Us.

I was born and raised in Central Alberta on a substantial Family Farm. We raised cattle, pigs, horses, grew grain, planted a garden, our best friends were our cousins. Pretty much, the picture perfect Farm upbringing. We played Ninja Turtles in the culverts, caught frogs by the creek and spent hours building forts in the trees.
I found solace in the rush of the creek in the spring when the snow melted and the purring of the latest stray barn cat that showed up. I grew up loving animals, needing nature and knowing that my role in life was meant to be a part of the farm.

In my early twenties, I married the man of my dreams. He was a mechanic by trade and my Prince Charming by heart. He too came from a large family farm and a love of agriculture is deeply rooted in his soul. We have two of the most amazing children, a daughter and a son. The perfect family.
Fast forward to our mid- thirties. After some twists and turns in our careers and our personal lives, my Husband and I realized that being part of the Family Farm was not in the cards for us. At 35 years old, we both had to find a new dream for what our future looked like.
We turned to dirtbikes, travel and building a life with our two children. I took a personal interest in Holistic Health and Nutrition and decided to go back to school. My studies in Nutrition led me to new interests in the farm and agriculture. Not just a genuine love of everything about it, but a deep desire to provide for my Family in the most natural, basic way I could. Brian turned to Agriculture sales and after finding it was more stress and less satisfaction, he has returned to mechanics and a love of working with his hands as well as his mind.
Our paths ALWAYS lead us back to the land. Back to Agriculture in some form or another. We started by growing gardens in our town yard, canning our food, filling our minds with every bit of information about healthy eating we could.
Brian’s sales position led us to an acreage in the middle of nowhere. It was PERFECT!! We once again found our peace. The stillness and quiet of the country filled our hearts and brought my soul home.
We do not own our land, so homesteading looks a little different for us than some. I started with a crippling fear of birds and to get over that fear (and because they were the only farm animal I could have) I got my first chicks. Two years later we satisfy our craving for livestock with chickens, ducks, turkeys, guinea fowl, rabbits and geese. We grow an intense garden, preserve our vegetables and on acreage fruit, butcher our own animals and make our gifts and meals from scratch.
I am not sure what our future homestead looks like, but I do know this… we are MEANT for this life. A life of old lessons, taught in new ways, a life of keeping the skills, tools and values of the past present, working with both our hands and our hearts. Valuing the way our Grandfathers and Grandmothers did things, made things, fixed things and sharing those lessons and this life with everyone we can! So in the meantime, we share through our poultry, our gardens, our many adventures!

Why did we choose the name Rooted Soil Homestead?

Well, to be honest I chose the name. A few years ago on a trip to British Columbia we travelled through Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island. The stories about how deeply rooted the trees were and their ability to withstand the fires and storms and persevere stuck with me. When we returned home, I noticed that during a storm here the trees would uproot, roots and all and fall over. It is something that has left a huge imprint on me. Even though I am not rooted in this place, I am rooted in my beliefs and values that always bring us back to the land, to the past, to the soil. That is how I chose our name. I hope you will feel it is as suited to our business as we do. xoxo