Hi, I’m Cris…

…and welcome to The Homestead Garden! <3 

You visited my ‘About Me’ page to learn a bit about me. So here I go.

The super short version: my desire in life is to find joy and knowledge in the land.

Brief Bio:

The short version: I’ve had a passion for nature and the great outdoors as long as I can remember. I helped create a garden with my mom growing up, and the love for growing things has stuck with me through time. I’m an odd mixture of part wandering-soul and part homesteading-put-down-roots. 

What does this mean for The Homestead Garden? It means that I’ve lived in different garden zones, so I can write about how to grow things in the frigid north and the humid south. It also means that I’ve lived in different gardening situations: apartments, rv trailers, suburbs, city, countryside, etc.

In addition to my wanderings and my passion for growing things, I have a research-focused intellect and a desire for independent self-sufficiency. Naturally, these things have combined in a way that has led me to loving natural remedies, from-scratch real food recipes, raising livestock, and homemade cleaning and beauty products.

You can expect positive articles from me on all of these topics:

• Gardening: (permaculture, organic gardening tips, growing both unique and ordinary plants)
• Natural Remedies: (how to grow and use herbs for health, fermented foods, etc.)
• Homesteading (raising small livestock, DIY projects)
• Recipes: (real food recipes, using spices in recipes, beauty recipes, etc.)

Longer Ramblings About Me:

• I am happily married to my main squeeze, Paul, who was one of my closest friends in high school. We started dating in our freshman year of college and we got married while still in college. 
• We have a beloved dog named Achilles. If I had my way, we would own at LEAST 3 dogs. I love dogs very much. My level-headed hubby always reminds me that my wandering-soul-ways wouldn’t be possible if we owned MORE dogs, and so far his logic has kept me happy with one dog. So far…. 😉
• I am a big fan of the Myer-Briggs stuff, as I fit into the INFJ personality description almost perfectly. I am also a HSP (highly sensitive person). Look up both of those things, and you will know me pretty well.
• I am a bit of a hermit, and I find my happiness and joy in privacy while in nature. My garden is my private sanctuary, where I recover from social activities and find my balance.
• If I’m not in my garden, you will find me fishing with my hubby or hiking in the mountains and/or forest. Fresh water, mountains, and forests also ground me and bring me joy.
• Some extra randoms: I am left handed; I love to laugh; I love playing music; I love singing; I love doing crafty stuff like knitting, sewing, etc.; I love God; I believe in fairies and magic; I have a passion for healing my loved ones; I am full of empathy and compassion; I am very non-traditional about…almost everything; I am obsessed with the color blue; I love grapefruit; I love flannel shirts; and I love to dance.

I started this website in order to catalog my findings, discoveries, information, and adventures. First, I made this website for myself. It makes it easy for me to read and reread the information that I have researched from books, magazines, and various websites. Second, I made this website for others. If anyone else has been frustrated by the lack of thorough information on growing, harvesting, and using all sorts of plants like I have been, then hopefully you will find that information here. If you still find something lacking here, please let me know! I love researching and learning about new plants and I would love to expand on this website!