The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

17 Comments | |    Last Updated: August 5, 2026

The Worst Garden of My Entire Life

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 ...Continue Reading

7 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 29, 2026

What We Eat When It’s Too Hot to Cook

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 ...Continue Reading

17 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 15, 2026

Lessons from My Hot Little House

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 ...Continue Reading

9 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 8, 2026

When Everything Feels Out of Control, I Do This

Turning Panic Into Motion... I just finished a ten-day horsemanship clinic. It was exactly what I needed. Horses have a way of bringing me back to the present moment. Considering we were also roping, there’s very little room for distraction when you are connecting your thousand-pound animal to another live animal with a rope... And your fingers are somewhere in the mix. It’s fairly dangerous, but that also makes it exciting ...Continue Reading

1 Comment | |    Last Updated: September 29, 2026

I Made You Something (and it’s finally feeling real….)

I made you something. I’m writing this in between moments at a horsemanship clinic, with dust on my boots, sun-burned lips, and approximately fourteen other things I’m supposed to be doing. And that feels oddly appropriate, because this thing I made was never meant to be a glossy, perfect-life sort of project. It was built in the middle of real life… Around full days and late dinners. Around kids and animals and business ...Continue Reading

8 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 17, 2026

The Cost of Becoming Yourself

When a lifelong people-pleaser starts telling herself the truth. I’ve spent most of my life trying to be easy…. Dependable. Predictable. Agreeable. My biggest aim was to never make waves or cause others to be uncomfortable… But lately, I’ve become less willing to be easy. I’m not trying to be contrary for the sake of being contrary, but I’m finally telling myself the truth about what I can carry and what I can’t. Now ...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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