Answer the calling deep within for a simpler life: plant bountiful gardens, preserve fresh seasonal produce, make your own natural cleaning products, and more.

Join homesteader and founder of Azure Farm, Annette Thurmon, to connect with nature on a deeper level. In Simple Country Living, you’ll find a sampler covering homesteading techniques that can be put to work no matter where you live. Recipes, tips, tricks, and family activities will help you reduce waste, save money, and harness new skills:

• The Natural- and Nature-Inspired Home: Create family traditions around nature, including strawberry and apple picking, natural egg dye, salt dough ornament making, and decorating your home with natural elements, plus some recipes too! Make DIY cleaning sprays, reduce food waste, learn self-sufficient laundry and bathroom tips, and share the bounty with nature-inspired gifts and gatherings.


• Cultivating a Garden: Master the essentials for a healthy garden, including soil health, garden layout, raised beds, choosing your seeds, frost dates, crop rotation, companion planting, compost essentials, and ways to involve the whole family in the garden.


• What to Plant in Your Garden: Decide what to grow based on your climate and preferences, figure out how much to plant, and garden through the seasons. Go further with home orchards or berry patches, and explore the benefits of natural pest control, greenhouses, and animals in the garden. There are also activities for the family inspired by the garden.


• Preserving the Harvest: Learn everything you need to can, freeze, dehydrate, and save seeds—including plenty of recipes, from salsa to fruit spreads. Have the whole family join in and create memories together.


• Mastering the Home Kitchen: Embrace garden-to-table eating with seasonal recipes. Learn how to stock a resilient homestead pantry and find a selection of tried-and-true recipes the whole family will love (and love to cook!).

No matter where you live or what skills you already have, the simple country life can be more than a state of mind. Start growing more, cooking more, and living in rhythm with nature.