From the Brunette who gardens
From the Brunette who gardens
Why this mission is important, and what you can do.
Welcome to Brunette Gardens! I’m Lisa Brunette, bringing you homesteading 🌱 on a quarter acre in the city, with a little snark and a lot of healing heart. ❤️🩹
A 1/4 acre sounds pretty small. Is it really a homestead?
That’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot, actually. Here in my fifties and on a limited budget, I’ve transformed an overgrown, quarter-acre plot into a stunning oasis that supports pollinators and wildlife, providing for at least 15-20 percent of our household calories. We’re not in a rural setting but rather a major metropolitan center of a few million residents. Apartment dwellers literally look down onto our farm from their balconies on both sides. I use the word farm deliberately, as we’re one of only two in the city to earn the official designation.
I believe what constitutes a homestead is changing and will continue to expand to include urban and suburban homes of many shapes and sizes as this movement grows.
Why is homesteading becoming so popular?
The fossil fuel-driven, industrial world is waning… slowly. We all have this window, this moment in life to boost our food security, build our self-reliance and independence, and recover the manners and methods that allowed our ancestors to survive the worst of times.
What about that snark? And the healing heart?
I’ve got a crusty shell, which accounts for the snark, and I’m recovering from an autoimmune condition, which has its roots in a wounded heart. ❤️🩹 What I’m doing here in my own home and garden is healing it.
For free and paid subscribers
I’m one of those people who often gets asked for advice—about gardening, food preservation, and healthy living in general. That’s why I write Brunette Gardens. Through occasional posts, I can share what I’ve learned over a lifetime of obsessing over—and writing about—gardening and food.
When you sign up for free, you’ll get access to the full archive going back two years: updates, recipes, tips, interviews. Paying subscribers receive access to more intimate personal essays, farm tours, researched deep dives, narrated versions, and more. You also get the printable recipe archive and my answers via the “Just Ask” chat any time.
Top posts
🧺 How to homestead when you don’t have a homestead. With and without chickens, in the midst of neighborhood shootings.
🥬 Your basic sauerkraut. It’s been the holy grail of survival for thousands of years, yet few people know how easy it is.
🐦 The year of dying. A cathartic account of loss and redemption in the garden that resonated with many.
🥗 Salad days. A no-recipe recipe for going from garden to table with ease.
Join me in support of resilient food systems
Far from the fantasy of homesteading you’ll find everywhere online, I hope my humble homesteading-in-place model inspires you to cultivate new skills, ditch your mainstream diet, and get in touch with what you can grow and cook yourself.
If you’re with me in the belief that local food systems are the best option to a bloated and strained global supply chain, I hope you’ll join me. The easiest way to do this is to simply subscribe to Brunette Gardens for free. I won’t ever share or sell your email address—Substack doesn’t own my list; I do.
You can choose to upgrade your subscription to paid at any time. When you do, you’re honoring me and my guest authors for our research, image creation, and writing. You’re also acknowledging the years of time and effort we’ve put into cultivating our soil, as well as our talents.
Subscriptions cost just $5.99 per month, and you can cancel anytime.
If you’ve already signed up, you might share this with a friend. Besides building good karma, it’s one way to earn yourself a paid subscription for free, and you can track your progress on the leaderboard.
Thank you a ton of tomatoes for your support of my important work to help others find health and happiness in their own backyards! I’m truly grateful.
🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱