About Our Inspired Roots
Hi, I’m Mindy — a certified permaculture designer, homeschooling mom, herbalist, and homesteader in New Hampshire.
I started this journey because the world handed me a reality check I wasn’t expecting.
I graduated from college right before the 2008 financial crash. There were no jobs. And the ones that existed barely covered rent, let alone student loans. I’d done everything I was supposed to do, and yet, nothing was working out.
That was the moment I started asking a different question.
Not how do I get ahead in this system — but what if the system itself is the problem?
Start Homesteading
Grow Your Knowledge
in Our Freebie Library
Free guides, printables, and gardening know-how — all in one place. Come dig around (pun intended).
A Different Kind of Wealth
I grew up believing, as most of us did, that money was the only real currency. Work hard, earn enough, and spend it on the life you want.
But the math was not math-ing. You work to pay for food you don’t have time to cook, childcare for kids you don’t have time to raise, and a house you’re rarely home to enjoy.
What if there were other currencies?
Knowledge. Skills. Community. Time. Relationships. A piece of land producing food and medicine. A neighbor who trades eggs for herbs. A life where you’re genuinely rich in the things that actually matter.
That’s what homesteading opened up for me. It was never just a hobby garden. It was always a whole different way of measuring a life.
Where I am Now
I live in New Hampshire on about an acre with my two daughters, my dad, and my sister. It’s not my dream homestead, and there are a lot of things I wish were different.
But there’s something I didn’t expect about this setup: it’s actually a glimpse of the world I want to live in.
Three generations, sharing land, raising kids together, splitting the work.
It turns out the “radical” idea of interdependent community living is just… how humans used to live. And it’s better.
My girls have grown up learning through life — growing food, identifying wild edibles, and following their curiosity.
We prioritize learning through doing, learning from people who are passionate about a topic, and from living books.
We’ve homeschooled from the beginning (with one brief experiment in public school that confirmed that it’s not at all easier than homeschool).
The decision to homeschool actually started long before I had kids. In my early 20s, I worked at after-school programs and summer camps — work I loved. A seasoned coworker said something that stopped me cold: “These kids go to school all day, then come here. When they get home, they have an hour or two before bed. So this is where their childhood happens, and we need to make it great.”
It was meant to be encouraging. But it made me sad. Most kids’ childhoods were happening away from home — and I knew that wasn’t what I wanted for mine.
Today, my older daughter is building her own dog training business, and my younger one runs a YouTube channel showcasing her animations.
Both developed a genuine love of math entirely on their own terms.
That’s what learning through real life looks like.
I also work with local sustainability nonprofits, which means I get to learn from people who’ve been planting food forests and fruit tree guilds for decades, and also share the knowledge I have gained over the year. It’s a perfect example of alternative currencies working!
What I Actually Believe
The mainstream system isn’t broken by accident. It’s built around keeping people just busy enough, just tired enough, just in enough debt that they don’t have time to imagine anything different.
But here’s what I know after fifteen years of doing this differently:
You don’t need much land. You don’t need a lot of money. You don’t need to quit everything tomorrow.
You need knowledge. Community. And the willingness to take one real step.
Every garden bed is an act of reclaiming something. Every medicinal herb you grow is opting out of a system that profits from your dependence. Every hour your kid spends learning outside instead of sitting in a row is a quiet revolution.
I’ve built this life through low income, chronic illness, divorce, and a global lockdown. It has never been the most ideal conditions. And we keep going anyway.
What You’ll Find Here
This space is for people who feel the same pull — toward land, toward plants, toward raising kids who can actually think for themselves.
You’ll find:
- Permaculture and food forest design — guilds, native plants, fruit trees, soil health, all grounded in NH Zone 4/5 reality
- Apothecary gardening and herbalism — growing and using medicinal plants, designing healing spaces that are as beautiful as they are functional
- Life-led learning — homeschooling through real life (unschooling), living science, living math, and a Charlotte Mason-inspired approach that starts outside
- Honest homesteading — what’s working, what failed, what I’m figuring out in real time on a small piece of land in New Hampshire
I’m a Certified Permaculture Designer, trained in a 72-hour Permaculture Design Course (PDC) following the internationally recognized guidelines of the Permaculture Association — drawing on the work of David Holmgren, Bill Mollison, Geoff Lawton, and institutions like Oregon State University and Cornell University.
I also hold an advanced certificate in Social Permaculture, which explores how regenerative principles apply to human relationships, communities, and systems.
Alongside that, I’ve been a professional writer for over 15 years, focusing on natural health, herbalism, pregnancy and birth, holistic wellness, permaculture, and homesteading.
But more than any credential, I’ve actually been living this — through apartments and suburbs and rural acreage and back to a family homestead — for over 15 years.
Workshop
Effortless Soil Building Plan
Easily build healthy soil the permaculture way
This resource will help you learn the ecological way to build your soil, without hauling compost or buying expensive amendments.
You’re in the Right Place If…
- You suspect the mainstream path isn’t the only path
- You want to grow your own food and medicine, wherever you are
- You’re homeschooling (or thinking about it) and want learning to feel like life, not school-at-home
- You’re building a different kind of life, bit by bit, and you want honest company on the road
This is a space for people who know there’s another way — and are brave enough to build it.
Welcome. I’m glad you’re here :)
-Mindy
Not sure where to begin? Check out my Start Here page.
