The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

23 Comments | |    Last Updated: April 26, 2016

It’s Here! Start Homesteading Today with “Your Custom Homestead”

(Looking for the Barn Hop? It's directly below this post.) The long anticipated day is finally here-- I can't wait any longer, and I know you can't either! For months I've been noticing a need-- a need for a resource geared towards those who want to join the modern day homesteading movement so badly, but have no idea where to start. It's no secret that the concept of "simple living" can actually be quite overwhelming at first ...Continue Reading

173 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 17, 2018

The Hard Part of Homesteading

As many of you know from my recent Facebook posts, we butchered our steer this past weekend. First off, let me give you a little background info. I was a Vet Tech for two years before becoming becoming a homesteader. I've helped mercifully end the lives of more animals than I can even recall. I've assisted with all manner of surgeries and procedures, from spaying and neutering to bovine C-Sections involving dead baby calves... As ...Continue Reading

34 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 11, 2020

How to Make Homemade Breadcrumbs

If you've been a reader of The Prairie Homestead for a while, you'll remember a post about the Five Foods I'll Never Buy Again. Breadcrumbs were first on that list! You see, a big part of real food is learning how to make your own bread products (unless you are gluten intolerant, of course). For most people (me definitely included) there is a learning curve that comes with mastering homemade bread. And that learning curve involves ...Continue Reading

50 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 17, 2018

How to Decorate with Repurposed Items for Farmhouse Flair

  OK, first things first. I'm far from being one of those super-cool decorating bloggers. I'm not good at "staging" my home, and my picture-taking skills leave a lot to be desired. However, I had so much fun showing you the chicken wire frame I made, that I wanted to share a few more of my other simple homestead decorating ideas. When I first got married, I was under the impression that "home decor" had to come from a "home ...Continue Reading

75 Comments | |    Last Updated: March 11, 2019

DIY Computer and TV Screen Cleaner

I struggle with having clean screens. Not the window-kind. (I struggle with simply HAVING those... Thanks to a dog who is petrified of thunderstorms...) But rather the computer and TV variety. My house is dusty. I think it's a side affect of living in a windy climate. (And also probably from pretty much NEVER dusting.) And, living on a "farm" equals lots of flies in the summer. Which equals flies in my house, no matter how ...Continue Reading

14 Comments | |    Last Updated: October 30, 2016

DIY Rock Boot Tray- A Cute Way to Eliminate Mudroom Puddles

If you enter my home during any of the wet/snowy/muddy months in Wyoming, you will be instantly greeted by this: "What is that?" you may ask? THAT, my friends, is what it looks like when I.GIVE.UP. Combine multiple trips to the barnyard each day, with a toddler who LOVES her mud boots, and three crazy, muddy dogs, and you get perpetual dried (or wet) mud puddles on my mudroom floor. ...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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