Author Archives: Steph VonAhnen, LRMT, CLC

Some garden visitors arrive with muddy feet and big appetites (lookin’ at you, chickens).  Others show up in a blur of color, sipping nectar like royalty and reminding you that the garden isn’t just yours, it’s part of a much bigger dance. Enter: the hummingbird. These pint-sized pollinators are nature’s glitter.  They flit, they flash,Continue reading “Tiny Wings, Big Magic: Welcoming Hummingbirds to Your Garden”

Every flock has a funny one, and in our little chicken sitcom, Laverne is the star of the show. She struts with purpose, squawks with sass, and somehow always manages to photobomb everyone else’s glamour shots.  If there’s a suspicious rustling in the feed bag or a daring hop onto the roosting bar like it’sContinue reading “Meet The Flock: Say Hello to Laverne, The Coop’s Classy Comedian”

When we picked her up from Bomgaars, little did we know we were bringing home a feathered legend. Sacagawea is no ordinary chick.  While the others peeped and stumbled around like popcorn in a skillet, she stood tall, watching, learning, leading.  You can tell she’s got places to go and birds to guide.  She’s theContinue reading “Meet The Flock: Say Hello to Sacagawea, The Trailblazer of the Brood”

Today, we proudly present the first feature in our “Meet the Flock” series, and we’re kicking things off with the little queen herself: Avril! Avril isn’t just a chick.  She’s a vibe.  A feathered revolution.  A living embodiment of fluffy rebellion. From the moment we brought her home, Avril made it crystal clear: she’s notContinue reading “Meet the Flock: Say Hello to Avril, the Chick With a Mohawk and a Mission”

This morning, we said goodbye to Louise. Not “just a chicken.”  Not just a silly bird.  Louise was a protector, a feathery little bodyguard who watched our yard like she paid the property taxes.  The kind of girl who gave side-eye to hawks and humans alike.  You felt safer knowing she was on patrol. AndContinue reading “Goodbye Louise, Hello New Life: Grieving in the Aisles of Bomgaars 🐣”

Life on the homestead is never boring when you share it with a bunch of feathered philosophers.  My chickens may not speak English (though they definitely yell like they do), but this week, they delivered some serious wisdom wrapped in beaks and fluff.  Here’s what I learned from the girls, especially Louise. — 1. “IfContinue reading “5 Things the Chickens Taught Me This Week… and not one of them was about eggs.”

Before the white coats. Before the insurance codes. Before you had to fill out five forms just to be told to take Tylenol and “come back if it gets worse”… There was Grandma. She didn’t have a certificate on the wall, but she had a pantry full of jars, a strong sense of smell, andContinue reading “Grandma Didn’t Need a Degree to Heal You: Why Folk Medicine Still Works (And Always Did)”

Ever posted something raw, real, and revolutionary, only to watch it sink like a rock while a video of someone deep-frying butter in stilettos racks up a million likes? Yeah.  Same. Turns out when you post about how to grow your own food, build community, or unplug from the nonsense, you’re not just being “quirky”Continue reading “Shadowbanned but Glowing: Notes from the Edge of the Feed”

There’s a kind of nausea that comes from realizing it’s not just one bad apple. It’s the whole cart. The orchard. The ones building the crates. We were raised to believe in teams. Left vs Right. Good guys vs bad guys. Heroes vs villains. But what do you do when all the so-called heroes areContinue reading “When Both Sides Are Rotten: What Now?”

You ever meet someone who seems like they’re just making soup… but somehow you leave their house emotionally rearranged? Yeah.  That’s her.The Oracle at the Crockpot. She’s got flour on her shirt and three kinds of salt in her pantry.  She talks about bay leaves like they’re little shields and stirs stew like she’s decodingContinue reading “The Oracle at the Crockpot”