• JOIN US MONTHLY •

Homesteading

Women's Group

◦ friendship ◦ crafting ◦ canning ◦ cooking ◦ grains ◦ medicinal remedies ◦

EXPERIENCE LIVING

Farm to Table

In COMMUNITY

Join us monthly as we gather together to cook, bake, craft, learn and grow – both in homesteading knowledge and the friendships that naturally form as you consistently work side by side with women that share the same interests as you. 

• ABOUT THE GROUP •

As separation and division have grown in our country, so has the deep longing for community. Last year, I (Amanda) found myself wishing for friends that had similar interests and pursuits as me. When I voiced this to Jake, he laughed and said, “The problem is, you and everyone like you never slow down enough to take time for friends! You’re all busy all the time” And dang, he’s right! 

But I was tired of being too busy, and I wanted to start building and prioritizing community.

So I thought about it and asked myself – if I could dream up the perfect night out that I would be willing to make time for (and that would fill my cup so-to-speak) what would that look like? I came up with a plan and launched it out into the Spokane community.

I was surprised to find that there were actually a lot of women desiring the same thing as me! We ended up with not one but two full groups that committed to the first year of the “Homesteading Women’s Group.” One group met on Tuesdays and one on Thursdays.

Our first meeting was last October of 2023, and we are just wrapping up the last class of the year this October, 2024.

When we began, I had hoped that it would be a fun night out for the women, that they would enjoy trying new meals together, and that they would learn a lot throughout the year.

I didn’t anticipate that it would be so much more than that.

We had deep discussions over dinner & dessert about things that we often don’t have space to talk about anywhere else. We shared about our lives, our problems, and trials we were facing.

As I taught the “lessons” each month, members gave input on things they had learned about the topic also. And then everyone started sharing about new things they were trying & learning at home. I found that we all ended up learning more from each other than I could ever have anticipated!  

And the most pleasant surprise of all – I couldn’t believe how quickly it became a close knit group of friends walking through the year together. It should be no surprise that friendship is inevitable with a group that shares the same general goals and interests, but it is one thing to suspect friendship will happen and another thing entirely to experience it forming. 

I don’t have words for how much it enriched my life, for how thankful I am for the lifelong friendships that were made, and for how much I look forward to these meetings every month!

If you are interested in getting in on the 2024-25 group, please read below and then fill out the application at the bottom of the page- I would love to have you join the group this year! 

NOTE: TO REGISTER, SCROLL TO BOTTOM OF PAGE

• CUSTOMER REVIEWS •

• MEETING DETAILS •

Each group will meet from 5:15-9:15 pm once a month, on the designated day. We will have no more than 10 women per group, and registration will be open until the spots are filled. After that, the groups are closed for the year. 

I believe the key to this experience being a success is for each of us to be consistently present and invested in building this community with each other.

We will start by preparing some component(s) of a meal together (much of the meal will be prepped in advance to save on time). Most of the ingredients will have been grown on our farm, but the rest will be locally sourced organic foods. I will share recipes for everything we make so that you are able to reproduce these meals for your own household. 

Where our garden series class focuses on how to grow for year round eating, this group will focus on the practical day to day application of preserving, cooking, baking and eating seasonally year round. 

We then sit down to enjoy the meal we have prepared together. Some months, we have a discussion topic (the point of the topics are to get to know each other better). Every 3rd month we will have a “book club” about a book we choose to read together.

After eating, we move on to the skill or craft portion of the evening. 

Here are some of the topics that will be taught:

Milling, cooking and baking with grains (including ancient grains)
-How to dry flowers and making Fall wreaths/arrangements from dried flowers 
-Making & using medicinal remedies from medicinal herbs we have grown and foraged (including fire cider, elderberry syrup, etc.)
-Rendering fats & lard
-All about raising chicks & laying hens (including growing fodder)
-How to begin establishing food security
-Water bath & pressure canning some of our favorite recipes
-How we process chickens
-How to make chicken bone broth
-How to plan a garden
-Fermenting
-Making soap with tallow & lard
-And more! 

At the first meeting you will receive a class binder, and every month you will receive the printed notes and recipes that correspond with the class. 

Almost every month you will also leave with something you crafted or something that pertains to the lesson we learned. Some examples: medicinal herb remedies, a chicken broth kit, fall wreath, soap, my favorite books and more.

Example of a typical meeting:

Before each meeting, I send out an email with the itinerary, meal plan, and discussion topic for the upcoming meeting. It looks something like this:

5:15-5:45: Finish preparing meal
5:45-6:30: Dinner & discussion on topic or book
6:30-7: Lesson on ___ (i.e. Rendering lard)
7:00-8:30 Main lesson (i.e. Canning chicken broth)
8:30-9:15 Dessert & time to chat

Meal plan example:
Drink: Homemade chai tea
Dinner: Mangalitsa pulled pork sandwiches with homemade fries and black bean salad 
Dessert: Strawberry rhubarb pie and homemade ice cream

I then send a follow-up email after the meeting with any resource links, pdfs, notes, etc, that pertained to class. 

Please note: We do our best to accommodate food allergies as much as possible but we can’t guarantee that we can cater to everyone’s needs! 

COST: $150/Month 

• MEETING SCHEDULE •

PLEASE NOTE: OUR TUESDAY & THURSDAY GROUPS ARE FULL!

WE JUST OPENED A NEW WEDNESDAY GROUP, SEE DATES BELOW​

We will have 3 different groups this year, and they will meet either Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays.

MEETING DATES:

MONDAY GROUP (5:15-9:15 pm)

November 18, 2024
December 16, 2024
January 27, 2025
February 24, 2025
March 24, 2025
April 28, 2025
May 19, 2025
June 30, 2025
July 28, 2025
August 25, 2025
September 29, 2025
October 27, 2025

TUESDAY GROUP (5:15-9:15pm)

November 12, 2024
December 10, 2024
January 21, 2025
February 18, 2025
March 18, 2025
April 22, 2025
May 20, 2025
June 24, 2025
July 22, 2025
August 19, 2025
September 23, 2025
October 21, 2025

THURSDAY GROUP (5:15-9:15pm)

November 14, 2024
December 12, 2024
January 23, 2025
February 20, 2025
March 20, 2025
April 24, 2025
May 22, 2025
June 26, 2025
July 24, 2025
August 21, 2025
September 25, 2025
October 23, 2025

WEDNESDAY GROUP (5:15-9:15 pm)

November 20, 2024
December 18, 2024
January 29, 2025
February 26, 2025
March 26, 2025
April 30, 2025
May 28, 2025
July 2, 2025 
July 30, 2025
August 27, 2025
October 1, 2025
October 29, 2025

• GROUP PARAMETERS •

Our goal is to put together a group of women that are committed to participating for an entire year. However, we understand that what is ideal and what is reality are often two different things. We can allow you to miss up to two months unpaid, the rest will need to be paid regardless of attendance. It is necessary for us to structure it this way because we need to have a budget we can count on for purchasing supplies, class materials and food needed for the group (many of which we will need to order well ahead of the meeting). 

We have *a lot* of spoken interest in this group, which is very exciting! Due to the nature of the experience and the commitment we are asking for, we are taking applications rather than registrations. The goal of this application process is not to find the most homesteady women of Spokane LOL. If you have been a farmer or homesteader for decades or you have zero homesteading experience and only the dream and desire to learn homesteading skills from your apartment, this group is for you! The application process is to help us find women who are willing to commit to this group, and to help us create groups with well balanced age and experience levels. 

That being said, please note that in applying to be in the group you will be agreeing to these parameters:
-You are committed to being present to almost every meeting of the year
-You agree to leave the desire to debate at the door.
-You understand that we (Jake and I) are Christians and our faith/beliefs will come out here and there because it is the core of everything we do.
-We pray over meals. 
-The group meetings will continue regardless of any future flu, virus, or political event that occurs.
-Whether to mask or not to mask is a personal freedom that every individual has the right to choose. If you feel masking is necessary, we will honor that choice so long as you agree to allow us not to mask.
-Storms, sickness, and unforeseen circumstances happen- we will do our best to reschedule, reimburse, etc to make it work for everyone. (In 3 years of teaching classes, we have yet to cancel a class) 
-You understand that I am not a medical professional and that any information I share regarding treating the body is merely a suggestion based on personal experience.

After you submit your application, you will hear from us within a few days about final registration steps (or if the group is full we will let you know that we don’t have any spots left). We will require you to pay the last month as a deposit, and we will collect the first month ahead of the first meeting in October.

The cost of this class is $150/month. We will collect payments monthly via Quickbooks so that we can accept multiple forms of payment.

If you miss more than two payments and are unwilling to work with us on catching up, we will keep your deposit/final payment and ask that you leave the group. Again, life happens! If you’re in a tough spot, just communicate that with us because we’ve been there and we get it 😉

•2024-25 APPLICATION •

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