Welcome to Willowbottom

Your Complete Guide to Modern Homesteading & Sustainable Living

Homesteading isn’t about having the perfect setup. It’s about using what you have, right where you are. Whether you’re growing a full garden, tending a few windowsill herbs, or just trying to live a little more sustainably, you belong here.

Ready To Start Your Garden?

Thinking about starting a garden but not sure where to begin? Or looking for a better way to plan and manage what you’re already growing? Wherever you are in the process, this is your space to learn, stay organized, and enjoy the experience of growing your own food.

Let’s Grow

Understand Any Location Before You Move There

Get a complete picture of climate, environment, community, and livability, so you can make confident decisions before you move.

Explore

Popular Posts

Three Sisters Gardening Method

Easy Homemade Crusty Rolls

Five reasons you should raise quail instead of chickens

Explore More

Building Great Garden Soil

Understanding Your Growing Zone

Organic Pest Control

Growing your own food starts with knowing where to begin. Our free guide gets you started, and it connects you to a whole library of resources to grow your knowledge right alongside your garden.

Tune In

Watch our latest video on our YouTube channel

View Channel

Follow us @willowbottom_homestead

  • Spring has this really short window where the yard is basically a free farmers market if you know what you're looking at. Cleavers is one of those plants. It shows up early, spreads fast, and most people spend the first warm weekend of the year pulling it out by the fistful. Which is totally understandable because it's a little chaotic looking, but it's worth pausing before you yank it. The sticky, velcro-like texture is how you know you've got the right plant. Young stems have a mild, cucumber-like flavor and work well in smoothies or steeped as a tea. It's been used traditionally as a spring tonic, kind of a gentle reset after winter. Just harvest before it gets fibrous, tender and young is the sweet spot. Free food is free food.
  • We still haven't put our warm season vegetables in. Between the tornadoes in March and frost advisories showing up well into May, it just hasn't felt like the right time and I've had to remind myself that waiting is not the same as losing ground. The garden is full right now though. The garlic is tall, the strawberries are fruiting, the perennials are thriving, and the fruit trees have tiny fruit on them. There's so much happening out here. If your spring has been unpredictable too, whatever zone you're in, you're not behind. ▶️ Comment 'GARDEN' and I'll send you the link to Garden by Willowbottom, it's our full gardening app that helps you plan, track, and research based on your actual growing zone so you always know what to do right now, whatever the season is doing. unpredictable spring gardening, late spring planting, warm season vegetables, homestead garden, perennial garden, food garden, gardening tips, spring garden, slow garden, growing zone
  • Cover crops are one of those things that transform your garden over time and most home gardeners never think to use them. They build soil while nothing else is growing. They feed the microbes, fix nutrients, suppress weeds, protect bare ground from erosion, and give pollinators something to forage when the garden is still waking up and when their job is done, they become the next layer of food for the soil they just improved. If you've never grown a cover crop, this is your sign to try it next chance you get. ▶️ Comment 'COVERCROP' and I'll send you a list of cover crops you can start using in your garden. cover crops, soil health, nitrogen fixers, permaculture garden, organic gardening, homestead garden, chop and drop, garden soil, sustainable gardening, food garden
  • Your growing zone shapes every decision you make in the garden, from what you plant to when you plant it to what you can realistically expect to survive winter. Most gardening resources gloss over this, which is why so many gardeners feel like they're doing everything right and still not getting results. Comment "ZONE' to find out which zone you live in and which plants grow best in your area.
  • You don’t need a homestead to start growing food. Most people are starting with a normal yard, a small garden bed, a fence line, a patio, or one corner of the property. That is enough. The goal is not to do everything at once. The goal is to start turning ordinary spaces into places that grow food, support pollinators, and make the yard more alive. That’s one of the reasons we built Garden by Willowbottom - to help people plan what to plant, where to put it, and how to build a more useful, living yard one step at a time. If you’ve wanted to grow food but feel overwhelmed, start with one small area and make a plan before you buy plants.
  • Super easy way to eat whole foods. Throw it in a dish and roast it in the oven. Couldn't be simpler. It's even better when the ingredients came from your own garden. If you don't know where to start, go check out our new app Garden by Willowbottom. Link in bio. #jerusalemartichoke #growyourownfood