Hey y’all! Welcome to The Easy Homestead. I’m Jen, and the hubs is Beau (sometimes referred to as Mountain Man).
The Easy Homestead consists of our coming-to-be farm which we have named North Fork Farms.
We recently moved from our homestead in South Carolina to our new homestead in Virginia.
We live on 45 acres in rural Southern Virginia. We have always farmed for ourselves but have recently decided to start a farm for our community. We want people to have choices when it comes to the food that they eat, and that choice be an affordable non-GMO one. Here on the farm we raise meat chickens, egg chickens, goats, and soon to be pigs, and rabbits. Oh, and three children (Molli- 10, Jax-4, and Nanette Lorraine-2)!
We surely didn’t grow up as farmers/homesteaders, although I did spend many weekends on my Granddad’s farm in Florida as a kid.
My mom’s tragic death in 2012- at the age of 50– from Cancer started our homesteading adventure. My dad asked my mom’s Oncologist why he thought cancer was so prevalent these days. His response: “look at your food.” I was baffled, but Beau and I slowly started educating ourselves by watching documentaries on Netflix and reading Joel Salatin’s books. What we found was shocking, to say the least. So, in June of 2012 we started on this homesteading/natural living journey. It’s also been a year since essential oils have changed my family’s life. Some of the movies that started our homesteading lifestyle: Food Inc, The Gerson Miracle, Food Matters, Forks Over Knives, Hungry for Change, and Ingredients. Some of the Joel Salatin’s Books were: You Can Farm, Folks- This Ain’t Normal, and Pastured Poultry Profit$.
This life is often trying, hard, and downright devastating at times. But, it is also the most rewarding, satisfying, and awesome life that I feel my family can lead.
When I’m not in the kitchen making real food from scratch, I love entertaining my black thumb in the garden, trying to convince Beau to agree that we want NEED more farm animals, and love spreading the word of something I am passionately fanatic about- essential oils.
I’m a wife and mother to three kids & many farm animals. I’m crazy about: homesteading, my hubs, mason jars, burlap, old rusty things, and the old-fashioned life style. Most people say that I am an adventurous, humorous, and sometimes sarcastic person- but ya kind of have to be in this lifestyle, ya feel me?
To get to know me you can follow us on: Facebook, Pinterest, and our new endeavor Instagram! You can also subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter. Be sure to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss out on the adventures, recipes, and craziness that homesteading entails. No fluff. Real homesteading. Real life, baby! The good, the bad, and everything in between. Around those parts you’ll get to see everything behind the scenes, meet the family, and the animal crew.
Welcome to The Easy Homestead,
I too believe we have too many chemicals. I am almost 60 years young and decided to go more the natural route. First I planted an heirloom garden, next I made my own laundry detergent, cook from scratch everything organic, make my own deodorant, bar soap and the list goes on and on.. After hearing by the time you leave your bathroom, you have been exposed to over 200 chemicals. ( I guess the shampoo, conditioner, body soap and tooth past count for most of the chemicals.) I decided I would like to cut them down to as little as possible. But the one thing that surprised me was the amount of work involved. At my age, I get tired(but in a good way) I am always looking to learn more and more and I hope we travel this road together along with many more. Good luck in S.C.
Hi Nadine,
I look forward to traveling this road with you! It is VERY shocking, to say the least, how many chemicals we are exposed to every single day. You are so awesome for taking the time to make your own items to avoid the chemicals. It is A LOT of work, but well worth it, in my opinion. So happy for you!
Jen
Love following along with your journey! It’s been such a pleasure getting to know you.
Excited to find your site/blot/FB page)Lost both parents to cancer….and hubby and I have also watched many of the netflix documentaries you list above. Unreal when you see those! We moved from Indy to southern MO and also slowed things down tremendously! 10 acres….goats…sheep…chickens…turkeys ….quail….and of course the 4 dogs and 4 cats our son has brought home over the years! Garden…greenhouse ….and ha e dabbled with making biodiesel. Looking forward to sharing and learning from your experiences!! Kristy
So sorry for your losses. The stuff in our “food” is unreal and disgusting. It sound like y’all are on the right track. So excited for you!
Hi Jen!
I just recently found your site and am so excited to join you on your journey of happy kids, happy parents, and healthy family! 🙂 My family and I recently (4 years ago :)) moved to 34 acres from a quarter acre lot in the city to start our natural food farm. Watching Food Inc. and learning about Joel Salatin was the way God used to open our eyes to the way we could live, eat and make an impact for good on our community. Continue to let your light shine!
Blessings,
Maria
Maria! The kids and I just took a peek at your site and blog (including watching the calf be born). Beautiful! Thanks so much for leaving a comment so I could find you. Your family is such an inspiration to us. What a great story for you to share. We, too, love Joel Salatin. Since we just moved, and are in the process of setting up our farm, he is a major inspiration to us as well. This whole ‘setting up a farm thing’ to provide real food to our local community is overwhelming! Especially for someone like me who wants to get everything done at once (although we know that isn’t physically or financially possible). Don’t be surprised if we email you with some- I mean like 1,000 questions! ;). Love your web design too.
Jen
Thank you for your kind words about our farm and website! I’d be happy to answer any questions you have, though I definitely feel very inadequate as we’ve only been farming for a few years. The internet is my best friend when it comes to learning and answering my farming questions! 🙂 Keep in touch!
Maria
Hi!!
I am looking to move away from the processed foods and love reading the information you have posted!
Also, I long to have chickens and start a small homestead (we live in a neighborhood as we aren’t able to afford land right now) but I have such a hard time gardening!!! I plant and only get sporadic growth! I make my own laundry detergent and want to start replacing more of our regular go to items with natural homemade products!
I just started using essential oils and love them!!
I think my biggest obstacle is cooking for a family of 6. I guess one thing at a time? Lol
Thanks again for your blog!!
Hey Lauren! I have a black thumb- no joke. And I get where you are coming from because I am cooking for a family of five. Needless to say, it isn’t easy. I often have to remind myself to take it one step at a time too. Thanks for stopping by!
Jen
I am so encouraged reading your blog – just beautiful!
We have been homesteading for many years, but only in the last (I don’t know, 6 or 7 maybe 8 -yikes! ?) have we become serious about what we’re doing, what we’re eating and what goes into that beautiful rich soil that we have been gifted with – living in the Pacific Northwest! It’s a lot of work, but I wouldn’t trade it – we are indeed blessed.
Really looking into devouring this blog! ;o)
Blessings on you and your homesteading journey,
Kristy
Just found your site from Kendra at Newlifeonahomestead.com. Love it! I am slowly transforming my 0.88 acre “homestead” in a country development to one that will supply most of our veggies and food. We’ve only been here a year and are just starting, thanks to grad school. But now that it is done, I hope to get it moving along. Although no one in my immediate family has died from cancer, I have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 5. It is slowly progressing now too. My son was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease of the kidneys 4.5 years ago. With changing our diets, we have done so much better! I used to dream about having acres and acres to homestead on, but with the RA, it just isnt feasible for us. I hope to become more like the family in Pasadena, California who homestead on their 10th of an acre plot!