Starting from a dream of homesteading, our family moved to Northwest Iowa in 1999.  It had seemed very slow, but our goals were being met day by day.  Our animal family consisted of goats for milk, meat, and fun; Holstein bottle calves for meat; sheep for meat and wool; rabbits for meat; chickens for meat and eggs; an alpaca for fiber; ducks for fly control and meat, hogs for meat and lard, beehives for honey and help with pollination; and a garden of various produce. We also include the “mostly useless” but lovable and fuzzy, living doorbell dog named Morgan. and our livestock guard dog, Avalanche.

In August of 2006 our lives changed dramatically when we made the move to South East Iowa. After a year and a few months we purchased 15 acres with a ranch-style home, several outbuildings and a pond.  In late March, 2008 we moved the last of our animals over to begin again.  Some of the livestock had been sold, but we still had the burro, two original goat doelings and one kid from last spring, three bucks, a male and female alpaca, one ewe, the dogs, and the beehives. We were recently adopted by three cats who are keeping clear of the dogs and earning their keep catching the mice that play havoc with grain and hay.  We will not get rabbits again as they turned out to be more work than they returned for us.  We are nearly ready to bring the chickens back, add Muscovy ducks, and return to our practice of raising small numbers of calves (we have one beef calf right now) and hogs again.  I am looking at inter-breeding sheep and have a down payment on an Icelandic ram to breed to our Suffolk ewe. The thought is a hybrid for meat and wool - and the ram himself should have lovely wool for spinning.

Sean spent many after-work hours building six hexagon raised gardens for three-sisters (corn, squash and beans) as well as putting our kitchen garden together again for salad greens. Well worth the efforts, these gardens will produce much of our fresh greens and vegetables for the summer and fall. Yet another raised bed is in process to provide for the tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and onions for next year. While we had hoped to get that one completed this spring as well, there simply isn’t enough time in the day when both of us work full-time jobs during the week.

My friends tease me that I have too many hobbies, but I disagree - NO ONE can have too many! From spinning, dyeing, and crocheting to cooking, making cheese, and soaps and lotions, I am kept very busy year round! I will be adding a few new items to the list in the coming months, including hand-dipped candles and hand-bound leather and parchment books.

From my home to yours, I hope that you find something enjoyable in these pages!

This web site owned and maintained by Sarah and Sean Johnson.  If you have any questions regarding this site, please feel free to contact us!