Project Zenstead is Now Rooted Revival!

I am excited to announce that some changes are happening on the blog! These changes will make the blog more useful and applicable for you as you build and grow your garden and homestead!

A little background…

As a wise man (Tracy Byrd) once said, “the only thing that stays the same is everything changes”. If you are a classic country music fan, hopefully that song is now stuck in your head. You’re welcome. 

Songs aside though, life is constantly changing. But there has been one constant in my life since I was a small child: I have always wanted to do something (anything!) that helps people and that helps the earth. 

When I was in college, I had a very hard time deciding on a field of study. I bounced back and forth between psychology, health promotion, early childhood education and veterinary science. I felt lost. I felt like I couldn’t find my “thing”. And that feeling didn’t change throughout my career life in my 20’s and into my early 30’s.

Each time that I have tried to seriously think about what I want to do with my life, there was only one answer that was continually whispered by my soul and my mind: “to help”. But how could I help people when I couldn’t even find a proper career?

We are all designed to do something. It’s in us from the time we are born. There’s a reason I grew up as a wild-haired child with dirty hands and bruised knees. A reason that I have always felt deeply connected to animals and nature. And a reason that I have always loved education and spreading knowledge to whomever will listen. 

We are all uniquely suited to do something very special. However, it doesn’t always look like what you (or society) thinks it will.

It wasn’t until just recently that I really began to understand this. I have something that I am uniquely suited to do that can help people and help the earth. I am a gardener and a homesteader. And I was made to share that knowledge and passion with others.

I believe that each and every person has a basic human right to full transparency about where and how their food was grown. And I believe that having access to healthy foods is also a basic human right. I believe that knowing how to grow your own food changes lives. I believe that learning how to care for our earth and our own bodies supports us mentally, emotionally, socially and physically. 

Growing food changes lives and it has the power to transform entire communities.

Over the past five years, I have immersed myself in learning how to live a more sustainable life. I’m still not an expert and I’m by no means “finished” with this journey. But I do feel like I am at the point where I can look back over my shoulder and start really helping those who aren’t as far down the road as I am. 

Now that I understand my purpose more clearly, I feel compelled to share it in a much more real and applicable way with those who want to learn.

Changes are coming to Project Zenstead!

Because of this shift, I’m making some exciting changes to this blog:

Change #1: Project Zenstead is now Rooted Revival

Starting in April, the name of this blog will change from Project Zenstead to Rooted Revival. 

When I started this blog, we had barely begun our journey into sustainably living and homesteading. We were “failing forward” and figuring out everything as we went. We called it a “Zenstead” because we didn’t even consider ourselves “real” homesteaders. Which I now realize how silly that was! And we called it a “project” because we weren’t sure what the outcome of all those life changes would be.

Now I know the outcome of that project! We are firmly rooted in living our lives in a way that supports ourselves and our earth. The new name, Rooted Revival, reflects that. 

I know that now, more than ever, we need a revival of the home garden and sustainable living practices. We need each and every person who is able to do something for themselves and their community – whether that is reducing their consumption, growing some plants on a balcony or starting a 50 acre permaculture farm.  

Rooted Revival is a way to reaffirm that we are firmly rooted in the practices of the past: growing our own food, using our resources wisely and doing our best to support ourselves and our community. It also reaffirms our commitment to share this passion with anyone who wants to learn. This is how we will start a revival of the home garden. 

Rooted Revival is a commitment to rooting ourselves in the practices of the past while caring for the earth, reconnecting with our true selves, and sharing our passion to create a revival of the home garden and homesteading lifestyle.

Change #2: More Educational & Applicable Content

The content that I publish on this site will largely remain the same but with some minor changes. You can still expect to see my raw truthfulness and bad puns show up on a regular basis. And I will still share our personal homestead progress – especially now as we start from scratch on our new property!

In the past, I only felt comfortable sharing some of my experiences because, in many ways, we were learning by failing. However, I now feel that I am finally at the point in my journey where I can begin to concisely and accurately share my knowledge in many areas including: seed starting, gardening techniques, animal management, food preservation, homestead design and homestead development.

Basically, this site is shifting to focus on YOU and your homestead journey! If you have the desire and passion to start gardening and homesteading, I will be here to help you! In order to do this, I plan to start writing posts that will be full of applicable information to help you as you build your garden and homestead!

Change #3: Garden & Homestead Coaching + Design Services are Coming!

I take homesteading and gardening seriously, because I know that it has the power to change lives, our community, and our earth for the better. 

As I work towards creating real change in the world and in my community, I know that I need to start treating this as a true profession. If I want there to be a revival of home gardeners and people growing their own food, I need to treat it as a career that is just as important as any other career. Like farming, gardening needs to return to being the respected profession that it is. 

And here’s the part that is most compelling to me: We can create a change in the world simply by being proud of what we were created to do! If I treat gardening, homesteading and family farming as a highly regarded profession, others will start to treat it that way too. And all of those little wild-haired and dirty-handed children (like I used to be) won’t have to feel lost about how to use their skills and passions simply because the world has told them that what they are skilled at isn’t a “true” profession.

In order to further my professionalism and to better support YOU (my faithful and long-suffering readers), I will be working towards receiving my Permaculture Design Certificate this spring. This will help further my knowledge of homestead and garden design techniques, so that I can better help you as well as those in my own community.

I will also begin offering garden and homestead coaching and design services. This will allow me to be able to provide one-on-one customized support to those who need and want it. My goal is to be able to help people overcome the overwhelm of starting a garden or homestead by designing a personalized and detailed roadmap that they can follow as they create a garden or homestead that fits their needs and desires. I am currently working on setting up my business models and testing them out on a few “guinea pig” clients. Hopefully, I will be ready to fully launch these services by mid-summer but I will keep you all posted.

Let’s Start a Revival!

I am truly excited for these new changes that are taking shape. I am excited to have a clear direction of how to use my skills and passion to help more people. I have worked very hard over the years to make this blog useful for you all and I know that these changes will only continue to improve it. 

You have all made it possible for me to share my knowledge and my passion by reading my words and sharing them. For that, I can’t thank you enough! During this exciting time of changes, please know that I am available to answer any questions that you might have. 

Let’s remember that all it takes to start a revival in our own homes, our communities and our world is to make one small change… and then another one… and another. Together, through small and big changes alike, we can create a revival. 

You CAN create the garden and homestead of your dreams. And I’m here to help you.