The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

59 Comments | |    Last Updated: October 20, 2016

Sticks, Manure, and Dirt: My Adventure into Hugelkultur

(Taking a little break from Home Dairy Month to talk about gardening today. Look for another home dairy post coming on Friday!) I've always been a pretty basic gardener. Although I've always totally admired what I thought to be the "fancier" methods like raised beds, Square Foot Gardening, or lasagna gardening, but I never thought they were for me... I figured I'd always be a "use a tiller to rip up the dirt each year and plant in ...Continue Reading

40 Comments | |    Last Updated: May 11, 2020

How to Make Fromage Blanc {Raw, Cultured Soft Cheese}

As much as I like real food and blogging, I don't really consider myself a "food blogger." Food bloggers make beautiful food and showcase it with stunning photography on their blogs. Me? I'm lucky if I can get my homemade tortillas to remotely resemble a circular-like shape, and if I can make a entire batch that doesn't have any holes, I'm thrilled. However, sometimes I still like to pretend I'm fancy, so it's kinda fun to say ...Continue Reading

135 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 17, 2018

Got (Raw) Milk? Why We Went Raw…

To a lot of people, there seems to be a certain romance attached to the idea of milking your own cow or goat. Yes, I'll admit that they are days when it's pretty cool to walk outside and bring in a couple gallons of fresh milk that was produced right out my front door. But there are plenty of other days when it ain't so romantic.... Like milking during a blizzard... Or trying to find a non-mucky place to put your bucket after a ...Continue Reading

269 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 30, 2023

How to Can Dry Beans

For me, one of the keys to cooking real food is to have a pantry stocked with real food 'building blocks' that I have prepared ahead of time. I always have a supply of homemade broth/stock, home-canned tomato sauce, applesauce, pickles, and multiple other items. It makes it easy to put together a real-food meal without spending 6 hours in the kitchen each and every day. I love cooking with dried beans (black beans, red beans, ...Continue Reading

182 Comments | |    Last Updated: April 10, 2019

French Bread Recipe

French bread comes from the store, right? Did you know that I was approximately 22 years old before it occurred to me that a person could make homemade French bread? Yeah, for real... I had it in my head that you simply had to schedule a trip to the store to grab a loaf or two of French bread if you wanted to serve it with your spaghetti or lasagna that evening. So imagine my surprise, back at the beginning of my real food journey, ...Continue Reading

239 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 5, 2022

What NOT to Feed Chickens: 8 Things to Avoid

I have to try really hard not to stutter and stare... ...when I'm at someone's house and I watch them throw celery tops, broccoli stems, or banana peels in the trash. That's valuable stuff! Our goats are rather picky, and they only like choice items such as watermelon rind or cornstalks. However, our chickens can be depended upon to eat pretty much everything--especially veggie trimmings or leftover dairy items (like whey or ...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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