Little Farmstead Living Book

My blogging friend Julie has written a book about her little farmstead.

She and I have been online friends since I featured her on my once weekly Welcome Wagon that I hosted every Friday way back when. It was to introduce new bloggers to the blog universe.

Julie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and three boys, on a farm just past the city limits in the Seattle area.

To show how much we are attuned, the quote by Emily Dickinson at the beginning of the first chapter is also my favorite quote:

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tune without the words – and never stops at all.”

Her book is filled with gorgeous photos of their life on the farm as well as many quotes that you can tell were carefully chosen. It isn’t just a feast for the eyes, Julie is also a great writer. Reading the book is just as much fun as drooling over the photos.

This farm was their dream, and this family of five is now living it.

“Everyone has, I think, in some quiet corner of the mind, an ideal home waiting to become a reality.”

Julie is a wife, mother and homemaker. A lover of the simple life.

In this book, she isn’t merely a decorator enthused with the farmhouse look. She actually lives the farm life. With children and farm animals and the growing of gardens.

On this little farmstead, their little piece of heaven, she bakes and tends to farm chores and raises her boys.

She also writes her blog at Little Farmstead.

She has a beautiful home and enjoys decorating it. In the book she gives tips on what to look for when looking for antiques.

She takes you through the seasons and holidays on the farm.

And of course there are gardens to tend. What would a farm be without a garden?

Julie grows vegetables and discusses the pros and cons of seeds versus starts. She writes about how a novice can start a beginner’s vegetable garden. And she emphasizes the importance of prepping the land.

She grows lilacs, wisteria, lavender and hydrangeas. Sunflowers and roses and peonies and more.

Julie teaches the reader about chicken breeds and how to care for chickens. This she learned in real time when they purchased chicks from a local feed store. I remember going into those stores as a child myself and staring at the little chicks.

While picking up a batch of chicks one of her sons asked for a pet duck. They came upon adorable Pekin ducklings and got him one. Their family of ducks grew and they mingle with the chickens on the farm in the chicken yard.

They added Babydoll Southdown lambs they found on a ranch in Northern California.

The farm soon had a menagerie of animals.

And of course there was the decorating of their farmhouse.

“An empty room is a story waiting to happen, and you are the author.” – Charlotte Moss

Julie decorated their home in a style befitting their beloved farmhouse. She showed photos of her rooms as they evolved on her blog and we all got to watch as she found the perfect decor, vintage and mismatched and worn.

Julie loves the look of weathered wood and chippy furniture. As you see above she has white furniture. White furniture, you must be thinking, on a farm with three growing boys???

Well, that’s what slipcovers are for. She says it’s easy to tell when cleaning is needed. She washes her slipcovers every three to four weeks during the summer. The rest of the year she can get by with every month or so.

She covers armrests with vintage feed or flour sacks, which only adds to the charm.

Thank you, Julie, for sending me your book. I love to thumb through it and gaze at the photos of your farm and read your story. Your words are beautiful as well.

If you want a gorgeous book about how one family created a country life just past the city limits, you can order Little Farmstead Living at Amazon.com.