half-ass homesteading (verb)
a: the act of homesteading with little time, energy, money, land or know how
b: to establish a home and cultivate the surrounding land with little time, energy, money, land or know how
Latest from the Blog
Backyard Reno: Totally Functional – Help me decide how to finish it!
Last week, fall finally showed its beautiful temps here in central Ohio and I decided to make the most of it. Thursday afternoon I spent a few hours unloading pea gravel between meetings (since it was cool and breezy enough to do so without breaking much of a sweat). On Friday two of my calls were canceled so…
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Progress! Backyard Reno
Last time I shared with y’all I was fresh into redoing the backyard, so excited about the possibilities. It’s been a month and a half and until this weekend the project hadn’t gone any further. Luckily the stars aligned and I had the energy AND the time. I told Sr. that all I wanted for my birthday was…
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Lately on the Homestead: Backyard Reno
Last summer, despite Sr.’s disapproval, I put a pool up. He was against the idea for two reasons 1. He’s not a fan of pools(unless there’s a slide going into the pool, he doesn’t see the point) and thinks they attract mosquitos. 🙄 2. He thought I’d ruin the grass. While it didn’t attack mosquitos, the pool was…
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Nursery Reveal!
It’s been nearly three months since we’ve brought Bladen home and I’m excited to finally share my new favorite room in our home! The nursery took me much longer to put together than nurseries in the past, in part due to lack of energy and in part due to putting together some special touches, like a gallery wall…
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Meet the newest member of the Camp family
Nearly three months ago we anxiously awaited the arrival of March. Not only would we be welcoming the newest member of our family to the world, but I’d also have 6 weeks of maternity leave and the plans I had to do with my time were endless! One of which was to get back on a regular blog…
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On the homestead today
It’s cool and cloudy here so I’m in the gardens getting dirty—planting new plants and taming old ones.4 years ago there were just 3 poppies on this plant, look how many this year! It’s my favorite plant and blooms around Memorial Day each year.
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Quick update..finally!
Check out this video update on what’s been happening and the huge garden renovation this year!
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This Week on the Half-Ass Homestead: February 12-19, 2022
This week has been a stressful one on the Camp Farm. Everything has been so frozen here, our poor hens seem to have made the menu of some predators. Sunday we discovered something tried to get into the chicken run by ripping up the chicken wire from the bottom of the run door frame. It was easily fixed…
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Nursery Sneak Peek
Y’all. This nursery has come along WAY slower than I would like. Partly because I either don’t have energy, can’t make a decision, or I’m waiting on someone or something. Anyway T-minus 23 days and it’s ALMOST done. Possibly the most exciting thing, these acrylic floating shelves for books. I’ll tell y’all something, it KILLED Sr. to put…
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Winterizing the Chicken Coop and Run
It’s a blistery, cold day here in central Ohio as the winter storm impacting much of the US this early February hits us. Also, Punxatawny Phil says it’ll be 6 more weeks of winter. So, what better time to share how we’ve prepped the henhouse for winter this season? While I’ve been meaning to write this post for…
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Green eggs and ham?
This week we collected our first colored egg which means one of our Easter Eggers is now laying! Grace asked if this is where the book Green Eggs and Ham comes from- ha ha!
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Cranberry Heat Dip **Repost**
It’s another year of my favorite holiday appetizer! I’ll be making double or triple batches this season. Check it out below! If you’re looking for an appetizer that’s sure to impress, you’re in the right place! This one’s creamy with a sweet heat and all the right holiday flavors. But I’m no food blogger so I’ll cut straight…
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At War with Mother-in-Law’s Revenge
When we first moved in, Kay, the previous homeowner, came to pick up some mail and offered some gardening tips on how to care for all the beautiful perennials she planted in her 40 years in the home. One of the first things she said was that I needed to pull the “mother-in-law’s revenge” early and often. What’s…
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Shared Girls Room Refresh
Last month we decided to do a BIG refresh to our home and replaced all the old blue carpet in our home. Y’all! There was a different kind of carpet (8 different shades of blue) in nearly every room and hallway in the house when we moved in. It was an eyesore–all stained from foot traffic and spills…
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Finishing touches!
Today we worked to put the final touches (for now) on the girls new shared room. Including putting some life back into some favorite oversized animals. Grace learned to do some simple sewing. We’ll be sharing more on the blog tomorrow!
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It’s been a while
So much to catch y’all up on!! It’s been a few weeks since the constant nausea of my first trimester subsided–praise the Lord! Since then, I’ve been trying to catch back up to life and all the things around the house and gardens. In the past month, we’ve waged war on the “mother-in-law’s revenge”–aka goutweed–in the front gardens,…
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Fall!
Is a cool 50 degrees and feeling like fall! Also, I’m convinced you can never have enough mums! What’s your favorite fall plant for the garden??
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Check out what we’ve been growing!
Has it really been 3 months since we’ve posted?! Let’s just say life got pretty busy this summer. June had us going in every direction for baseball. Work was also crazy as we added two new hires and put on our 2nd annual summer conference for educators. I didn’t have much time to get out in the gardens…
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Homemade Bird Feeders
By Grace Camp – Age 6 Last week I made bird feeders out of pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed. I found the recipe on my Kindle in the Nature Cat app. I think it’s in PBS kids app. It is so easy to make! You can watch the video of me making one or read directions…
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Cut Flower Garden plan: Year 1
It’s almost here! Sun’s out, buds out y’all! Yes, sad attempt at a little gardening humor. Real sad. Regardless, it’s warming up here and we’re only a handful of weeks from the danger of the last frost! I’ve got my bulbs waiting and little seedlings thriving indoors. A few weekends ago I spent the morning laying out the…
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This Week on the Half-Ass Homestead: March 7-13, 2021
This week was a busy on for me at work but in the back of my mind I all could think about was how I needed to get seeds started. I spent evenings in my newest book, In Bloom: Growing, Harvesting, and Arranging Homegrown Flowers All Year Round, and to say I’m inspired is an understatement. The pictures…
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This week on the Half-Ass Homestead: February 28-March 6, 2021
Things are continuing to warm up on the Camp Farm. I cannot wait to get out to refresh the gardens! I’ve spent evenings reading more about mini-farming and continuing to contemplate raised beds vs raised row. I finally opened up the book that started it all: Raised Row Gardening: Incredible Organic Produce with No Tilling and Minimal Weeding…
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This week on the Half-Ass Homestead: February 21-27, 2021
It feels like the 2021 garden planning is officially underway! Well almost. As the snow has begun to melt and we’re seeing the grass for the first time in weeks, I’m anxious to get an actual layout of the 2021 gardens mapped out so I can make a list of plants and supplies. I’m constantly thinking about it.…
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This week on the Half-Ass Homestead: February 14-21, 2021
As we wind down from the Galentine’s Party last weekend (more on that from Ella and Grace soon), and we start to warm up from the winterpocalypse that froze much of our country, I can’t help but itch for springtime. I mean, the struggle is real, y’all. Back in Texas, pre-2020’s anyway, spring starts NOW. My Mom already…
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Dreaming of Spring and taking the recently released mini course from Floret Flower Farm tonight. I bought their beautiful book, Cut Flower Garden, last year which inspired a late season build of a small patch on the side yard. It was less than successful but I’m hopeful for a better outcome this year, especially since Grace asked for…
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Falling for Silver
As I shared in another post, I’ve come to love finding beautiful pieces to add to our home. From furniture to stemware, these vintage pieces are adding a bit of character, comfort, and even class to our home. In addition to furniture, I’m becoming quite fond of crystal and silver pieces. Silver is something I’ve always had but…
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I Hate Gardening
I love to being outside. But my Mom takes the whole point of being outside away! She makes me work in in the garden all the time in the summer and spring. It sucks all the fun out of the great weather. I mean, who wants to pull weeds, plant, or shovel dirt and mulch when the weather…
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Vintage Drawer to Ottoman Project
Originally I considered a tufted look like this ottoman I found on Pinterest, but quickly pulled myself back into reality. I mean, it was a few days before Christmas! Who was I kidding? I was giving no more than a half-ass effort at best. Also, I had no idea what I was doing
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Grace’s Christmas Post
By Grace, Age 6 Grace writes her blog posts using the dictation feature on Google Docs then helps Mom edit the blog after she copies it to the blog. I love Christmas because I can wrap presents and give people stuff. I like wrapping presents a lot and putting them under the tree for Santa give lots of…
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My Latest Obsession
As the cold keeps me indoors and the gardens dormant, I’m now focusing more on finding the voice of this home; after 3 years here I feel like I can hear it. It’s a combination of farmhouse, vintage comfort with a touch of retro accented with splashes of fancy. I’ll be sharing a little about the pieces I…
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Cranberry Heat Dip
If you’re looking for an appetizer that’s sure to impress, you’re in the right place! This one’s creamy with a sweet heat and all the right holiday flavors. But I’m no food blogger so I’ll cut straight to the chase and give you recipe… if you like a little story with your recipes, feel free to read the…
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The Chickens Went to GiGi’s!
Our chickens have not been laying eggs so we had Ava and Vinny’s GiGi come over because she has 11 chickens and they always lay eggs. She came over Sunday before last and said they needed more sun and room to roam. We need to make our coop bigger. She offered to take our hens over the winter…
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There’s a Reason We Call it Half-Ass
Y’all. Seriously, WHERE has the month gone? This school year has nearly eaten our lunch here at the Half-Ass Homestead – three online learners at the Camp House and two home schoolers at the Norris House. Work has been even busier than ever for me and Tarin went back to work so the big garden has been just…
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My Top Ten Favorite Things of Summer 2020! 😄
By Ella Camp, age 8 This week is the first week of Fall and you can tell. The weather is getting colder here. We went to my sister’s soccer game on Saturday morning and I was FREEZING! To celebrate the official end of summer, here are my top 10 favorite things about this past summer: On my neighbors…
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THE HALF-ASS HOMESTEAD 