We’re GardenTrends, and we are excited to be working with Tara of She’s Rooted Home! We are the home-garden brand of Harris Seeds, which has been around since 1879. While Harris Seeds primarily sales to commercial growers, we wanted to take the same high-quality seed that farmers use and make it accessible to home gardeners.
While we gardeners may not be feeding the nation with our crops, we are feeding our families, friends, neighbors, and community. We are teaching our children and grandchildren about the value of hard work and where our food comes from. We’re spending our summer engaged with nature, tending to our garden, and reaping the benefits of a bountiful harvest. We’re getting back to the basics and appreciating the little things in life.
Roadside stands
If your a fan of Tara and She’s Rooted Home, we think we’ll be a great match for you too. We carry thousands of seed varieties, everything from beef stake tomatoes to edible flowers, as well as seed starting and gardening supplies.
Hi friends I’m Angelina and this is the story of how my husband Casey and I started our homesteading/business journey. It was in early 2011 that we bought our home and property. My husband and I always knew we wanted to live in the country and after buying our property our goal was to be self sufficient.
We started with a garden, neither of us being gardeners but we did have some family and close friends that were expert gardeners. It began with a few seed packets and gifted tomato starts and we were hooked on growing our own food. Each year I learned more and more and we expanded the garden and then bought chicks. I’m sure most of you know of chicken math which lead to more and more chicks. Once we started our family it was even more important because we wanted to teach our kids about growing and raising food.
With our jobs and new babies keeping us busy our homestead didn’t expand but our goals and dreams didn’t stop. We didn’t stop working on our land, we were getting log trucks of logs for firewood and would process 10 cords of wood every couple years. We also planted bare root trees for our mini orchard and did countless projects improving our homestead using free or cheap materials we’ve been given or found on Facebook/Craigslist.
Fast forward to 2016 when I was injured on the job which resulted in many back surgeries and me without a job. My husband and I had to come up with a plan B for how to compensate for the loss of my income. Since I LOVED starting vegetable plants and always too many we decided to try our hand at joining our local farmers market.
My husband found plans online from Ana White for a greenhouse and we built it to house my green babies. Some other items we sold was our garlic, jam that I had learned to can and some cute shiny metal creatures. You see my husband loves fabricating so he decided we should also offer some metal art. He used silverware to make garden art and I made wind chimes and other garden decor with old graters and a mixture of other metal items we had in the garage.
To our surprise customers were incredibly drawn to and loved our metal art. As a family we discussed our next move with our business and made the decision to invest in a plasma table and make metal decor that we were often on the hunt for during our treasure hunts at antique/thrift stores.
Our vision for our metal decor business has always been to create original designs to add charm to our customer’s home and to create custom signs that have an heirloom quality that will be enjoyed for many years. All four of us do a part in making our business and homestead run. I do a lot of the design work with some help from my husband because two brains are better than one. He’s also the muscle in the crew and runs the different programs it takes to get a design from computer screen to cut out.
In the garage we work side by side as I help clean up the sharp edges of the metal and I’m also the powder coating master. Our kids are always coming up with clever ways to help either brainstorming metal ideas, helping us set up for shows or helping us package up orders.
Our homestead is also a team effort because we are teaching our kids about hard work but also what goes into what we do. The kids love collecting eggs and packaging them up when we would sell them at the market. My son loves chatting with the hens and giving them treats from our table. Both kids have been playing in the dirt since they were in diapers and still help me plant seeds and water the green babies. They are constantly amazing me in how fast they learn and everything they want to be a part of.
Our business may appear to be only metal decor but we are much more than that. Our goal is to show others that homesteading has many faces and it can be done on any budget. We want to prove to those just starting out that there are many ways of getting projects done and most of them they can do themselves. Along with that we want to provide quality craftsman made metal to add beauty to your home.
We’re Chris and Cyndi Hileman, co-founders of The Growing Candle and business Hyggelight. Since the day we met we’ve been madly searching for a great business venture. We wanted to bring something of value to people that also meant something to us.
Hygge (hoo-gah) is the concept of finding the special moments in everyday living- spending quality time with people, enjoying the outdoors and creating an atmosphere of coziness. The Growing Candle does just that and more – a zero-waste product that starts as a luxurious candle and transforms into a pot of wildflowers creating a healthy atmosphere for you and the planet.
Our family business in Toledo, Ohio is passionate about eco-friendly manufacturing, producing less than one household garbage bag of waste per month, and leading the reusable “growing candle” industry. We hope you enjoy our candles as much as we enjoy making them for you!
Forever Hygge-Inspired + Planet Obsessed,
Chris and Cyndi
Use the code LETSGROW for 15% off your next order.
Hello! My name is Gabby – founder of Down Home Soaps Co. When Tara at She’s Rooted Home reached out to me for a collaboration, I was so excited! I love learning about other small businesses, and meeting others in the garden community with similar interests, so it seemed like the perfect fit. I hope you find my soaps useful for your family and home. Let me tell you a little bit more about my family’s life on our farm with our Happy Herd!
If someone would have told me 10 years ago I’d be living on a farm with my family and running a soap business, I wouId have thought they were crazy. The farm part wasn’t so crazy because I’ve always had a passion for animals – ever since I was a little girl. Marrying my husband was like a dream come true. We shared the same interests and got to work side-by-side on our farm. On our second wedding anniversary, my husband got me a goat named “Jack Jack.” Let’s just say I realized very quickly I loved goats. My love for goats has now turned into a family-run business – milking the highest-quality Mini Nubians and turning their yummy, nutrient-rich milk into goods for my family.
Our family is passionate about a Farm to Table lifestyle. My husband is a full-time, 4th generation farmer, so his knowledge on soil management and dairy health has been a huge asset for our farm. Our homestead is set on the land his grandfather lived on and his father was raised! We have two little girls – Mia & Sofia. They may be young, but they also contribute to the farm and soap company. Mia just turned 4 years old, and she milks goats with me every morning. She always tells me, “One day when I’m older, I’m going to make soaps too, mom!”. Sofia is 17 months and she has already started bottle feeding the goat kids and carrying handfuls of hay to the barn. Both girls love to help me plant seeds in the garden and harvest vegetables. I love getting to see them learn while we experience life on the farm!
Our cabinets are stacked with canned goods filled with home-grown produce. When we started canning items and milking goats, I found myself frequently having extra amounts of both, even after using it in our meals and preserving for later use. With my youngest having frequent eczema breakouts, I started researching soaps made with goats’ milk and fresh, homegrown ingredients! I was quickly amazed with the way you can incorporate fresh produce and flowers in soap, giving your skin an added boost from the nutrients.
Everyone in my family contributes to Down Home Soap Co. We believe in quality over quantity. Our saying is “Hand-Picked, Hand-Milked & Handmade.” Our Happy Herd may be small, but we make sure they are served the finest feed to ensure optimal health. The goats are milked by hand to give extra attention and love to their care. Quality is also found in our home-grown flowers, herbs and vegetables using homemade compost and organic soil as the foundation for the plants. We are proud to use these home-grown ingredients as inspiration for our soap blends! We hand pick fresh ingredients from the garden and in return put them into oil infusions, milk infusions, purees and juices, which is then made into nutrient rich goats milk soap! I am on a mission to share my love of goat milk soap with others! I appreciate you following along our family journey and trying our nutrient-rich goat milk soaps! From my heart to your sink, shower and tub, thank you!
Crochet a baby chick hatching egg for adorable backyard farm cuteness.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with crocheting for the farm. Not only are these projects very quick to make, but the adorableness is just too much and so many of you agree.
After lots of requests, I’ve decided to share these patterns with you in hopes you will learn how to crochet or ask a friend if they could create these crochet pieces for you and your backyard farm.
