The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Jill Winger

27 Comments | |    Last Updated: September 1, 2018

The Best Autumn Essential Oil Recipes for Your Diffuser

I kicked my candles to the curb. And I was quite the candle addict... So that's saying a lot. There's nothing I love more than being enveloped by a warm, spicy scent when I walking into the house on a brisk, fall day. And who doesn't love the flickering of a candle on a cozy winter's night? But once I started learning about some of the toxic junk my candle addiction was releasing into my house, suddenly my "warm sugar cookie" ...Continue Reading

26 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 13, 2023

Maple Walnut Blondies with Maple Butter Sauce

Guest post by Jamie of The Herbal Spoon. Photos and recipe updated April 2018. There are few things better than biting into a brownie... And this warm, maple walnut blondie, with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream and hot buttery maple sauce dripping down the sides is brownie heaven. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love chocolate, especially since it contains a mineral many are deficient in. It's my number one dessert of ...Continue Reading

64 Comments | |    Last Updated: September 12, 2022

4 Ways to Save & Ripen Green Tomatoes

  I was NOT happy... ...when I found out it was supposed to snow several weeks ago. The calendar had *just* turned to September, and I was not ready to pull out my muck boots and coat. Not to mention this was the first year in a long time that my garden was actually thriving! I was looking forward to homemade sun-dried tomatoes, and tucking away fresh tomato sauce to use during the cold winter months. With just one weather ...Continue Reading

15 Comments | |    Last Updated: April 9, 2024

7 Things Every First Time Gardener Should Know

As gardening season wraps up here at The Prairie Homestead, I always like to take stock of the lessons I learned this season and what I can improve for next year. I'm thrilled to be welcoming Tiffany from Don't Waste the Crumbs to the blog for this article as she shares some of her hard-learned lessons and tips! Last Christmas, my step-mom gave me one of the best gifts I've ever received: four big buckets, a pair of gloves, a ...Continue Reading

106 Comments | |    Last Updated: February 9, 2024

Chai Tea Concentrate Recipe

The cravings started earlier than normal this year... I'm blaming it on our cooler-than-normal summer, and our early snow (YES, it snowed two weeks ago... *facepalm*), but I'm already hankering for sweaters, and fires in the stove, and chai tea. Especially the chai. I'm kind of a picky chai drinker... The chai tea bags you can grab in the tea aisle don't quite cut it for me. And the pre-made concentrates are often filled with ...Continue Reading

114 Comments | |    Last Updated: June 30, 2023

How to Can Pears Without Sugar

I'm a lazy canner you guys... I adore canning and especially love surveying the pretty rows of brightly colored jars when I'm finished, but you can bet that if I can safely take a "shortcut," I will. Take my home-canned applesauce for example. The vast majority of applesauce recipes insist you peel the apples first. But if you're me, you simply quarter them, core them, and toss them in the pot, peels and all. (And if you have a food ...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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