The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

39 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 10, 2021

How to Prepare for New Baby Chicks

I would venture to say... The vast majority of homesteaders got their start by strolling the aisles of the feed store and happening upon those tubs of fluffy, chirping chicks. They're hard to resist, y'all. And as we all know, chickens are the gateway drug to the more hardcore forms of homesteading-- goats, cattle, hogs... you know the drill. Even though we've been doing this homesteading thing for nearly seven years, I ...Continue Reading

17 Comments | |    Last Updated: January 30, 2024

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I have a rather embarrassing story about Brussels sprouts... I had never grown them before, so I decided to give them a try last year. I usually have decent luck with cabbage, and considering Brussels sprouts are in the same family, I figured I had a good shot. I started the seedlings in my basement, and they grew beautifully. Once I transplanted them into the garden, they took right off and the plants were gorgeous and ...Continue Reading

41 Comments | |    Last Updated: December 27, 2023

I’m Teaching My Kids to Fail

How's that for a politically-incorrect title? Failure is a pretty distasteful word in our culture. "They were such a failure..." "He totally failed at that..." "Failure is not an option." We've all heard and said those phrases and they carry an extremely negative connotation, don't they? As a recovering perfectionist, I've had a longstanding beef with failure. I hate messing up, I hate making mistakes, and I hate knowing ...Continue Reading

89 Comments | |    Last Updated: October 13, 2021

Heating with Wood on the Homestead

I'm a such a sucker for roaring fire. I grew up with wood heat, and to this day, if I'm in a house during winter without some sort of heat source to stand next to, my soul feels a bit empty. When we moved into our little prairie house in 2008, it only had a forced-air furnace and that was a serious bummer. Not to mention, the 100-year old house had pathetic insulation and the curtains would actually move when the wind blew. We ...Continue Reading

71 Comments | |    Last Updated: May 5, 2026

How to Acid Stain Concrete Floors

I really debated posting this one... The topic of acid staining concrete floors strays a little from my usual subject-matter and seems slightly more suited for a home renovation blog. But I decided to go for it anyway, as I figured a) I have a ton of very thrifty, very handy readers who love frugal, DIY stuff, and b) I honestly just wanted a reference for myself, as I have a bad habit of doing a complex project and then promptly ...Continue Reading

14 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 13, 2023

Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate Recipe

It's extremely hard... To convince me to leave my cozy little house on winter evenings. Between the flickering fire, the Christmas tree lights, and my favorite Douglas Fir essential oil wafting from the diffuser, I'm pretty content to be a winter-time hermit. And when you add in a mug of homemade hot chocolate? Forget about it. You'd be hard-pressed to get me to venture out even if Joel Salatin himself was visiting our town (Okay, ...Continue Reading

Nice to Meet You

I’m Jill. I’ve never been very good at following prescribed paths.

For the last 15 years, that instinct has led me through homesteading, entrepreneurship, and creating a life my younger self could have only dreamed of.

These days, I’m less interested in living the perfect "old-fashioned life" and more interested in knowing which ideas are worth carrying forward. The first half of this story was about building a homestead. The next part is about building a life that actually fits.
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