Melissa K. Norris
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A woman standing beside a chicken coop with a basket full of fresh eggs.

Living Homegrown
& Handmade

Simple Modern Homesteading for a Healthy & Self-Sufficient Life


Howdy, I’m Melissa.

Welcome to My Homestead.

I’m just a plain country girl who loves playing in the dirt, stuffing food into Mason jars (after I wash my hands of course), and hunting down as many traditional old-fashioned skills as I can to put into use on our homestead.

We live on 14.96 acres in the foothills of the North Cascade mountain range of Washington state. We raise 100% of our own meat from our organic grass fed beef (holler to the sturdy white faced brown Herefords), a flock of hens for fresh eggs, meat chickens we butcher ourselves, and organic pork (cuz you haven’t eaten bacon until you’ve had home grown).

More About Melissa

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Get the best homesteading resources & tips

Book cover for Everything Worth Preserving

Preserve Food for a Healthy Well-Stocked Pantry & Peace of Mind

Discover the 9 home food preservation methods to safely store delicious food for year-round eating with Melissa’s step-by-step tutorials, recipes, and easy-to-use charts.

GET THE Recipes & BOOK NOW

Listen to the Top-Ranked Modern Homesteading Podcast-Pioneering Today

Learn the best tips and tricks from growing a homestead garden, preserving the harvest, raising your own livestock, creating a homestead kitchen, and building a natural medicine cabinet from Melissa, a 5th generation homesteader, and other homesteading experts living this lifestyle.

Check Out The Episodes

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The latest podcast

How to Design a Medicinal Cottage Garden

Episode #404

What is an Adaptogen (+ Adaptogen Herbs)

Episode #403

Foraging for Wild Medicinal Herbs

Homestead & Old-Fashioned Living Articles

A bottle of Fairchild's apple cider vinegar on a kitchen counter.

39 Apple Cider Vinegar Uses

A woman crouching in a medicinal herb next to yarrow and chamomile.

Medicinal Herb Garden (Planning and Growing)

A jar of herbal capsules on a wooden counter.

Herbal Stress Relief Capsules (Natural Remedy)

A woman dipping her finger into homemade healing salve.

Herbal Wound Healing Salve Recipe

Two bottles of essential oils with fresh lavender.

Safety of Essential Oils – What You Need to Know

Cows on pasture.

Pros and Cons of Raising Your Own Grass-Fed Beef

YouTube videos

We covered 1/2 the garden in wood chips | One Year Later | Did it IMPROVE the Soil?

We covered 1/2 the garden in wood chips | One Year Later | Did it IMPROVE the Soil?

Self-Sufficiency Tips from the Great Depression | What My Grandparents Raised

Self-Sufficiency Tips from the Great Depression | What My Grandparents Raised

She DOUBLED the Vegetable Harvest by doing this ONE Thing | Summer Garden Tour

She DOUBLED the Vegetable Harvest by doing this ONE Thing | Summer Garden Tour

How Much to Plant Per Person for a Year's Worth of Food

How Much to Plant Per Person for a Year's Worth of Food

Garden Tour (This FEEDS a Family of 4 for a Year)

Garden Tour (This FEEDS a Family of 4 for a Year)

14 Vegetables to Plant NOW for Fall Harvest [Fall Gardening]

14 Vegetables to Plant NOW for Fall Harvest [Fall Gardening]

See More Videos
Melissa K. Norris

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Articles

  • Gardening
  • Homesteading
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • DIY

Podcast

  • How to Design a Medicinal Cottage Garden
  • What is an Adaptogen (+ Adaptogen Herbs)
  • Foraging for Wild Medicinal Herbs
  • Natural Insect Repellent (Do They Work + Recipe)
  • Bridging Heritage and Health: Hunting 101

Books

  • Everything Worth Preserving
  • The Family Garden Planner
  • Hand Made
  • The Made From Scratch Life

Education

  • Organic Gardening Workshop
  • Home Fruit Preservative Canning e-course
  • Home Canning With Confidence
  • Homemade Bread & Baking Class
  • Natural Homemade Bath and Beauty
  • Pioneering Today Academy


Copyright 2023 - Melissa K. Norris Pioneering Today LLC

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