Homemaking, Homesteading, Hope
Welcome to The Learning Life! My name is Sierra Bush. I’m a Christian, wife, and mother to two beautiful children. My husband and I have always dreamed of owning land and raising our food, but we always thought we would have to actually have more than 5 acres of land to make that happen.
While we wait to find that perfect piece of property, we are taking the homesteading and homemaking skills we have refined since 2017 and putting them to use! Follow along as we raise meat and egg chickens, manage a home, and run our urban homestead.
How it all began
When we became a family of three, we realized something – a homestead would help us teach our children a lot of what, well, means a lot to us! Patience. Dedication. Hard work. Peace.
Dirt under your fingernails is just as therapeutic as a spa day – even more so – when it’s yielding your own farm-fresh eggs or produce.
And that’s how The Learning Life was born.
We want to spend life learning the skills that have fallen to the wayside with the rise of industrial farming, online shopping, and reliance on convenience. Not that any of those are bad. But they aren’t sustainable, either.
So welcome! These are the skills we’ve refined in our own backyard (literally – we live on half an acre of land). I hope you’ll join me in the trials, successes, and all-around fun that comes with learning more about homemaking, homesteading, and hope.
My history
Would you believe that I wasn’t raised with any of these skills? I’m 100 percent self-taught. I was raised with an understanding of where food came from, but I never understood how the simplest choice and a little bit of work could change your entire relationship with food.
My husband, on the other hand…
My husband was raised on an industrial turkey farm, where he also raised his own beef. He is a descendant of avid gardeners who spent many summers in hot, stuffy kitchens making sure there would be enough pickles or frozen squash to last the winter.
As I ventured out on my own and got married, I realized I wanted to have a better connection with food. It started to feel weird buying South American blueberries from the grocery store when I live 30 minutes away from two, huge blueberry farms in my area. I started to think it was odd that I was buying strawberry jam when I knew every farmer’s market in my area had them for sale during the summer. All I had to do was add some sugar and mash some berries to get the same product (with a few extra steps, of course).
As the snowball continues, we have almost exclusively eliminated our need for a conventional grocery store. I am a proud supporter of mom-and-pop shops in my small town. I buy my beef and pork from Arkansas farmers. And today, we are celebrating other small wins. I have now successfully raised all of my own pumpkins and almost all of my own eggs. As we grow, we will add on baking all of our bread products, meat birds, and more. All while supporting local farmers.
Now don’t get me wrong – I still take advantage of modern-day conveniences. I still partake in internet shopping and occasionally swing through the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant.
But the needle is leaning. And that’s always the goal – eliminate those too-good-to-be-true conveniences entirely.
It’s a bit overwhelming to look back on the moves we’ve made to inch away from conventional living. But it’s simultaneously exciting to know we’re making changes that are better for our family and getting back to doing things the way God intended them.
Eating our first meat birds we raised on our urban homestead! October 2023
If all that resonates with you…
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Featured Posts
12 Tips for how to Safely Transport Chickens
Free Images – “Be Still and Know that I Am God”
How to Make Healthy, Affordable Kitchen Swaps
Are you a beginning homesteader and just don’t know where to start?
You need my ebook! “Making a Micro Homestead – a City Slicker’s Guide to Getting Started” was made with YOU in mind!
When you’re bit by the bug, it’s hard to focus on one growth point on your homestead. Chickens can create great manure, which creates great soil for a garden, but raised beds are easier, but – AHHH!
Instead of ripping your hair out trying to come up with a plan, use my growth guides to help you focus on what areas you truly want to grow. Need help figuring those out? I have a whole section dedicated to helping you find your homestead community. With this list? You’re sure to find a mentor in your area who can help you further nail down some direction.
And when it still gets to be overwhelming (because it will) follow my tips to avoid burnout.
Or are you a homemaking mama who needs a bit of inspiration?
Than my Seasonal Homemaking Ebook is for you. Equipped with 350 homemaking activities, customizable check lists, and a bucket list for each season, you will walk away with fresh ideas and inspiration!
When I became a mother, everything about my homemaking changed.
My house was a wreck. I was struggling to find rhythms that worked for my family. And what’s worst? I forget how to have fun!
This ebook bridges both of those gaps. It gives you the ideas you need to both tackle seasonal tasks and have fun with your family.
Don’t do what I did and let everything overwhelm you. Snag this ebook and rejoice in the season you’re in!
For more homemaking encouragement, check out my homemaking blog posts!
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