green calendula homestead

I first became fascinated with herbs, herbal remedies, alternative beauty, etc. when I was 9 years old. I wish I had been encouraged to record my ideas, concoctions, and finding back then. Imagine the knowledge I'd have accumulated in close to 30 years! My grandmother had a book of herbal skincare by Margaret Roberts, a very well-known South African herbalist, that I would page through over and over again whenever we visited. She eventually gave me the book because of my love for it. A few years later at age around 16, I met Margaret Roberts at a health and wellness event. I was the youngest person there by 30+ years! I got that book signed, she inscribed it "May your interest in herbs grow and grow, may you always find pleasure in using them." and it certainly has, to the point of obsession! Margaret Roberts started her garden journal at age 7 in a school notebook and went on to write many many books. She passed away in 2017 at the age of 80, having kept records fo...

When I was around 6 years old I declared that I wanted to be a farmer's wife one day. Fast forward 22 years and I sort of did become a farmer's wife. While my husband isn't a farmer in the traditional sense ( he's in IT)He does work from home and we do live on a 4.6 acre homestead. We also have a menagerie of animals ranging from dogs and cats to goats, ducks, geese, chickens, a pony. And lastly a peahen who has adopted us. Above: From the very first viewing of our house Shortly after my husband I were engaged back in 2012 we started house hunting, the more we looked at houses in the suburban areas the less we felt that, that was the lifestyle we wanted for our future children. We didn't want postage stamp sized gardens, we didn't want to hear what our neighbours were watching on tv or hear them blow drying their hairWe did want space to grow our own veggies, have a flock of chickens and some privacy and quieter living conditions.We started looking at hous...