Welcome to Home Garden Joy and to my little piece of heaven on earth, Seven Oaks Farm. It’s a 17-acre farm located in the heart of Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In 2007, I did what my family and friends said was impossible. I quit my fast-paced job as a marketing executive in New York City. I packed my bags, put the cat into the cat, and drove eight hours south to our little farm in Virginia. I hung up my shingle as a marketing consultant, teacher, and writer. And I began to grow a life instead of just making a living.
Why Home Garden Joy?
Moving from New York City to rural Virginia was quite a challenge and I began writing Home Garden Joy in 2007 to chronicle my journal and record all the things I was learning about rural life. I learned what a holler is and why the owls make a racket in the springtime. I bottle-fed kids on my neighbor’s goat farm and sent my husband to help another neighbor butcher a hog and make scrapple.
Before moving to Virginia, the most impressive skill I possessed was being able to navigate the New York City subway system without a map. Today, I can bake bread from scratch, tell when a change in the weather is coming by the sunrise, and know if we’re getting an early spring if skunk mating comes early.
See what life on the farm teaches you?
What You’ll Find Here
Thirteen years of blogging results in a lot of posts, so I’ve given you a quick guide, below, to what you’ll find on Home Garden Joy.
- Gardening resources: Plenty of articles, guides, and more on vegetable gardening, growing fruit and herbs, and flower gardening. I don’t do lawn care because I can’t stand lawns and think they are a waste of time and money. I’d rather grow a meadow. My husband loves a good lawn so I let him tend it.
- Whole food, plant-based recipes: We cook, can, and preserve our food from the garden almost year-round. I share recipes so you can embrace a whole food, real food, plant-based diet, too.
- Herbs and herbalism: I’m a self-taught Christian herbalist who grows, preserves, and makes herbal medicines, teas, and more. This section includes information about herbs and herbalism.
- Homesteading resources: We believe in “homesteading where you are” which means incorporating practices of sustainability, self-sufficiency, and natural living as much as makes practical sense. In this category, you will find articles on animal and livestock care, money management, home management, and land management.
Ready to join me in my crazy life? It’s fun. It’s beautiful. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
My view today is of our fruit tree orchard. My view many years ago was a giant underwear ad on the side of Macy’s Herald Square. I’ll take fruit trees over Fruit of the Loom any day.
Welcome to Seven Oaks Farm.
Love,
Jeanne, John
The seven cats and Zeke, our German shepherd
Welcome to Seven Oaks Farm
My Companies
It’s very difficult to make a living from homesteading. I homestead more to save money than to make it. To make a living, I provide freelance content marketing writing, marketing consulting, and teaching through my company, Seven Oaks Consulting. I also write and publish novels and gardening books.
Below are links to my three business ventures: Seven Oaks Consulting, Writer Jeanne Grunert, and Home Garden Joy (you are here.)
