My Journey to Homesteading, Wellness, and Community
I grew up in the rural areas of Indiana, where I had the privilege of experiencing firsthand how the Amish community worked together to care for their families and one another. I went to school and worked alongside members of the Amish community, which gave me a unique opportunity to learn from their way of life. I witnessed the value of hard work, self-sufficiency, simplicity, and community, but most importantly, I learned what it meant to use what God has provided to care for the people you love.
Through those experiences, I learned practical skills that have stayed with me throughout my life—homesteading, processing chickens, preserving food for the winter, growing and preparing food, and using simple ingredients from the kitchen and garden to support the health and well-being of a family. But one of the greatest lessons I learned was the power of community. When people shared their knowledge, skills, time, and resources, they could accomplish so much more together than they could alone. They didn't just look out for themselves; they looked out for one another.
Those lessons became part of the foundation for the life my family and I live today.
My passion for natural living, however, comes from an even deeper and more personal place. Growing up, I watched my mother struggle with her health. Medication was a part of her life for many years, and I watched as one prescription seemed to lead to another. What troubled me was that, although her symptoms were continually being treated, she never seemed to truly heal. As a child, I didn't have the words to explain it, but I often wondered why no one was looking deeper or asking what was at the root of her health struggles.
When I became a young mother myself, those questions became even more important to me. I knew I wanted something different for my children and for my family. I wanted to learn how to nourish our bodies, understand the importance of what we put into them, and become more intentional about the way we cared for our health. I wanted to learn how to care for the simple things at home before automatically reaching for a solution outside of our home.
So I began to learn.
I studied herbs, essential oils, nutrition, gardening, whole foods, and natural approaches to caring for the body. The more I learned, the more I began to see the connection between God's creation, our health, and the wisdom found throughout Scripture. I began to see the plants, foods, spices, herbs, and resources God placed around us as gifts to be stewarded and understood.
And honestly, I absolutely love learning in the kitchen!
My kitchen has become my classroom and my science lab. I love experimenting with recipes, creating new ways to use herbs and spices, sharing cooking tips, preserving foods, and finding simple ways to make nourishing meals for my family. There is something special about taking simple ingredients and turning them into something that can nourish the people you love.
I believe God has given us an incredible abundance of resources through His creation. In our modern way of living, we've become so disconnected from many of those resources that we've forgotten how to use them. Part of my passion is helping families rediscover that knowledge—learning how to grow, prepare, preserve, and use what God has already placed around us.
That doesn't mean we never need doctors or modern medicine. There are absolutely times when professional medical care is important. But I believe there are also many everyday ways we can be more proactive about caring for our bodies, nourishing ourselves well, and learning traditional skills that can support our family's well-being.
For me, that also means becoming more mindful about what we bring into our homes and put into our bodies. I want to understand the ingredients in the foods and products we use and learn how to make more things ourselves when possible. Reducing unnecessary additives, artificial dyes, highly processed ingredients, and other things we'd simply rather not have in our family's everyday lives has become an important part of our journey.
What began as a mother's desire to care differently for her children grew into a way of life.
Today, my family and I have our own homestead, where we continue to practice many of the skills I learned growing up. We grow, preserve, create, learn, experiment, and continually look for ways to become more self-sufficient. But our goal isn't simply to live independently. We want to build community.
That is one of the reasons I love being involved in our local markets. They give me the opportunity to connect with people, build relationships, and share what I have learned. I love educating families about homesteading, the importance of eating whole foods, the traditional uses of herbs and spices, cooking from scratch, and practical ways we can become more intentional about caring for ourselves and our families.
At the heart of everything I do is my faith.
I believe God created our bodies with incredible wisdom and gave us a beautiful world filled with resources we can learn from and steward. I believe there is value in returning to the basics—growing our own food, preparing meals from whole ingredients, learning from the plants around us, teaching our children practical skills, caring for our families, and serving our communities.
I want to help bring back some of the knowledge that has been lost in our fast-paced, modern world. I want families to know that they can learn these things. They can grow something. They can make something. They can preserve something. They can learn about herbs. They can cook from scratch. They can teach their children. They can work together.
And they don't have to do it alone.
If you're ready to slow down, get back to the basics, learn some old-fashioned skills, and discover new ways to care for your family and connect with God's creation, come join us!
Let's learn together. Let's grow together. Let's share what we know. Let's build stronger families and stronger communities.
Most of all, let's create homes filled with healthier choices, joyful learning, good food, faith, laughter, and a whole lot of love.
We're on a mission to make happy ladies and lads in every home!
Happy Ladies Plant based Wild Yam Cream
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