If you needed a renewed motivation to shop with your local farmer, this is it. Watching the pigs flicking mud on each other or chickens rake their talons through the grass contrasted alongside the overrun feed lots producing as much pork as possible in as little space as possible, makes me long for an exit from our neighborhood and relocation to raw land on the prairie with Ma Ingalls. Can't we all have our own Polyface Farm?

I won’t tell you the lie that I don’t want flowers. I still want them, but if you are thinking of something else, here are some easy ideas that any homesteading mom/wife/ gal would love.

When we moved into our two-acre homestead nestled in a neighborhood, it was out of necessity more than choice. The pandemic, a tough economy, and expecting twins pushed us to find stability. Before this, we lived a nomadic life in a camper, following my husband’s welding career. Our new home, though not our forever home, provided the space and stability we needed as our family grew—now a family of seven with the addition of three beautiful children, including our twins.