~~ Introduction ~~

Hello, my name is Amanda...…

  I live in West Michigan where I am a solo parent of a large family after the suicide death of my husband in 2016.    Prior to his death I had a dream of the self sufficient life. While my life certainly was shaken to the core for a time period, the fog has lifted and I am back working towards my dream.  My desire is to help others on their steps towards learning similar topics as well as to keep track of my progress to look back upon later in life. 

This blog will follow me on my journey at my new home where we moved in early Summer of 2018.   In time I will make a few posts showing my old home which was very sandy ground and show you how I made it beautiful. My new homestead has different issues to work through. Lots of clay! I look forward to conquering and building the most beautiful homestead I could ever have.   It will be done on a small budget where I utilize creativity rather than deep pockets.  Where my goals is self sufficiency and remove my dependence on the grocery store.    My children will be growing up pretty quickly here, but they will be able to come back home to gather up food to take home to their families which is part of my dreams :)

In addition to this blog I have a YouTube Channel that can be found here :  Back2Basics-Manda  






I will be working hard on getting things up and running.  Please check back regularly to see my new content :) I will be covering topics on gardening, permaculture, beekeeping, cooking from scratch, raising livestock and some crafts using such items as poultry wire and chicken feathers :)