Hey there! I'm Julia. The girl behind the blog reformstead.com

welcome!

I live in Arizona on 2.5 acres, with HOT summers☀️, lots of cacti🌵 and amazing sunsets🌅! A sinner saved by grace, I'm also a homeschool graduate🎓. The oldest of six, I live with my family at home🏡. Serving the King, Jesus Christ, above all is my number one goal.

We didn’t start with 2.5 acres. Although I've lived in Arizona all my life, both my dad and mom grew up back east...and homesteading was the farthest thing from either of their minds. They moved to, met, and married in Arizona, and that’s where my siblings and I were born.

Starting in the city, every time we moved we kept getting farther and farther from it...living on a slightly larger piece of land each time, than the spot before. Starting at walking distance to the grocery store, to the closest grocery store 15 minutes away.

I caught the homesteading vision sometime back when I was about 16 years old. I read all the books I could get. 

I know back then I read The Backyard Homestead, The Backyard Homestead Guide to Farm Animals and best of all, Joel Salatin's You Can farm. All of these were great beginner books for the aspiring homesteader. I also borrowed countless books from the library.

If you just had to choose one, You Can Farm is my top choice. I love Salatin's farming methods! He is an amazing steward of God's creation and does an excellent job teaching others how to farm in a truly Christian way. 

If there was a book about how to raise animals or grow food for my family on a few acres of land, I was all in. 

I loved working with all the farm animals! Goats, sheep, chickens, guineas - I love them all. (Sadly 2 acres of Arizona aren't necessarily enough to support a cow which is sad. My sweet Jersey was my favorite...but maybe someday I'll be able to get another.) 

Gardening wasn't my thing at first, but over time I have grown to love it.🌻  I wasn't born with a green thumb, and if that's you I'm happy to say you can learn too! :)

I needed to back off of all the farming for a couple of years. It was a season. 

But since I've been back at it I remember just how much I LOVE this life and all the work and enjoyment it brings.👩🏻‍🌾😌 

A friend even got me into roses and I have some pretty ones I just panted (bare root) and I can't wait to see how they do.😍

I love to play Vivaldi and anything baroque or fiddle violin🎻 (although my sister can tell you, I'm bad at practicing😬). I love to take photos📸 or take on big projects.😏 (one at a time...actually.....not always the case🙃)

Last but not least, I LOVE to enjoy God’s beautiful creation! Whether that be on my homestead or a hike...Arizona is a pretty amazing place to live.😎 (yeah, okay...maybe a little dry😜)

But regardless...

Wherever you live, I hope I can inspire you to get out there and live the life of your dreams! You too can build am amazing homestead of your own. 

P.S. Life will be easier if you plan upfront on homesteading being a lot of work...but then relax and take it one step at a time. It won't happen overnight, but with time and God's blessing the results will be 💯% worth it.

(This page was last updated 4.22.23)

check out my best selling 👇 garden planner 👇