Living on a homestead or farm means you’re probably self-sufficient or working toward that end. Making sure you have the space and capability to achieve everything on your property that you want to achieve might mean you have to clear some trees or other vegetation to make more room. Clearing land can create more space […]

Setting Up Quickbooks Excerpted from The Farmer’s Office by Julia Shanks The Initial Setup When you first open up QuickBooks, you will want to Create a New Company and select Advanced Setup. QB will guide you through an interview process. Following are the questions QB asks, with my suggestions on how to answer (and set your preferences). You may […]

Dos and Don’ts of Presenting to Investors Excerpted from The Farmer’s Office by Julia Shanks • Do explain your business concept clearly in one to three sentences. Don’t run on and on. Readers of your business plan want to be able to quickly capture the essence of your business. The more concise your words, the better. • […]

This week marks 6 months that I’ve been making a living full time from our little piece of heaven in the forest. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it was a long held dream of mine to bring my work home and spend more time with my son. Of course, as is so often the case, dreams have a […]

This is always a busy time on our farm. The garden is at peak production and I try to preserve any produce left over at the end of our market days. On days the stand isn’t open, I’m usually found in our processing kitchen making jams, salsas, pickles, and more. There are also plenty of […]

Naming your business entity is a very important step. You’ll want to choose a name that reflects your mission and brand identity. Avoid names that are long and confusing.  Sit down and give yourself a brainstorming session. Come up with a whole list of names that could easily represent your new business and try them […]

The street where I live is probably familiar to most people: rows of well-kept houses, manicured lawns, and pretty trees. While this may be an attractive picture to some, the only thing these yards produce is work for the homeowner, without much return. From my front yard, my house appears to be, more or less, […]

You’ve already spent time growing your own food and raising animals. You did it in your spare time, perhaps when you got home from a full-time job at the office, but it’s something you enjoy and are good at. Now, you’ve grown enough food to sustain you and your family, and you’re getting to the […]

Over the past 15 years, my husband and I have shifted from working entirely outside the home to creating and building homestead-based businesses that allow us to balance work, family time, and homestead life. My husband Brian is an artist blacksmith who makes items of function and beauty to sell both locally and virtually on […]