The prairie homestead

To many folks, it might seem that we’re living the dream. We have the land…. the cows… the garden. And we’re entrepreneurs, which means Christian and I no longer have to drive to town and work for someone else. Which means we basically just frolic outside all day long with the chickens and pick flowers, […]

The most versatile dough recipe you'll ever find!

Mocha Landing Page

Once upon a time, there was a house. A little prairie house. It was born in 1918, a homesteader’s dream, built to shelter a growing family from the harsh conditions of the high plains. It’s seen a lot in the past 98 years. Lightning strikes. Blinding snowstorms. Rattlesnake infestations. A shop fire. Tornadoes. The Blizzard of ’49. […]

Everyone assumes we must hate our brutal Wyoming winters. But I don’t. (Well, not most of the time at least.) Starting in October, I implement our winter evening ritual, which makes me ridiculously happy and makes these long, dark winters much more tolerable–especially on the evenings when the wind howls and the snow hits the windows […]

“Anyone who thinks gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year; for gardening begins in January with the dream.” –Josephine Nuese As I type this, we are in the midst of a good old-fashioned Wyoming ground blizzard, complete with road closures, snow sand-blasting your […]

I was a bored, pregnant newlywed 40 miles from civilization with not enough money to drive to activities in town. That’s how it all started. Not the most epic beginning to this story, I know… Basically, the garden and kitchen projects gave me a way to pass the time without feeling like a total loser. […]

How We Homestead on One Income (Part Two) • The Prairie Homestead

Teflon, silicone, and random plastic-y kitchen gadgets… They do nothing for me… Nothin’. Give me a good cast iron skillet and a wooden spoon and I’ll be one happy gal. Lately, I’ve been hunting antique stores when I’m in need of new kitchen tools. Potato mashers with worn wooden handles, tarnished silver serving spoons, vintage […]

Not everything in life needs to be HARD to be rewarding. Here's my thoughts on how I'm letting my garden be easy this year and how it will make gardening better and probably more successful.

Prairie Homestead, near Badlands National Park in South Dakota, is home to an original, intact sod house and an entire colony of rare white prairie dogs

I don’t know why homesteading makes me so impulsive… Whether we’re talking about my propensity to impulse-buy farm animals, or my tendency to fire up a canning project in the middle of a busy morning when I have no business standing there peeling peaches, I guess I just have to blame it on my […]

Preserving the Harvest Archives • The Prairie Homestead

It was the mystery of the missing pig fat… That almost sounds like it could go with a Nancy Drew novel, huh? Our first home butchering experience was last year when we cut up our steer. (If you are curious about the emotional aspect of butchering one of your own animals, you’ll find this post interesting.) […]

I had a rather stunning revelation the other day. I realized that I can’t do it all. For real. And to be honest, I don’t really like saying that out loud…. But it’s true. It was during a moment of stressful frustration the other day that a lightbulb came on. I mean, yeah, we all […]

Homemade Mouthwash Recipe. 1 cup of water (filtered is best) 1 tablespoon alcohol-free witch hazel (where to buy) 1 teaspoon fractionated coconut oil 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda 12 drops of essential oils* Mason jar for storage

How to equip your homestead kitchen - the essentials for a homesteading kitchen.

(This post contains affiliate links) Ever had raw milk that tastes, well… a little “off”? If you have your own dairy animals, or purchase fresh milk from local farmers, it’s likely you’ve run into a gallon or two that tastes a little different than what you were expecting. There are many factors that may play a […]

Ever wondered what you might be able to glean from the Little House books as an adult? This series is an in-depth look at some key passages in this book.