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Homesteading
The Mitten State Strawberry Guide
Is there anything better than biting into a fresh, homegrown strawberry on a warm summer day? From their cheery heart-shaped exterior to their juicy-sweet tartness, Michigan strawberries are beloved by locals and visitors alike.
Find Your Frost Dates
The first sunny, 60-degree Michigan day is a highly-coveted and celebrated time of year. Michiganders everywhere rejoice when we finally get a chance to say goodbye to iced water troughs and pitch-black morning adventures in snow-capped barns and coops. We know the thaw is fleeting, and snow is likely to fall again soon, but for those first few warm spring days, we allow ourselves to get lost in dreams of green and bountiful harvests.
Know Your Hardiness Zone
Spring has (according to the calendar) arrived in the beautiful state of Michigan. Yet for most Michiganders, spring is less about tulips, sunshine, and green grass and more about April snow showers, frozen mud, and cracking your car window with the heated seats on. Spring in Michigan is like waiting for eggs to hatch or barnyard babies to be born – you never know what you’re going to get!
Homesteaders of Michigan: A Fresh Start
As of February 2022, Kendra Higgins is the new owner of Homesteaders of Michigan after purchasing the business outright from Founder, Kayla.
It’s been wonderful working with you all to create this virtual community of homesteaders, gardeners, and farmers. I wish you all the best – you’re in better hands than before and I look forward to seeing this community grow! – Kayla
Book Review: The Backyard Homestead
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the word “homestead”? I initially picture a cute farmhouse with a barn, garden, and pasture of a few animals. Maybe a windmill, a few fruit trees, or even a hayfield. I imagine a place with 10-20 acres —...
Frontiere Farmhouse Feature
Meet Nicole and Robert Goetz of Frontiere Farmhouse, right outside of Marshall, Michigan.
“We own nine acres in Calhoun County Michigan, where we raise pastured poultry for meat and eggs, pigs, and rare breed Jacob sheep. We have some pet goats, a bunch of geese, and a dog and a cat. Robert is a full-time engineer, and Nicole runs the farm full time.
We bought this property four years ago, in December 2016. We started gardening on the porch of our duplex the summer before, and decided we needed way more room.”
Black Barn Farm Feature
Meet Kate from Galesburg, MI. Kate has been part of the Homesteaders of Michigan community since its inception in early 2019 and I was so happy to partner with her during our "A Few Of Our Favorite Things" photo challenge on Instagram, where she participated as a...
Starting Line Farm Feature
We’d like to introduce you to Kayti and Starting Line Farm from Howell, Michigan! Tell us a little about yourselves. We are a homesteading, homeschooling family of four. We have dabbled in gardening for 10+ years but we are closing in on 5 years as homesteaders. We...
Sunrises with Sourdough
I began my sourdough journey as a way to root myself to a simple, ancestral morning tradition. I’d fallen into the nasty habit of starting every day with my cell phone and overwhelming amounts of not-so-mindful content. I felt drained before I’d even gotten out of bed.
Our gift of instant internet connectedness has a very valuable place in our communities, but we also need to balance such connectivity by tending to ourselves, our families, and our homes so we can make healthy decisions and differences once we step outside.
Baking bread became my way of anchoring to a tangible schedule void of screens and distance. It provided a necessary dedication to something greater than my own immediate satisfaction. Steady, consistent, delicious sourdough helped break through my involuntary evolution into a morning tech-addict and allowed me to focus my mind on the present. My hope is that by sharing my routine, sourdough baking can do the same for you.
Hangry Hen Farms Feature
Meet Tasha and the Hangry Hen Farms family from Kalkaska, Michigan! I had the pleasure of getting to know Tasha throughout her sponsorship role of our first-ever photo challenge on Instagram, themed around “A Few Of Our Favorite Things.” Tell us a little about...
Book Review: The Family Garden Plan
“Growing a garden is as much food for the soul as it is for the body.” p. 5 Whether you have been gardening for decades or this is your very first year, once the Christmas decor has been packed away (or maybe even before!) we find ourselves pulling out the garden seed...
Michigan YouTubers to Inspire You
Let me start off this post by aging myself. I have been around since the dawn of YouTube. I remember the wacky viral videos, the David after Dentist, Potter Puppet Pals… How this platform has evolved over the past fifteen years is truly amazing to me. In today’s...
Power Outage on the Homestead
"In Michigan, especially in rural areas, power outages are a fact of life. It's best to always be prepared." - @carina_hilbert Having a secluded homestead surrounded by trees has its advantages; keeping a steady stream is power isn't necessarily one of them. We...
Egg-Citing Gifts For Your Flock
If chickens could talk, what would they tell you they wanted for Christmas? This is what we think they'd say: First Saturday Lime to keep our coop smelling good and deter pests. Flygrubs are sustainable, organic grain free feed that naturally support our immune...
Veteran-Owned Farms and Homesteads in Michigan
There’s no way to thank our veterans for everything they sacrifice for our freedom, but on Veteran’s Day we have to try. We’d like to highlight just a few of the veteran-owned farms and homesteads in our beautiful state of Michigan. Hickory Tree Farm Apiaries “Hickory...
Your Favorite Seed Companies
Recently, I asked our Instagram community what their favorite seed companies are and why. I am happy to report we received a diverse selection of responses! Nature and Nuture Seeds "It's important to have locally-adapted seed supply so I appreciate this small...
Meet Peace Tree Parks
Peace Tree Parks is an incredible non-profit in the city of Detroit. Since 2015, they have been on a mission to make sure Detroiters have access to fresh organic produce by bringing community and residential gardens to city neighborhoods. Their Residential Garden...
Homesteader’s Halloween
Here in Michigan, the cooler temperatures have arrived and the leaves are changing to the beloved brilliant hues of autumn. Fall is here! This season is my favorite and I want to share some ways to celebrate on the homestead.Read fall-themed books with your...
The First Swarm
Caught my first swarm of bees today, or at least assisted in their capture. One thing (among many) about beekeeping that has always been amazing to me is how every year you can learn something new. Bees can be unpredictable, temperamental and frustrating; however the...
Homesteader of the Month: Cathy
Our Homesteader of the Month is Cathy from Ervindale Farm! Cathy volunteers on the social media team here at HOM and contributes valuable and informative content to our website. We’re very happy to have here with us and share her story with you. “Hi everyone! I’m...
Farms Delivering During COVID-19
The pandemic has affected us all in more ways than we could have imagined. It has also indicated just how broken our food system is. We encourage you to connect with local farms delivering in your area today! Have you recently found a local farm you love? Give them a...
Some Steps I’m Taking To Go Off-Grid
In today’s high paced, high-tech world, many of us yearn for the calm simple life, yet how many actually take steps to achieve it? For me, the idea of retiring and moving from my suburban house to a small homestead, transitioned into trying to retire early and be as...
A Brief Intro to Probiotics
Probiotics? Fermentation? Kimchi? Have I lost you? No worries – we’ll take this step by step. Probiotics have been making headlines in all sorts of health and “clean” eating groups lately, and for good reason! If you are interested in keeping things “regular”,...
Homesteader of the Month: Meet Jenna
May’s Homesteader of the Month is Jenna! Jenna has been part of the Homesteaders of Michigan community since its early days and inspires others to reduce waste and grow their own food in order to preserve and protect our environment. HOM: A lot of the folks in the...
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Connecting homesteaders of Michigan with informational resources, and most importantly each other.