Author: Shannon

I am wife to Stewart, mama of six, homeschooler, messy cook, and avid fermenter. This is where I tell our story... of building a sustainable off-grid homestead... of raising this growing family of ours... of the beauty and the hard and the joy in all of it.

By My Side

One of my earliest childhood memories with my own Mama involves sitting on a counter top, grating the giant zucchini from the garden. I couldn’t have been more than four or five and not much bigger than the zucchinis themselves. I so often wonder which of the happenings of these full and busy days they…

In the October Kitchen

A working kitchen is something to behold, is it not? The days start early with coffee and breakfast-making and the nights end when everyone else is tucked in. In between is a blur of meals and loaves and dishes and counter tops that never seem to empty. It really is the hub of a homestead…

Welcoming Abby and Daisy

We’ve had those lovely cool mornings in which hot coffee seems just the thing but by breakfast the sun’s warmth has erased any memory of such thoughts. By afternoon we are into the 90s and sweating again and by nightfall little Ruthie gets jammies or a blanket. Along with a slight change in seasons has…

Preparing for Rain

We started these seeds a few weeks ago thinking that by now they would have made it into the gardens. But there’s not enough water to warrant a planting. The ponds are starting to go dry. The house hole is dry. The gardens are dry. Last week we mixed that wood ash into the spot…