Who We Are
We are Zack and Erica Barlow, a married couple living on eight acres in The Bluegrass State (Kentucky). We have a son and a daughter, both of whom are a huge blessing to our family. On the animal front, we have two chihuahuas (Duke and Diesel), two cute bunnies (Peaches, a Netherland dwarf, and Gelato, a Holland lop), and a flock of chickens and ducks who are guarded by our African goose, Emma. Our homestead is also home to a robust, organic family garden.
Our Homestead Journey
When we first started looking for resources to help us learn about healthy living and how to better steward the abundance with which God has blessed us, we had a hard time finding information that shared all our values. For example, we found articles on how to make homemade laundry detergent. However, the ingredient safety was questionable. We also generated a lot of packaging waste. Another example is that we found a book on car stewardship, but the resources it mentioned were not sustainable, and the information was too dense for practical application.
Our Blog’s Purpose
In making this blog, our prayer is to provide you with a one-stop-shop that offers simple and practical swaps, solutions, and tips to help you on your journey of healthy living and stewardship. With this, we promise to keep the following values in mind when sharing what we have learned:
- Is the swap/solution safe and non-toxic?
- Does it help to shorten the supply chain/take out the middle man?
- Does it yield minimal waste?
- Does it increase the longevity/lifespan of _____?
- Is it simple and practical to use/implement?
Of course we know there is always more to learn, so we will do our best to update what we share as we grow in healthy living and stewardship.
If you have any questions or suggestions to share with us, check out our contact page. We would love to hear from you!
Q&A
We met at a church youth meeting and were friends for a few years before finally tying the knot in 2014.
Nope! Erica moved to Louisville in 2012 for a six-month, Christian outreach program. Zack lived in North Carolina at that time, and then deployed for nine months. When Erica’s program was complete, she decided to remain in Louisville. Zack moved to Louisville once he finished his deployment. We got married the following spring!
We grew herbs in our apartment the first year we were married, then moved on to using raised bed planters in our townhouse’s “backyard.” #Ericaisaplantlady Once we moved to our first house, we expanded the garden and got chickens. We moved to our current property with eight acres in the spring of 2020 and are excited to expand our homesteading endeavors even more over time!
We believe being faithful in that which is least is a good foundation for being faithful in that which is much (Luke 16:10-12). In other words, we want our faithfulness in physical matters to help us build faithfulness in spiritual matters. Our decisions to grow in these categories are based out of love and thankfulness. Plus, who doesn’t want to learn how to make things last and get the most bang for their buck?!
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