Brass Egg was created to help bridge the gap between the soul-feeding and very practical aspects of ‘working the land’ and the very comfortable and fashionable modern life we all live today.
Brass Egg’s Mission is to inspire the building of charming little farms across the world as we invest our free time in hobbies that get us outside in the sun and fresh air using our creativity to prepare our homes and family for the abundance that comes with a hobby farm. Brass Egg endeavors to lead the way with inspiration that makes hobby farming attractive, easy and healthy.
I love experimenting with homesteading and I’ve found a way to share it with other people by building a website. The affiliate links found throughout these pages make it possible for me to earn enough money to justify the time I spend doing this.
While trying to convince my family that we should move out of the subdivision and onto a farm it became obvious to me that they weren’t little kids anymore. Little kids get so excited about the idea of having baby chicks around and maybe some sheep and my youngest wanted his own pig because in Minecraft you can ride a pig like a horse. They were so excited then. Now they are teenagers and they are concerned about the size of the bedrooms in a farmhouse and if their cellphones will work out there. Their image of farm life equals hardship, lack and constant work.
They aren’t alone. That is a consistent perception. When I was a kid our pipes froze in the winter, most of my clothes were homemade and there was constant work. I hated our garden and steered clear of any boy who planned to be a farmer.
Decades later I view my childhood differently.
Growing up my life was filled with Abundance. We had 5-gallon jugs full of our own honey stored in the attic. We had a forest of firewood that kept our family warm and deer that kept our meals interesting. My high school experiment with dairy goats kept our fridge full of whole milk and cream. Before I was born the freezers were full of our own grass fed beef and forest raised pork.
Growing up we were Prepared for most anything. My parents ran a K9 training school and kennel that dad started as a police officer, so there were always a few well-trained security dogs at the house. The photo above is me with a trained Police Dog who was very dangerous…dangerous for anyone who might hurt a retired officer’s little girl. Since it’s best to burn wood that has cured for a year, we always had enough wood on hand for two normal winters (even if half of it would be a little more difficult to burn). Huge gardens mean huge harvests, and canning and freezing that harvest meant we went into winter with over-flowing pantries. Both my parents grew up as the Great Depression ended, and they internalized the lessons of thrift, self-sufficiency and hard work.
With all that going for us, why didn’t I view my childhood as being Prepared For Abundance? My dad had a vision for life after retirement that he modeled after the old Western Bonanza, complete with horses and an actual wall-to-wall library. However, the Inflation Crisis of the 1970’s and my dad’s failing health put us in survival mode instead of thriving and innovating.
Today I fully grasp what my dad’s vision was, and thanks to the Internet I’m not limited to the stacks of old Mother Earth News magazines on the bottom shelf of our library. Vintage ‘back to the land’ books by Sunset may be where my first dreams were formed, but I am taking it forward. For the sake of my family I want to bridge what they think ‘back to the land’ means to the charmed and beautiful life I want to build for them.
I want to bridge it for you too. Join me in building a beautiful life for yourself where we garden or keep bees or raise goats not because we fear the future….but because we enjoy preparing to live in abundance. Join me as we do very practical things with the style and joy of a hobbyist. I am willing to help anyone who is new to this journey or anyone who is on this journey and getting a little weary. Virtual consulting is offered at no charge, just fill out the form on the left-hand column of the homepage with enough information that I can distinguish a real person from automated spam. Time is precious, so I’m happy to help you shave a few years, months or just weeks off your journey back to the land.
There is extra work you have to put in to make ‘Homesteading’ or Hobby Farming fit into a modern lifestyle. Keeping neighbors happy, extra farm chores, keeping up with housework when you really want to be outside digging in the dirt…. Let’s talk about it. I’ll show you around as I try inspire my kids, hubby and neighbors to try something old.
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