We are the Howe Family. We live in Northeastern Wyoming. We decided when we saw the things happening in our world that God was calling us into a different lifestyle. That lifestyle included going back to our roots and discovering the joy and nourishment in homesteading. We Knew that we needed a slower paced living that included fresh eggs, raw milk, from scratch meals, sourdough baking , and canning and preserving. Something that would not only affect our immediate family but something that would affect our local community too.

We knew our kids needed more than just the daily play time outside that they needed the way of life that was slower paced, the way of life that allowed them to thrive and learn. We knew that they needed to see their parents raise food and grow it so that they can learn live saving skills for their futures. A ministry for health and wellness not only for them but others who will benefit from the harvests.

So It all began with a HUGE dream… a dream to have food on our table that we knew where it came from and how it got there. We knew that doing this would take lots of land especially in the dry high desert of Wyoming. We knew that in 2021 finding cheap land was almost impossible. So, we decided to grow where God had planted us. Where was that you might ask?

Well, it was on a quarter acre piece of land that just had a trailer house on it. It had no garden and no chicken coop. NOTHING. We had to start from the ground up like most people trying to homestead. How could we really make it work with just a 1/4 acre? Lots of ways!

The kids would join us in every project. The best way to share these skills is including them.

We started with our garden and then our chicken coop. Because building materials are so expensive, we decided to go with cinderblock for our garden beds because its easy to move and it was cheaper than wood. We built nine 4’ x 6’ beds and a large potato bed. Then we used extra dirt that was piled on our property and put it in the beds after we built them (I’ll tell you why that was a bad Idea in another post later) and filled them with the layered method ( cardboard, leaves, dirt, compost).

Then we began to build our chicken coop so that our chicks could graduate from our master bathroom to the outdoors. We built a hoop coop from cow paneling, a tarp for the roof, wood on the ends to keep the elements out and they were ready to move in. We didn’t plan to make this a permanent place and because we plan to get more land once God makes that possible. So, making our garden and chicken coop portable was a huge must.

Then in April of 2022 we got an offer to purchase 2 dairy heifers (heifers are female cows that have not had any calves yet.) We decided to make the jump since we know our area has a huge need for raw dairy and we knew the benefits we were seeing in our own health. We ended up boarding them about a mile from our house where we go down each day and care for them. We have found that the health benefits of raw dairy out weigh the extra time spent going the mile one way to our cows. One of the cows did get bred and calved her first calf in December of 2022. Then the other heifer we had artificially inseminated for a calf in May of 2023. I will share more details in another post, but we learned a lot of lessons with the cow that calved in December and she ended up having to be put down due to health complications from an injury. So we have learned so many things along this journey and we are excited to share this journey or lessons learned with you.

Then, our first summer Marissa deicided to bake sourdough for our local farmers market and found it was such a huge success. Plus she also discovered her joy for baking sourdough for locals to enjoy. So, if you’re a new sourdough baking welcome and enjoy the sourdough discard recipes and sourdough tips. Or even check our her ebook in our store.

I will share more about the garden we built and the things we learned that first summer. There were lots to be honest! So keep an eye out on our blog for more updates or even sign up for our email list where you can get those updates right to your inbox.

Welcome to our blog where you will find lots in info on our journey, things we have learned, things we wish we didn’t do and yummy recipes you can use with your homemade sourdough. Because we’re happy you’re here and excited you get to be spectators to our new found lifestyle.

Our Homesteading dream: How it all began.

Easy and inexpensive Portable Garden Beds