About me

Hey there fellow plant nerd! I’m Kiri and I’m so glad we’ve found each other!  If you answered yes to any of those five questions then you should feel right at home here!  If I could sum myself up in just one sentence it would be this. I’m a just city girl who wishes she was a country girl, who is currently living in the suburbs.  My own personal little mantra is #makefoodgrow.

I have a house, a husband, one kid and a car that I don’t drive. I’m the one person I know that doesn’t and hasn’t ever had a driver’s license…unless you count the 365 I had because I could get that by taking a written test. Because I’m a nerd…and not having to actually drive a real car. 

I also have one crazy French Bulldog (Bacon) and two Sphynx cats (Miss Kitty and Lion-o).  I grew up sewing and cooking with my mum and building sh*t with my dad…and that was pretty perfect in my books (and I love books…cause like I mentioned I’m a nerd).

Back in December 2013, we had a huge ice storm in Ontario. It was right before Christmas and we lost power for 3 days.  I remember walking around my neighbourhood trying to get a cell signal. As I was out on this mini-mission a guy in a pickup pulled up beside me and rolled down his window wanting to know if I had found a cell signal. I hadn’t and we both returned to our mutual quests. It was truly like something out of a zombie apocalypse (without the zombies of course)!

Back at home, I had to figure out how to keep the pipes from freezing, keep us warm, fed and also keep The Boy’s hedgehog alive. That may seem like a weird bit of info to throw in there, but it was a huge part of those 3 days without power. Cupcake (that’s the hedgehog) was an African pygmy hedgehog and utterly adorable. The trouble was that if she got too cold she would have tried to hibernate and this would have killed her.  Lucky for us, we have a gas stove. So I was able to cook and heat the house by boiling large parts of water and moving them on and off the burners.  So pretty much I turned our house into a sauna, but it worked and we managed just fine.

Ultimately it started for me a need to be more self-sufficient. It drove home how unequipped we have become as a society in terms of taking care of our daily needs. We run to the grocery store for whatever we need, order off amazon and use Uber eats.  For most people, gone are the days of sewing your own clothes, making bread every day and eating out of the garden or grabbing canned food from the cold cellar.  So feeling shaken from the whole ice storm ordeal, let me state up front, my dream is not to have a true homestead (yet). 

I would, however, love to get some land in the country where I could grow much more and to have chicken, ducks, goats and a horse.  I just don’t see myself going off-grid, and that’s ok!  So if you are curious about homesteading, whether it be in your apartment, in the city or in the burbs…then this is the place for you!  I’ll share what I have learned so far along my own journey as well as sharing all my upcoming adventures!

I’ve been growing food in my back yard for years, which is indication number one that you should start a micro homestead. But last year I dug up a quarter of the backyard with just a garden claw.  With this venture complete, I committed to getting serious with growing our food and I upped my canning and jamming game.  I have even turned part of my front yard into an edible garden!  Until then, I am forging ahead with my first foray into hydroponic gardening…I have a small Aerogarden in the kitchen and a big one in the basement. Upstairs in my sewing room, I even have ginger and a pineapple growing! 

I was born in Auckland, New Zealand but I have lived pretty much my whole life in Canada.  In my younger years, I was a Toronto girl until I got married and then we moved to Pickering.  While there are days when I don’t like living where the air hurts your face…I do love living somewhere that has seasons.  Spring, when everything starts to renew itself and serious house cleaning occurs.  Summer, where cottages are visited, caesars are drunk and we celebrate the few months of true warmth that we get up here in Canada.  Fall, when the trees become art, PSLs are bountiful and the baking begins.  Finally winter, where the air hurts our face, homes become cozy and Christmas is just around the corner. 

Some of my other hobbies are photography, running and making purses.  The Honey Bagger was my first side hustle.  It’s a great way for me to be creative and I love sewing. I’m actually planning to start sewing some of my own clothes. So we will have to see how that venture goes. So by this point, I’m sure you’ve realized that I am not one to sit still…I’m so glad we have found each other!

Now that we are friends, I’d love for you to come along with me on my crazy suburban homestead adventures!