d most like to see is the juggling act. You’re far busier than I am, but I usually feel like I’m juggling six balls and I only have enough talent to keep two in the air. A lot fall to the ground. Right now, I have black walnuts all over the grass, but I don’t have time to hull them, because I’m trying to finish the chicken coop that the chicks in the house can move into as soon as it’s ready, and on and on. So being better at prioritizing is something I need to grow in. Coping with setbacks is a rich field, too: you have posted some of that, most notably the hail and the herbicide-tainted hay. What other challenges are you facing–now and in the past? Failure (and overcoming it) can be inspirational.
Thanks for the content that you have provided over the years. It has helped me immensely as I try to do more.
Thanks for still blogging. I am looking forward to whatever comes next.
I have just stumbled across your podcast in the last year. With all the crazy things that have happened over the last few years, I am grateful to have “influencers” such as yourself. I’m not an entrepreneur myself, but my husband is and I help him where I can and do all the same crazy running around. I also brought a childhood passion of riding horses back into my life 5 years ago and we just brought our horses home from a boarding barn this year. It has been inspiring listening to your homestead & healthy eating podcasts and has encouraged me even more with the land we have recently obtained to do more stuff that is self sustaining and less consumeristic.
It’s important for me to be able to hear that other women struggle with all the things from time to time! So, kudos to you for just saying so and taking care of yourself. I’d love to hear more about what you’re doing on your homestead, what you’re doing with your horses, restaurant, life, etc! All the things! The good and the struggles! Talk about the things that make your heart happy. Even when those things shift. We don’t have to be one thing. We can be many!