A Little Anniversary

The Suburb Farm Turns 2!! (So a toddler? What is that in blog years?)

The Stats

Since the first post on January 5, 2022 we’ve published 40-odd more. We’ve grown from a readership of close friends & family, to the now over 250 of you who have welcomed this newsletter to your inboxes. Over 1/3 of subscribers are here because another Substack writer sent you our way through a recommendation or mention. So I want to shout out a huge thank you to our marvelous readers and to the writers who consistently encourage and build community here on Substack. This is the best network of people on the internet, and no one can convince me otherwise at this point!

The highest visit count to The Suburb Farm site in a single day occurred December 2, 2023 courtesy of our inclusion in the Signs + Seasons inaugural issue. We were also honored to be included in Issue 3 of Signs + Seasons, and if you’re interested in holiday traditions, folklore, and the history of belief & custom that mark the seasons (especially the Christian Liturgical calendar) then please do go subscribe to their newsletter for free.

Speaking of links to our site from other writers, we were mentioned last October over at Little Farm Writer by the lovely

Susan Colleen Browne

. Go check it out, and while you’re there make sure to subscribe. That way you’ll get Susan’s delightful news on the bear that visits their gardens, funny stories about their other garden & house pest adventures, and updates on the books she writes (cozy novels set in Ireland!).

And today we have the privilege of being highlighted in Brunette Gardens' seasonal Chain Links compilation.

Lisa Brunette

was the first writer on Substack to reach out to this baby blogger and propose swapping guest posts, and she’s been a staunch supporter ever since. Subscribe to Brunette Gardens for creative ideas on growing food in a backyard, and consider becoming a paid subscriber over there for the recipes (I have some gift subscriptions for a free month, so email me if you’re interested). You can read Lisa’s guest post about homesteading in St. Louis MO here.

Some Favorites

The most popular post with readers was this photo dump in July 2023. The other photo-driven posts were also highly popular, so I’ll be posting more in that style for 2024. I love to take pictures and the people have spoken, so that’s what we’re gonna do. There will still be posts forthcoming on historical trivia and liturgical traditions, though, because they’re also my jam so I can’t stop, won’t stop writing about them. A couple of my favorite posts in that vein are this February 2022 post on WWII victory gardens and this January 2023 defense of margarine in the face of all my butter-snob family. (All in fun; I love butter, too!). Oh, and for fellow fans of the medieval, this favorite on Anglo-Saxon seasons.

The barbette: Who wore it better?

The bees always get some love when they show up in a post, so here are some bee photos from our hives and gardens:

Our dog likes to make an appearance now and then. Here he is editing a post for me:

Seriously, though, he thinks he owns this spot on the couch.

Thank you again, readers and friends, for supporting this little Substack! We appreciate every subscription, follow, comment, like, email, and share that you all contribute. It’s been a fun 2 years here; cheers to many more!

Do you have a favorite post? Some veg or homestead project you’d like to see here? Should I start including recipes? A photo timeline of our lawn’s demise transformation? Do tell!

—Erin, in Michigan