Long before the current recession hit us all in the face my friend Chelsea and I were getting excited about learning to do things like can jam and make quilts.  We spent a lot of time together cooking and talking about projects we could do ourselves.  She lives up in the hills in a rustic house on acreage doing her laundry outside like a hillbilly.  I lived in town and got to do my laundry inside but was obsessed with growing as much of my own food as possible.

Together we learned a lot of new/old skills and at some point we got to talking about how so few people were learning to do the kinds of things we were learning to do from their own parents.  It used to be that you learned to can vegetables from your mom or your grandmother.  You learned to quilt from them as well.  They taught you how to mend clothes, darn socks, and cook a basic pie crust.  It occurred to us that all of these skills were still important and that someone needed to be teaching new generations how to do things like take care of their furniture and plan meals so that food isn’t wasted.  In fact, someone needs to teach everyone to do basic cooking.

We thought it would be great to start a finishing school for people interested in urban homesteading and everyone who’s interested in increasing the quality of their lives through mastering the home arts.  We had so much fun imagining ourselves as the head mistresses of the school and planning the curriculum.  Neither of us has any money to open an actual school but the desire to open such a school has never stopped exciting me.

What I finally realized is that with a website (or blog) I can do the next best thing: online courses!  With the use of photos, instructions, and even some video instruction, I feel that we can teach each other to do almost anything.  I am fortunate enough to know and be friends with nearly every kind of crafts person and I have solicited their help to provide useful information and instruction on all kinds of topics such as: raising chickens, growing herbs and vegetables, making your own medicines, sewing, and home economics.

My goal is that this become a great reference for urban homesteaders with only the highest quality information and writing.  Hopefully it will feel like a fresh, bright, and inspiring place to come.

I already have a lot of recipes to upload once they get finessed just a little so be patient as I begin to build the content up.  Come back often and feel free to make suggestions on the kind of content you most desire us to cover or questions you would like to have answered.

Please come and visit again!