We are Rickie and Mandy Hartman and we want to bring you along with us as we grow into this lifestyle that we planned, imagined, and cultivated for several years. We hope this blog will become a digest of inspiration and knowledge about self-sustainable living, or maybe just a peaceful place to land for a few minutes to get away from the chaotic hustle and bustle that life can bring at times.
We want to show you how to grow it yourself, make it from scratch, and preserve it for future sustenance, or share with those you love or those who need it.
Rickie and I began homesteading because we were stuck in the rat race. Life was boiled down to going to work to pay for food, gas, car, mortgage, insurance…on and on. There was nothing restful about life in the city. Work demands increased resulting in constant stress and a lethargic attitude about what lies ahead in the next days and weeks on the job. When the weekend rolled around, the time seemed to fly by as if it never happened. Peace was fleeting, and joy was minimal. Everything revolved around our jobs. And quite frankly, we missed each other. We wanted to be together, work for ourselves, spend our time and energy to sustain ourselves.
We were drawn to the old ways of living we were raised in
It was about the time Rickie started tending a small garden in the back yard of our rented Northern Virginia townhouse that we began reminiscing about the simpler ways that we used to live. We cherished it and we had a great desire to try our best to slow down, have a seat, and snap some beans on the front porch. So we set a goal and only made life decisions that were dedicated to achieving the purpose of becoming debt free and living a simple and self-sustainable life on a homestead.
It took us about six years (three of those years were spent living in a camper), but we made it. We had originally planned to live our homestead life in Homer Alaska until a serious motorcycle accident in 2020 had us shifting direction. When things don’t go as planned, you pick up and you move on. So in October of 2021 we were finally able to take the plunge, quit our jobs and move to our perfect little 18-acre homestead nestled in the mountains of Northeast Tennessee. Now that we are here, we would love for you to follow our journey so we can
Make It On The Homestead
Meet the Hartman Homestead
Mandy was born and raised in a small logging community in Southwest Oregon. She was adopted by her grandparents at a young age. Grandpa was a logger and a hunter while Grandma stayed home to sew, crochet, bake, and go fishing. In the summer Grandma would take her to a u-pick garden where they picked green beans and tomatoes to put up for the year. She remembers eating as many fresh tomatoes as she possibly could before they were all stowed away into jars. Snapping beans was her least favorite chore but she sure loved the end result. Now she grows her own beans and tomatoes and thinks of grandma every time she shoves them into a jar.
Rickie was born and raised in a tiny unincorporated town in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. His father was a coal miner, his mother, a teacher’s assistant. His grandparents owned a large farm and land where Rickie spent all of his childhood. Every day after school he would run over to the farm to do whatever chores needed to be done to include tending a few hundred head of cattle and the large family garden where everyone pitched in to help tend and grow. When it came time to harvest, the family came together to preserve their bounty and shared amongst all who helped. This is where Rickie learned the fundamentals of canning, gardening and running cattle and applies much of that knowledge, and so much more here on the Hartman Homestead
Jessica is the one who makes what we do here on the Hartman Homestead look glamorous. She is a photographer who loves playing outside, crafting, and Jeep ducking. She is a graduate of James Madison University with a Fine Arts degree concentrating on photography. She was born and raised in Northern Virginia and now lives here in East Tennessee looking to find new and creative ways to pursue all of her artistic passions. One way she is doing that is by providing the photography for the Make It On The Homestead blog and she also works as the Social Media advisor and coordinator. She loves getting her hands dirty helping with other aspects of our homestead life, which might actually be her favorite part of the gig. Follow her on Instagram @Jessicamariannaphotography