About LaRee’s Journey to Homesteading
Hi! I’m LaRee and I live with my husband Trent and our five kids on our 40 acre homestead in Nebraska. I’m a Nebraska native and I was blessed to grow up homesteading before it was a popular trend. When I was nine, my family purchased five acres in the country. We built a house where our only water source was a windmill and our only heat source was a woodstove. We raised big gardens, canned a lot of our own food, raised some bum lambs and calves, rode horses and enjoyed the blessings of country living. I was homeschooled through high school which allowed me to learn a lot of homesteading skills at an early age.
A business detour…
I spent some time in computer sales during my college years. I met a lot of wonderful people and enjoyed the travel and business very much, but I felt called to a more simple lifestyle. To stay home with my children, and teach them these skills became a priority to me. A lot of old fashioned skills have been lost, and I’m passionate about keeping those skills alive and teaching them to others.
A bit about my husband…
My husband was raised on a small dairy farm in Nebraska. As soon as he was old enough he started working as a ranch hand for many different ranches in the Nebraska Sandhills. His passion for being a cowboy and raising beef cattle started when his Grandpa gave him his first cow when he was eight years old. His dream has always been to own his own ranch, but ranches are expensive. So when we had the opportunity to homestead on a 40 acre piece of land in 2015, we took the chance. We were married on this property in 2011, never dreaming we would build our homestead here. When we started our homesteading journey, this property was bare ground. No electricity, water or buildings. We have built it from the ground up and learned a lot along the way.
Where we’re at in our journey…
I’m passionate about gardening, preserving all of our own food and cooking with sourdough. I milk 2 Jersey cows and make all of our own dairy products including hard cheese. We have an orchard, and also raise some grapes and other small fruit. We’re currently growing a market garden that’s over half an acre where we grow produce to sell in our local town. I also have a handmade soap and candle business, and make lots of bread to sell at market in the summertime.
Other things I enjoy include homeschooling my five children, teaching them to play music, and using natural remedies.
What you can expect to find on our blog…
I’m excited to share with you all the things I’ve learned over the years that help our family of seven to live simply, frugally and sustainably. To help connect the dots between growing food you will actually eat, preserving food, and cooking that same food so you can feed your family without depending on the grocery store.
My Philosophy….
Homesteading, to me, is more than just a lifestyle; it’s about reconnecting with nature, being self-reliant, and rediscovering the traditional skills that our fast-paced world often overlooks. There’s something satisfying about creating things with our hands and caring for the land and livestock as God intended us too..
From growing a vegetable garden and raising cattle to preserving food and milking cows, each post will be a chapter of my ongoing adventure, mixed in with a lifetime of homesteading experience. But this blog isn’t just about what I do; it’s about what we can learn together. It’s a space for sharing knowledge, inspiring each other, and building a community of like-minded individuals who share a passion for a simpler, more sustainable way of life.
So, whether you’re an experienced homesteader, an aspiring green thumb, or simply curious about this way of life, I invite you to join me on this journey. Let’s learn, grow, and thrive together in our pursuit of a more grounded and gratifying existence.
Welcome to my homesteading journey – where every day is an opportunity to cultivate happiness from the ground up.
