A Fresh Start, A Free Voice, A New Woman

Why 15+ years of blogging is ending and how this sub stack might save a farm.

Welcome to the Farm

Taken by the amazing Dona McAdams

I've been writing about my life publicly for over 15 years, a journey some of you have followed since the beginning. Over those years, my books and my blog have been the source of amazing community, friendship, and a shared love of living simply. I made my mark sharing the exuberance and passion I had for homesteading and the dream of owning my own farm. I was able to publish my first farm book at 25, buy a farm five years later (2010), and started self-employment as an author/designer/farmer in 2012. Ever since it’s been a struggle of hope and force.

But after nearly two decades of sharing my life story on various platforms, I am making the decision to no longer do the thing I’m best at for free, and here’s why:

Why this, why now

I decided for my own passion and peace, I am no longer writing publicly.

Making a living as a single farmer has never been harder. And while I am constantly on social media advertising my farm’s offerings; sales have never been rarer to come by. I want to spend less time on apps, and more time outside. I want to write without every post being about how hard it is to just barely scrape by. I’m so tired of it, and I am sure you are too. I need to find a way to make a living writing again. And I want to write without fear.

I realized the most valuable thing I have to offer isn’t pork or goats milk soap, it’s my writing and always has been. My story has always been the most valuable thing about me and I always gave it away for free. I decided today, I would no longer do that. The price I pay is too high, and the product is too good.

Sharing the intimate details of your life, everything from dating and finances to how a recovering lamb is dealing with parasites - that kind of vulnerability comes with a cost. For me (and all people choosing to make themselves public figures) that meant inviting critics and stalkers and I always chalked it up to being the cost of doing business. If you’re going to publish 4 memoirs before you’re thirty, buy a farm alone as a woman, and then try to make a living doing what you want publicly, people are going to despise you as much as be inspired by you. Trust me on this, (and more on that in the next weeks, subscribers…)

I want to write like I did back in the beginning, back when I wasn't scared to post pictures of a sick animal or share the details of how to butcher chickens. I want to write about my family, my childhood, romance, politics, music, and hope. I want to write about homesteading and the influencers and people in that scene, both to be a little snarky and also to share the joy of other women trying to make it.

Folks, I want to write without fear. The only way I know I can do this is to know people reading what I write are those willing to pay for it, assign their real name and address to substack, and be accountable for who they are.

If you want to hate my guts and bother me, then you gotta ante up now, baby.

Posting Schedule, Comments, & Community

This substack will be updated a minimum of three times a week. That means for an $8 subscription the most you will pay, per essay, is $1.50. And that price goes down with every additional post, and if I feel there is energy and love for the farm and my animals again, holy crow will I ever be posting a lot. And even if life gets busy and I only retain my 3 posts a week, I truly believe what I write is worth $1.50 (which doesn’t even buy you a 20oz soda anymore…)

The comments will be alive again and community invited back to share vocally in my thoughts and adventures. I will be posting images and sharing stories I will not share on social media, or on my website.

This will be a fresh start, and hopefully, a chance to feel like a beginner again, just excited as hell about sharing the personalities and stories behind the animals on this farm, the goals, the work, the struggle, and the hope. If I know it’s behind a paywall I feel more free to share my life like I did before anxiety and trolls took that from all of us.

It starts today. Sign up to learn about lesbian dating, spring lambing plans, and musings on working-class falconry, and that’s just before Monday.

A Leap of Faith

I’m well aware that after such a long time of sharing my story for free, many people will choose to not subscribe. This is a leap of faith, to see what my words are worth and if people are even interested in the life of a 41-year-old feral woman without a partner, kids, and a penchant for mounted falconry and fly fishing. My goal is to write so good, so juicy, so passionately you can wring the sweat out of your iPad. That you can’t wait for my next post. That you also want to feel that life is still full of possibilities and hope and romance and hikes to mountain summits and equal rights for all.

If you want to ride along, here’s how:

---