Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land
September 2, 2026
I used to think food preservation had to be big. Dozens of jars. Marathon canning days. Bushels upon bushels. But there’s nothing like having the rug pulled out from under you (plus an epically horrible garden year) to give you a different perspective. Little counts, too. Even though my garden is beyond dead, I still have random vegetables hanging around from my Azure box and various grocery purchases. My Mealcraft frameworks have …
August 18, 2026
I have a beet. A single, solitary beet. I didn’t grow this beet. (Garden apocalypse this year, remember?) I got it in a produce box from Azure Standard. Because that’s what you do when your ground is poisoned and barren. (Okay, okay. I’ll stop being so dramatic about it.) Anyway. There was a time when August meant vegetables on every flat surface of my house. Tomatoes spilling out of bowls. Monster zucchini. Peppers …
August 12, 2026
What are we sacrificing in our race towards progress? It is a horribly helpless feeling to own land and realize you may not be able to grow food on it. As I’ve been sorting through my recent garden woes, my brain, doing what brains do, has jumped to the worst-case scenario several times: What if I can never grow a garden here? I usually spiral over that for a while before my rational side takes over and reminds me that …
August 5, 2026
I’ve had some pretty epic garden failures over the years, but nothing quite like this. For those who missed it, I moved to a new property this spring. It’s not far from my old place, so I assumed the growing conditions would be somewhat similar: Same high plains. Same brutal wind. Same short growing season. How different could it possibly be? Well…. very, VERY different, apparently. Before I show you the full extent of my …
July 21, 2026
Letting the season get a vote... Last week I wrote about my hot little house. I’ve been leaning into the rhythm of opening windows at dusk, pulling the blinds before the sun heats my dining room, and embracing the way a lack of central air is making me pay attention to the seasons in ways I haven’t in years. It’s absolutely changed the way I cook, too. Because when it’s 95 degrees outside and I’m covered in sweat …
July 15, 2026
Sometimes discomfort has something to teach us... It’s hot here. Not Florida hot. Not Arizona hot. Wyoming hot…. Which I know isn’t as bad as some places and I shouldn’t be whining. BUT. Considering I wore a coat for a good portion of our horsemanship clinic just two weeks ago, these high-90s days feel like... a lot. And it’s especially noticeable because, for the first time in over ten years, I don’t have central …
