About The Suburb Farm

Who are we?

We are a Midwestern family of 6 who live in a mid-century ranch house in the suburbs.

is the writer & photographer here. does most of the manual labor & beekeeping. We have professional careers in separate fields, so this unconventional suburban homestead is our joint effort. We have 4 “kids”— now young adults/ adolescents— who live at home. Plus a dog and 2 axolotls.

What is a suburb farm?

You don’t need acreage in the country to grow food. We believe that food production & preservation can be done in pots on an apartment balcony, in allotments & community gardens, & in a corner of the family yard. We’re fortunate to have a spacious lot & open-minded neighbors, as we replace our manicured lawn with native plants & edible crops.

Since 2016 we’ve been transforming our backyard and front lawn into a micro-farm, where we grow vegetables, fruit, and mushrooms. We’re relearning skills that our great-grandparents knew well: growing and preserving food, keeping bees, creatively making do with what we have, sharing our bounty to build community, and reconnecting with the Earth and the seasons.

Think this might be your cup of tea? Please do subscribe:

Where you can find us

The newsletter & website are exclusively here, on Substack.

You can also follow us on Instagram.

All our links are here.

When you can expect posts

Weekly (give or take a substantial margin of error)

Why subscribe?

For a semi-regular dose of wholesome musings on suburban homesteading & the rhythms of the agricultural year, with pretty pictures to inspire you in your own gardening endeavors. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Prefer to get posts in scrolling form instead of e-mail? Download the free app and read posts in your Inbox there.

How to engage with us

New posts go directly to your inbox, by email and on the app. Hit reply to the email or like/ comment on the post. You can also join the conversation through Notes, a social media-style feed and through Chat on the app.

Read The Suburb Farm in the Substack app
Available for iOS and Android

Be part of a community of people who are interested in growing & preserving food. There are so many of us out there; let’s get to know each other!

…and some things that should not have been forgotten were lost.

(Galadriel, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring”)

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility.

(Wendell Berry)

Now that you’ve read this whole post, why not subscribe?

Know someone interested in gardening & food preservation?

Share The Suburb Farm

Join the conversation. We’d love to hear from you!

Leave a comment

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.

Subscribe to The Suburb Farm

Growing food to replace the lawn. Transforming our suburban property into a homestead. Reconnecting with the seasonal rhythms of the year. We can't all live on a farm, but we can do our bit where we're planted.

People

Midwesterner, mom & wife. We're growing food in the suburbs. Transforming our lawn into a mini-farm. Relearning centuries-old skills. Trying to walk gently on the earth & on the grid. Modern life guided by the liturgical, agrarian calendar.