• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Start Here
  • Calendar
  • The Hands-On Home

Northwest Edible Life

urban homesteading in the pacific northwest

  • Gardening
  • Cooking
  • Food Preservation
  • Animals
  • Productive Home
  • Life & Family

Life and Family

8June 8, 2017Homeschooling by Erica

Six Reasons We Started Homeschooling

We’ve been homeschooling for a year now. There are challenges and advantages to this educational system, but for us, for now, it’s definitely the right choice. Here’s six reasons why we chose to homeschool.

Read More

0January 1, 2016Motherhood by Erica

Embracing Less In 2016

My son came bounding into my room this morning and gave me his customary giant good morning hug. He’s typically extra adorable right after he wakes me up by jumping on my bed 4 inches from my face. “Happy New Years!” I said, “It’s a brand new year!” After sufficient snuggling, my son resumed his…

Read More

0September 29, 2015Life and Family by Erica

On Mint Patties and Book Launches

When I was in 3rd grade, I was pudgy and had a classic bowl home-haircut and I was in Camp Fire. Camp Fire is like Co-Ed Girl Scouts, except it ends up being all girls anyway, because the boys all join Boy Scouts. In Camp Fire you volunteer and earn badges and sing songs and go…

Read More

2February 2, 2015Motherhood by Erica

Unexpected Parenting Benefits of Seed Starting Mix

Recently I had occasion to make a new batch of the seed starting mix I’ve been experimenting with. I’ll do a whole post on this very soon. But to be super brief, you basically just dump stuff together and mix, and I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to just lay a tarp out in…

Read More

5January 21, 2015Motherhood by Erica

{Reader Question} Can You Homestead with Kids?

I received a question the other day from reader Andrea about how to keep up with a “homesteader” type lifestyle when you have kids. I would love to know where you were in this journey when you had babies and how you were able to keep up with it. We currently live a similar life (gardens, chickens,…

Read More

1August 12, 2014Life and Family by Erica

On Depression

I take medication for depression. I’m fine. Don’t worry. But for awhile, some time after my son was born, I wasn’t okay. I dealt with being not okay pretty well, and kept up the facade of okay until one day when the facade cracked and I threw a bowl of blueberries across the kitchen and…

Read More

1May 15, 2014Motherhood by Erica

Things I've Said In The Past Week

Hello darling readers, I just wanted to check in and let you know I’m calling a mulligan on this entire week. We will get back to our regularly scheduled programming on Monday. Until then, here’s a few actual things I’ve said this past week that will give you a sense of how I’ve been spending…

Read More

2April 24, 2014Motherhood by Erica

Permaculture Parenting

Note: this is a super long post, and much of it is personal story and observation stuff. If you want to just skip to the bottom for the take-away lessons on combining Permaculture with parenting, please feel free. For a while there my son and I were really butting heads. I’ve been at the end…

Read More

0September 9, 2013Motherhood by Erica

Thoughts At The Turn Of The Season

Life flows. The garden and managing it’s bounty takes hours of my time. Whole weekends get dedicated to putting in spring starts, preserving tomatoes, catching up on weeding when I fall behind, which is often. And then, in the turn of a season, the garden coasts. Weeds slow, crops round into maturity of their own…

Read More

1July 9, 2013Motherhood by Erica

Saying Goodbye to Bleary Eyed Exhaustion?

My son is almost three years old. A week ago he slept for 4.75 hours straight, from 8 pm until nearly 1 am. That was the lifetime record for maximum time slept in his own bed. He does not nap. He’s never napped in any consistent way. I was estimating with my husband a few…

Read More

2June 14, 2013Life and Family by Erica

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Gardening with Children

One My greenhouse had gotten away from me. Weeds were threadening to overtake the tomates. Slugs had overtaken the cucumbers and basil, both of which needed a replant. And so I embarked on a clean-up effort. Out came the mini handheld hoe and the red plastic mulch. Somewhere along the way I decided to redo…

Read More

16May 9, 2013Life and Family by Erica

Making School Lunch Easier: The Sandwich-Plus Plan

You can freeze sandwiches. Why didn’t I realize this about 3 years ago? I have a school-age daughter, and naturally I want her to have nutritious, healthy lunches. My attempts to send my daughter in with various kinds of frugal, left-over based meals have met with mixed success, and all too often my kid would…

Read More

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar



Hi! I'm Erica, the founder of NWEdible and the author of The Hands-On Home. I garden, keep chickens and ducks, homeschool my two kids and generally run around making messes on my one-third of an acre in suburban Seattle. Thanks for reading!

Copyright © 2025 Northwest Edible Life LLC ·