Start Here

Hey there, glad you found us!

Wild Hearth Life is a place for anyone who wants to live a little simpler, grow a little more of their own food, and make their home feel like a warm, welcoming refuge. Whether you have 40 acres or a small apartment balcony, there is something here for you.

We cover everything from backyard gardening and raising chickens to food preserving, DIY projects, and creating a cozy home. No gatekeeping, no perfection, just real, practical ideas you can actually use.

Meet the person behind the site

I am Anthony Medeiros. I write Wild Hearth Life from a backyard in Exeter, Rhode Island, USDA zone 6b/7a. I started in 2016 with a few herbs on the back porch and a borrowed shovel. Ten years later, that same backyard has raised beds, in-ground rows, berry bushes, fruit trees, flowerbeds, an herb garden, and a flock of twelve Rhode Island Reds we raised from chicks. We have canned hundreds of jars, lost plenty of seedlings to late frost, and learned almost everything the slow way.

My wife and our two kids do this with me. We are not on acreage. We do not have a tractor. The point of this site is to show what is actually possible in a normal yard, with normal tools, when you start where you are and stick with it. Every guide here is something we either do ourselves, or research carefully and label as research when we have not.

If you want the longer version of how this got started, the About page tells the full story.

Explore by Topic

Here is a quick guide to what you will find on Wild Hearth Life:

Where to start by experience level

No matter what stage you are in, there is a path through the site that fits.

If you are brand new

Pick one thing. Skip the rest for now. Most people who burn out tried to start a garden, raise chickens, and learn to can in the same year. A good first project is your first vegetable garden or a kitchen herb garden. Both give you a real harvest in a single season and teach you the rhythm of growing food before you take on anything bigger.

If you have grown food before

The next leap is preserving what you grew. Water bath canning is the safest first step. After that, dehydrating and fermentation stretch the harvest into winter without much equipment.

If you are ready for animals

Backyard chickens are the easiest place to start. Read the complete beginner guide first, then look at building a coop and predator-proofing the run before you bring birds home. Do not skip predator-proofing. We learned that the hard way.

Honest expectations for your first year

A few things I want you to know before you start, because most homesteading sites bury them. The first year you grow your own food, you will lose a meaningful chunk of your harvest to pests, weather, deer, your own scheduling mistakes, or all four. That is not failure. That is data. Year two you will lose half as much. Year three you will start expecting it and planning around it.

Chickens will eat your favorite flower bed within a week of going free-range. They will also kill at least one mouse, eat any tick they find, and produce eggs so much better than store-bought that you will never go back. The trade is real and it is worth it, but go in with eyes open.

Canning takes more time than the recipe says, especially the first time. Plan a full Saturday for your first batch of jam and treat it as a learning day, not a production day. By the third batch you will be twice as fast and you will start running double recipes. By the second year you will start eyeing pressure canning, the chest freezer, and the root cellar as ways to bridge the gap between what you grew and what you eat in February.

None of this is meant to discourage you. The opposite. The reason I keep writing the site is that the version of the homestead life that actually exists, with all its mistakes and weather and pests, is more rewarding than the polished Instagram version that sells the dream. I would rather you arrive prepared than disappointed.

Most Popular Posts

Not sure where to dive in? These are some of our readers’ favorites:

• The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Backyard Chickens
• No-Till Gardening: How to Grow More by Digging Less
• Raised Bed Gardening for Beginners
• Composting 101: Turn Kitchen Scraps into Garden Gold
• How to Grow Microgreens in Mason Jars

Stay Connected

New posts go up most weeks, usually Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The fastest way to keep up is to follow along on the platform you actually use. Pinterest is where most readers find us first, Instagram is the day-to-day garden and chicken photos, and Flipboard collects every new article in one feed.

Seasonal Guides

Not sure what to do on your homestead this month? Our monthly seasonal guides cover everything, garden tasks by zone, kitchen projects, livestock care, DIY projects, and planning ahead. Start with the current month:

• January · February · March · April
• May · June · July · August
• September · October · November · December

The best way to keep up with Wild Hearth Life is to join our email list. You will get weekly tips, seasonal guides, and a little hearth-side inspiration, no spam, ever. We are also on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.

Thanks for being here. Now go grow something!