We cleaned out our freezers expecting to make a little more room. Instead, we discovered just how much food we had actually grown, raised, harvested, and preserved over the past year.

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas talk about what happened when we pulled everything out of our very full homestead freezers and realized we had bags of homegrown squash, berries, greens, eggplant, pumpkin, peaches, cherries, home-raised meat, and more tucked away inside.

It was encouraging to see how much food our garden and homestead had produced, but it also taught us an important lesson: There’s no point in growing and preserving all that food if we forget to eat it.

We talk about the tendency to save homegrown food because it feels too special to use, only to risk letting it sit so long that it eventually goes to waste. Instead, we're learning to embrace seasonal eating: enjoy foods abundantly while they're in season, preserve what we can't eat fresh, and then actually use what we've put away.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Cleaning out and organizing our homestead freezers
• Realizing how much food our garden actually produced
• Freezing, canning, and preserving the summer harvest
• Why we're creating a freezer and pantry inventory
• Meal planning around the food we already have
• Why you shouldn't “save” your homegrown food forever
• Eating with the seasons instead of expecting every food year-round
• Making better use of home-raised chicken, duck, and other meats
• Reducing food waste on the homestead
• What we're learning about preserving food in ways we'll actually use
• Using this year's harvest to decide what we should grow next year
• The garden varieties we loved—and a few we probably won't grow again

One of our biggest takeaways from this growing season is that success isn't just about how much food you grow. It's about how much of that food your family actually uses and enjoys.

We're learning to grow what we love, preserve it in practical ways, keep track of what we have, eat it while we have it, and trust that another season and another harvest will come around again.

If you're growing a garden, raising your own meat, preserving food, stocking a homestead pantry, or simply trying to make better use of the food you already have, we hope this conversation encourages you to take inventory and use what you have.

Subscribe to Handmade Happiness for more conversations about homesteading, gardening, cooking from scratch, food preservation, homeschooling, handmade skills, and building a more intentional life.

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If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

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Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

What if chores weren’t something to rush through so we could get back to “real life”,  but were actually part of the life we’re trying to build?

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas talk about chores, family responsibility, raising capable kids, and learning to find satisfaction in everyday work.

As our family prepares to settle back into homeschool routines, we share how chores fit into the rhythm of their home and homestead, from laundry and dishes to feeding animals, gardening, preserving food, and tackling the jobs that simply have to get done.

Raising capable kids isn’t about giving them a long list of chores simply to keep them busy. It’s about helping them understand that being part of a family means contributing to the life you all share. Sometimes that means washing dishes or feeding chickens. Sometimes it means preserving a mountain of summer produce, and sometimes it means discovering that peeled apples look an awful lot like slinkies.

Subscribe to Handmade Happiness for more conversations about homeschooling, homesteading, raising capable kids, cooking from scratch, handmade skills, and finding joy in the everyday work of building a meaningful life.

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

• Visit me at TheLarkLife.com
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🧵 Share the love:
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Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

Sometimes the best resources aren’t the ones you buy; they’re the opportunities you learn to notice.

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas talk about recognizing and making the most of opportunities that show up in everyday life. From gathering free firewood after a storm to receiving an abundance of free apples from a friend, we’re sharing how resourcefulness, relationships, and simply paying attention can provide for your family in unexpected ways.

We also talk about the relationships we’ve built through our local farmers market and how community often leads to opportunities that could never be planned or purchased.

In this episode, we discuss how to recognize useful resources around you, why being willing to do the work matters, making the most of free and inexpensive opportunities, preserving unexpected food abundance, using storm-damaged wood instead of letting it go to waste, and why building genuine relationships within your community has value far beyond buying and selling.

Homesteading and intentional living aren’t just about having land, animals, or the right equipment. They’re also about learning to be resourceful and to notice what’s available, build relationships, and make good use of what comes your way.

Sometimes abundance doesn’t look like having more money. Sometimes it looks like a truckload of firewood, a basket full of apples, or a friend who says, “I thought you might be able to use this.”

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

• Visit me at TheLarkLife.com
• Follow along on Instagram: @The_Lark_Life
• Click to join my email list for updates, resources, and encouragement

🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

What are the best tools to invest in for a homestead? If we were starting over today, which purchases would we make again without hesitation?

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas share the homestead tools, equipment, and practical investments that have made the biggest difference in our daily lives. From gardening and food preservation to sewing, cooking, and raising animals, we're talking about the purchases that continue to save us time, reduce waste, and help us live a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

These aren't necessarily the most expensive items we own, but they're the ones that have provided the greatest return through years of regular use.

Whether you're just beginning your homesteading journey or looking to invest wisely in tools that truly make a difference, we hope this conversation helps you prioritize what matters most.

Visit The Lark Life for more resources on homesteading, gardening, quilting, food preservation, and practical family skills.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell us in the comments:

What's one homestead tool or investment you couldn't live without?

Find more information about the Foundation in Quilting Course at TheLarkLife.com/foundations-in-quilting

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

• Visit me at TheLarkLife.com
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🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

Think it's too late to plant a garden? Think again!

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas share why midsummer is actually one of the best times to start planning and planting a productive fall garden. With nearly 100 days left in the growing season here in southwest Missouri, there's still plenty of time to harvest another round of fresh vegetables before the first frost.

Whether you're planting cool-season crops or squeezing in another succession of green beans, this episode will encourage you to make the most of every garden bed and extend your harvest well into the fall.

In this episode, we discuss:

🌱 Why your gardening season is far from over

🥬 The benefits of planting a fall garden

🫘 Succession planting for a second harvest of green beans and other fast-growing vegetables

🥕 The best vegetables to plant for fall, including carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, radishes, kale, broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, and snow peas

🌾 Why we're saving seeds from elephant garlic, bok choy, and snow peas for future planting

🍂 Preparing garden beds for another round of crops

🌿 Making the most of your growing season through stewardship and intentional gardening

🌱 Why gardening is a year-round rhythm, not just a spring activity

If you've been wondering whether it's too late to grow more food this year, we hope this conversation inspires you to head back out to the garden and plant another season of abundance.

Visit The Lark Life for more gardening inspiration, homesteading resources, recipes, quilting tutorials, and practical skills for the whole family.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review. 

We'd also love to hear: What are you planting in your fall garden this year?

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

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🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

What do you do if your power goes out for a few days?

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas share stories from a weekend at the lake after a severe storm left them without electricity or running water. What could have been a frustrating experience became an opportunity to slow down, adapt, and appreciate the value of being prepared for life's unexpected interruptions.

Rather than talking about extreme survival scenarios, this conversation focuses on simple, practical preparedness, the everyday habits and supplies that can make power outages, storms, and other temporary disruptions much easier to navigate.

In this episode, we discuss:

⚡ What we learned from spending a weekend without electricity

🏕️ Why shifting our mindset to "camping mode" changed the experience

🫙 Keeping shelf-stable foods on hand for emergencies

🔥 Using propane camp stoves and outdoor cooking when the power is out

💧 Storing water for unexpected situations

🕯️ Candles, flashlights, and oil lamps for simple lighting

🔋 Generators and keeping essential household systems running

🎲 Finding joy through board games, porch conversations, and slowing down

Preparedness doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Sometimes it's as simple as having a few supplies on hand, a flexible attitude, and the ability to make the best of an unexpected situation.

Visit The Lark Life for more resources on homesteading, from-scratch living, gardening, quilting, and practical family skills.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review; it helps more families discover the show.

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

• Visit me at TheLarkLife.com
• Follow along on Instagram: @The_Lark_Life
• Click to join my email list for updates, resources, and encouragement

🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

Is home canning really safe? Why are so many families rediscovering this traditional skill?

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas share why home canning has become an important part of life on their Missouri homestead, how they safely preserve food for their family, and why you don't have to be intimidated to get started.

If you've ever wanted to preserve your garden harvest, stock your pantry with homemade food, or learn a practical life skill, this episode will help separate fact from fiction and give you the confidence to begin safely.

Whether you're preserving food from your own garden, shopping local farmers markets, or simply curious about learning traditional skills, we hope this conversation encourages you to give home canning a try.

Free Resource: Check out the blog and download our Ultimate Canning Guide for a beginner-friendly introduction to safe home food preservation, recommended equipment, trusted recipe sources, and practical tips to help you get started with confidence.

Visit The Lark Life for recipes, gardening tips, quilting classes, homesteading inspiration, and practical skills for the whole family.

If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and leave a comment below:
 What's one food you've always wanted to learn to can?

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

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🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

Do you really need 20 acres to build a productive homestead?

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas explore one of the most common questions aspiring homesteaders ask: How much land do you actually need to grow food for your family?

After a year on our own 5 acre Missouri homestead, we're sharing what we've learned about matching your property to your goals, why bigger isn't always better, and how thoughtful planning can make even a small backyard incredibly productive.

Whether you live on a suburban lot, dream of owning a few acres, or are considering a larger farm, this episode will help you think beyond acreage and focus on creating a homestead that truly fits your family's lifestyle.

In this episode, we discuss:

🌱 How much land it really takes to grow food for your family

🌱 What you can accomplish on a small backyard lot

🌱 The advantages and challenges of a 5-acre homestead

🌱 The realities of owning 20+ acres of land

🌱 Why productive gardening is about planning not just property size

🌱 Growing vegetables, fruit trees, berries, herbs, and perennial crops in limited space

🌱 Choosing livestock that fits your property and lifestyle

🌱 Designing a homestead that serves your family instead of becoming overwhelming

🌱 Why stewardship matters more than acreage

If you've been waiting to start because you think you don't have enough land, we hope this conversation encourages you to begin where you are and make the most of what you've been given.

🌿 Visit The Lark Life for gardening resources, quilting classes, recipes, homesteading inspiration, and practical skills for the whole family.

Subscribe for more conversations about gardening, homesteading, cooking from scratch, homeschooling, handmade skills, and intentional living.

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

• Visit me at TheLarkLife.com
• Follow along on Instagram: @The_Lark_Life
• Click to join my email list for updates, resources, and encouragement

🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

The garden is finally beginning to provide an abundance of fresh food, and we're sharing everything that's happening on our homestead this June.

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Jessica and Thomas share a June garden update, including what they're harvesting, preserving, and planting for future seasons. From fresh vegetables and herbs to berry picking, seed saving, and building healthy soil, this conversation explores the rhythms of seasonal gardening and the satisfaction of growing your own food.

Whether you're growing a backyard garden, building a homestead, or simply trying to eat more seasonally, we hope this conversation encourages you to start where you are and enjoy the process of growing your own food.

Find more gardening inspiration, recipes, handmade projects, and homestead life at The Lark Life.

Subscribe for more conversations about gardening, food preservation, homesteading, handmade skills, homeschooling, and intentional living.

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

• Visit me at TheLarkLife.com
• Follow along on Instagram: @The_Lark_Life
• Click to join my email list for updates, resources, and encouragement

🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.

This past weekend, Jessica was a vendor at the Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Guild Show in Springfield, Missouri, and came away encouraged by the conversations, connections, and shared love of handmade skills.

In this episode of Handmade Happiness, Thomas and Jessica reflect on what makes quilt shows so special, from meeting longtime customers and hearing stories about finished quilts to introducing new makers to the art of quilting and sewing.

The conversation explores the importance of passing down traditional skills, the role of community in keeping handmade arts alive, and why creating things with our hands still matters in a world increasingly focused on convenience and technology.

In this episode, we discuss:

🧵 Highlights from the Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Show

🧵 The friendships and connections built through quilting

🧵 Conversations with customers and fellow makers

🧵 The joy of seeing finished quilts made from our patterns

🧵 Why quilt guilds and local creative communities matter

🧵 Teaching the next generation to sew, quilt, and create

🧵 The value of handmade skills in today's world

🧵 Creativity, craftsmanship, and preserving traditional arts

Whether you're a quilter, maker, homeschool parent, or simply someone who appreciates creativity and community, this episode is a reminder that handmade skills connect us to one another in meaningful ways.

Learn more about quilting classes, patterns, fabrics, and resources at The Lark Life.

Subscribe for more conversations about quilting, homesteading, handmade skills, homeschooling, and intentional living.

#quilting #homeschool #homesteading #intentionalliving #TheLarkLife

✨ Thanks for tuning in to Handmade Happiness! ✨
If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations about slowing down, creating with your hands, and living more intentionally.

💌 Stay connected:

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🧵 Share the love:
 If this episode encouraged you, would you take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend? It truly helps others discover the show.

You can also support the show by making a donation at www.thelarklife.com/podcast

Until next time, may you find joy in the simple things and beauty in the work of your hands.