The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

130 Comments | |    Last Updated: January 5, 2023

Owning a Family Milk Cow: Your Questions Answered

I'll admit it... I'm totally prejudiced. Try as I might to get all excited over green beans and squash, I'd much rather talk about milk cows and home dairying. That's not to say that I don't enjoy the gardening aspect of my homestead, but animal husbandry is just more of my thing I suppose... And did I mention that I have a pretty severe brown thumb? Yeah... that might have something to do with it. I firmly believe the family milk ...Continue Reading

114 Comments | |    Last Updated: October 13, 2021

8 Essential Oils for Sleep

Falling asleep is generally not something I have a problem with... Between chasing three Prairie Kids, running a booming online business, and keeping up with this crazy homestead life, I'm usually half-asleep by the time my head hits the pillow. Now getting enough sleep? That seems to be my struggle right now, but I have yet to find an essential oil that can add additional hours onto a 24-hour period... So I suppose I'll just keep ...Continue Reading

21 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 31, 2014

DIY Paper Seedling Pots

OK, OK... You don't have to rub it in... I know many of you started your cute little seedlings weeks ago, and some of you are even harvesting crisp lettuce and greens... But don't worry, I won't hold it against you. ;) Here in the frozen tundra (aka Wyoming) we are still shoveling snow and chopping ice. In fact, we had a lovely snow storm on Monday that closed down all the roads. So it'll be a while before I get to dig around in my ...Continue Reading

41 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 11, 2019

DIY Daily Shower Cleaner

It's kind of a bad combo... Not only does our poor shower have to deal with the normal grime that comes as a result of farm life, but we also have super-duper hard water... And let's be honest--scrubbing down the shower on a regular basis isn't real high on my priority list right now. So what happens? You guessed it-- things get scummy really quickly. And when I say scummy, I'm talkin' about a build up of dingy grime that's ...Continue Reading

45 Comments | |    Last Updated: April 23, 2025

Honey Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

When the urge for hamburgers strikes... ... You just gotta heed the call. And when you live 45+ miles from the grocery store (and don't really care for the ingredients list on store-bought buns anyway) hamburger cravings usually necessitate homemade hamburger buns of some sort. I've been making homemade hamburger buns for a while now -you can check out my other version of homemade hamburger buns here- both with unbleached white ...Continue Reading

48 Comments | |    Last Updated: August 31, 2023

Homesteading with Small Children (5 Tips from a Not-So-Perfect Mama)

 "How on earth do you homestead with small children?" I get that question a LOT. Honestly, I've been thinking about how to answer it for a while now... I haven't addressed it yet, because, well, I haven't been exactly sure what to say. You see, I don't really have a formula or schedule or routine for homesteading with kids... We just do it. As messy and chaotic and imperfect as it is, we somehow manage to get (most of) our ...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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