The Girl Behind The Wired Homestead

My name is Chris and I was born a small town girl in rural Iowa. Growing up, I gardened every summer with my mom. We would haul bucket loads of tomatoes in and turn them into sauce, juice, and the best tomato snacks. Peas straight from the vine. I didn’t know it then, but it was the start of a life-long love of gardening and working the soil.

For over 10 years after graduating high school I enjoyed the city life. Living in apartments on busy streets, or finding myself in apartments among acres of other apartments. Still, that love of gardening never left me. I grew on balconies and window sills. I didn’t get bucket loads of tomatoes anymore, but there were still cherry tomato snacks and fresh herbs to cook with.

Over time, I began to feel something was missing. There was a part of me that just didn’t feel settled, didn’t feel like I was quite home. Over time, I learned that you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.

I left the city for the suburbs. Not country by any stretch, but not quite city either. I was close enough to enjoy the benefits the big city has to offer, but far enough away that I had quiet evenings again. My soul was a little happier. My balcony became a small yard. A few pots became a couple of raised garden beds. I had to share the yard with our dogs, so I couldn’t turn the whole thing into a garden. That was actually pretty disappointing at times.

Each year my garden grew a little more. It brought me a lot of joy to step outside onto my back deck and see my garden space. A little more peace settled in.

In those small beds and some vertical planters, after a few years I managed to grow a years worth of tomatoes, all the herbs we could need, and many other vegetables. I grew a lot more than I once would have thought possible in such a small space. It shifted my mindset to “if you want it, you can make it happen.”

I started small, and grew a little more every year. It took patience, but that patience paid off in a big way. I learned how to gain self-sufficiency even with a small space.

It was in that suburban house that I’ve started to find myself. I rediscovered a love of canning, a love I developed while water bath canning with my mom as a child. Then I took that and grew it to include pressure canning.

I developed a real passion for herbalism and natural healing. This is something I’m so excited to share with you.

My husband grew up with more of a country lifestyle just like I did. After 8 years we made the decision to leave the suburbs and moved further out into the country. We found a fixer-upper 100 year old farmhouse on 5 acres. That farm is now where we call home.

First came the chickens, then goats, sheep, and pigs. 2024 brought us the most beautiful daughter in the world and I’m so excited to share this life with her.

Someday soon, I’ll leave the office and a 20+ year career in higher education behind for muddy boots and hard work. Sitting at a computer for 8 hours a day will become a memory. And when that day comes, it will be the day I finally come home.

I hope you join me on this journey called life. I’m so excited to share the gardening, preserving, and herbalism skills I’ve developed with you. My goal is to help you become a little more self, and community, sufficient. We’re better when we lean on ourselves and community instead of relying on the big systems of our modern society.