Natural Living

Everyone knows how passionate I am about gardening and growing-your-own — but I am equally as passionate about keeping backyard hens. Growing up, I don’t think — no, I know — my parents never even considered raising chickens; therefore, everything I’ve learned about them has come from my own research and trial and error. Backyard hens have been …

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” I detest useless waste. It literally makes me crazy to think of spending money on something — usually out of convenience — knowing that the end result will be the trash. Paper towels, diapers, wipes, disposable anything, and yes even toilet paper…for nearly a year our family …

“I live in the garden; I just sleep in the house.” ~Jim Long I can think of only a few things more enjoyable than gardening. Even when I was a young child, I have memories of begging my Mom to buy me a few tomato plants and seeds! Outside in my little backyard garden — …

[T]he title of today’s piece was the first sentence in an email that I received earlier this week. It’s a phase that I screamed for years prior to taking the “Stay-at-Home Mom” plunge just nine months ago. As I began to formulate a response to this sweet Mother’s plea for help, I found myself re-living my …

[A]fter stripping away the excess and learning to embrace simple living, our family has successfully converted a super small suburban backyard into a year-round food producing machine — complete with raised beds, fruit trees, an edible landscape, and chickens. We have now begun to shift our focus toward energy elements and we’re learning to combat higher utility costs. …

[I] love making my own homemade cleaners — so much so I even wrote a book about it! Homemade cleaners are frugal, less toxic and the process of making them is oh so empowering. With only a few simple ingredients, I am able to clean every room in my house. I know as long as I have my own …