Have you ever felt called to do something a little different, or be a little different than everyone else?
We had been feeling a growing call to live a more natural life, more connected with the natural world. We wanted to raise our family together and fully present, rooted in natural principles. Focus on what is real and essential.
In September 2019 we established a 3 year plan to leave our conventional house in conventional suburbia, to our own land to build an off grid homestead. In August 2020 we attended a 2-week Permaculture Design Course, camping in a tent with our 4 month old (our older kids got to hang out with grandparents) in Southern Utah. In October 2020 we sold our house, bought a travel trailer, and moved ourselves and our 3 little ones onto our 2-acre lot in an organic homesteading land co-operative in Utah's West Desert called Operation Self-Reliance Utah Land Co-Op at Riverbed Ranch.
This is a picture of our family at a family reunion. Our kids have super cute faces and smiles, but we choose to keep them off social media.
Mike is a web developer and has been working hard to build our post-and-beam straw bale house, and infrastructure like our water systems and hightunnels. Sarah was a chemical engineer specializing in material and process development for 6 years, until she left her corporate job to be home with her (then only 1) baby and to heal from chronic concerns exacerbated by a car accident.
We have been building a homestead from nothing but dirt and tumbleweeds, and whatever materials we bring here. As permaculture designers, we are constantly experimenting and watching for nature to teach us true principles, as we grow soil, food, micro-climates, and habitat. More and more of the herbs in our products come from our own beyond-organic farm! This is why we call our home a homestead and a farmstead interchangeably - a farmstead is a homestead that sells farm products.
We have named our farmstead A Place to Come To in reference to Wendell Berry’s writings on how the family farm has become a place to leave rather than a place to come to. We seek to reverse this in our family’s life, and make our life a symbol of the "Hope that is within us" (1 Peter 3:15). We believe that nature connects us to God, and that by working to heal the soil on our land we are doing God's work (with a whole lot of personal spiritual refining!).
There really was nothing here...
Here's a picture from late winter of 2021, when Mike put the baby in a carrier on his back and we set out to measure the contours of our land and design our farm! When we got here, the only feature on our land (besides dried out dead grasses and a few tumbleweeds) was a shallow ditch that crossed diagonally. We've used that ditch as a plant nursery since it naturally shelters what is in it and collects rain and debris that becomes mulch. This is just one example of how we have used Permaculture (aka Permanent Agriculture, a type of sustainable growing which includes principles for how we operate as a business and conduct our lives as humans interacting with the Earth).
We both have a passion for discovering what is true, for the creative but simple solution to any question, and for celebrating the life and beautiful surroundings and friendships that God has given us opportunity to enjoy.
Sarah REALLY loves growing all the things. And creating all the things.
When Sarah was T-boned on her way home from work one day, she was forced to procrastinate her journey to better health no longer. As she searched for ways to support her body in healing, the natural health world opened up to her. We made a lot of changes about what we put into our bodies, onto our bodies, and around our bodies. She discovered she was sensitive to chemicals and fragrances. Just walking through the grocery store would give her a migraine.
We cleaned up our home, bath, and skin care products and started making our own. Back then, you just couldn't find ANY chemical-free products in the grocery store. And Amazon wasn't pervasive yet. In December of 2019 Sarah started offering her favorite homemade products to friends and family as Christmas presents, and there was so much excitement over them that she opened an Etsy shop! Fast forward to January of 2023, and we are BEYOND EXCITED to launch HerbalEmbrace.com !
Sarah has a special affinity for medicinal herbs and will be a Master Herbalist by June 2023. She lights up finding new ways to incorporate botanicals into skincare, body care, diet, and even art and can’t wait to share all of her ideas with you.
Here's a few more fun pictures around the farm!
Calendula Officinalis is the first flower we planted on the farm. For our first Spring (2021) I struggled and struggled to get it to germinate. Then late summer happened, and the calendula patch (which I originally planted to deter aphids from the tomatoes) exploded with beauty and color! These calendula bloomed all winter in the hightunnel that year and became my symbol for hope on our homestead. I've never been a yellow or orange person as far as color preferences, but something about this incredible golden-petaled plant just keeps calling to me and keeping me going through the hard days.
Our second growing year, 2022, saw the proliferation of the amazing Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow). This incredible healing herb will make its way into our product lines in 2023.
In the fall of 2021 we planted petunias, and the violets I had given up on after planting in Spring suddenly appeared! They both survived through the winter and came back in the Spring of 2022 to bloom through summertime. These delicate flowers are edible and medicinal. I love to toss them onto salads. Hopefully you'll start to see these botanical beauties in our products soon!
We are dedicated to promoting Regenerative Agriculture and Permaculture principles, empowering others to learn how to use medicinal plants to build a regenerative life, delivering products that WORK without compromising on ingredients, and seeking the most eco-friendly packaging that safely delivers the product to you.
Be sure to check out the Blog for more on how clean skin care, indoor air quality, daily consumption of herbal teas, and slowing down to be more observant of and harmonious with yourself and the natural world around you are part of a Regenerative Lifestyle that can be yours, too! (also, we dare you to say that last sentence 10 times fast...)
We hope you stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram throughout our farmsteading journey. And, we invite you to be well and find the joy!
