Bring your dream homestead to life
Enrollment for my Fall 2023 Resilient Homestead Program is now closed.
The program will be offered again in Fall 2024.
Sign-up below to be the first to hear about it!
Discover how you can eat from your garden 365 days/year, even in a cold climate!
If you're ready to grow your own food, live healthier and build more self-reliance, then you're in the right place.
Get ready to:
- Walk out of your backdoor to do “groceries”
- Sit down to a delicious and nutritious organic meal that comes entirely from your garden
- Get healthy and reconnect to the natural world
- Feel like you’re doing something positive and empowering for yourself, your family and the earth
If you're interested in hearing when my Fall 2024 Resilient Homestead Program opens up for enrollment, please sign-up below!
With so much Uncertainty, Take Back Control of your Food
Climate change, a pandemic, food shortages, topsoil loss, wildfires – these are unsettling and challenging times on so many levels.
Sometimes it’s hard to feel hopeful about the future.
We know that our large-scale food systems are fragile and the processed food they produce, laden with herbicides and pesticides, is making us sick.
More and more, we need to get back to the basics.
Learning how to grow our own food and setting up a resilient homestead are some of the most positive steps forward at this time.
Not only are you setting up your food security and reclaiming your health but this lifestyle allows you to contribute something positive to your community. Rather than feeling helpless and fearful about the future, you feel like you are living part of the solution.
Build a Homestead and Get Back to the Basics
If you’re like many other people waking up to the homesteading life, you’ve probably read books, watched videos, and you have big plans and dreams for your self-reliant life. Yet the prospect of translating that into a doable plan seems overwhelming.
I get it, it’s hard to know where to start.
You might be feeling overwhelmed with all the things you need to keep in mind. How big should my garden be? How many fruit trees do I want and where do I put them? Should I have animals and if so, what kind? Are my goals even realistic seeing as I live in such a cold climate?
And then, because you’re not sure how to even START designing an efficient and productive site…you get stuck and nothing happens, because what if you waste time and money and it doesn’t work?
Then comes the feeling of frustration that your plans still haven’t happened yet! And you’re back where you started, with the burning desire to change and create a more sustainable lifestyle for you and your family, but not really sure the best way to go about it.
Hi, I’m Kareen Erbe.
I’m a homesteader, permaculture educator, design consultant and owner of Broken Ground. I help people in cold climates grow their own food so they can cultivate more resilience. I’ve taught thousands of people through my workshops, both live and online, and have consulted with aspiring gardeners and homesteaders for over a decade.
It’s my mission to get as many people as possible building a resilient life that enables them to not only live their values and connect to their community but to feed their families safe and healthy food.
I live with my family on a suburban homestead in Bozeman, Montana. Even with our short and unpredictable growing season, we manage to grow a good portion of our own food.
Check out some of our harvests:
As we move into winter, I always feel grateful for the abundance of our land and the ways in which it gives back to us year after year.
But I didn’t go from zero to producing a lot of our own food overnight. Designing and implementing our site was a multi-phase, multi-year project.
Because of my background in permaculture design and gardening, I took a step-by-step approach to the project that made implementation clear, easy, and straightforward.
Did I make mistakes? Absolutely! But I learned A LOT from those mistakes. And now my clients are the ones who benefit from that learning and direct experience.
Get a step-by-step guide
After consulting with clients for more than a decade, here’s what I’ve also discovered: it’s invaluable to have a guide that helps you design your homestead, someone who can mentor you through a proven process to go from overwhelm to implementation. No matter how many videos or books you read, nothing beats having someone who can hold your hand and give you a step-by-step plan.
Let me save you the hassle and the headaches, not to mention wasted money and energy. Let’s spend the fall and winter getting your site design right from the beginning, so that you can start building and planting come spring!
Stop Dreaming and Start Doing
If you had…
- A clear understanding of the vision for your homestead…
- A site plan that was easy to implement
- And a toolkit to help you every step of the way to make it happen…
Could you create the homestead of your dreams?
Introducing
THE RESILIENT HOMESTEAD PROGRAM
A 4-month hybrid experience (with 1:1 and group elements) for people who want to develop a comprehensive site plan AND get the tools and knowledge to implement it.
Twice/month for 4 months, I will walk you through my Resilient Homestead Roadmap, my four-part framework for designing an integrated homestead site that saves you time, energy and money.
Whether you have a small lot or a larger plot of land, this program will jumpstart your planning process and set you on course to bring your dream homestead to life.
Drawing on permaculture design principles, whole systems design, and my direct experience working with clients, I’ll guide you through my proven process for getting your ideas and big picture vision translated into a site plan.
IMAGINE:
- Having a clear plan that you can start implementing in the spring
- Understanding the steps to make your vision a reality
- Having the knowledge and confidence to start planting a veggie garden and a food forest
- Being able to identify the priorities and confidently proceed with your choices
- Feel confident that the money you’re spending is a good use of resources
Let’s bring your dream homestead to life!
Imagine how good it will feel to have a step-by-step plan to implement next spring!
Here's what participants have said about the program:
Here's how the Resilient Homestead Program works:
As a group, we will meet every two weeks from November through February for 2 hours (via zoom).
In between our calls, I’ll be giving you a step-by-step plan to start building a map of your site. Myself and the other members of the Resilient Homestead group will offer ideas, feedback and support on your map, while holding you accountable to your plans and dreams.
PHASE ONE: Resilient Homestead Foundations
We’ll spend the first 4 sessions learning about topics like soil-building, creating food forests, vegetable gardening, harvesting rainwater, small animal systems and social systems design. This will give you a foundation for understanding your site’s potential and the different elements that could comprise your homestead.
PHASE TWO: Resilient Homestead Roadmap
With my guidance, I’ll put you in the driver’s seat to clarify your goals and develop an integrated site plan. I’ll take you through my 4-part framework to go from blank map to a solid design on paper.
PHASE THREE: Site Plan Review and Timeline for Implementation
I’ll give you feedback on your site plan and work with you to develop a clear timeline for implementation, so that you know exactly what to do come spring.
PHASE FOUR: Deeper Dive Homesteading Topics
As a group, we’ll identify 3 additional topics of interest. I’ll tap into my network of experts for some guest teaching! Whether that’s greenhouse building, setting up a market garden, herbalism, food preservation, seed-saving, nutrition and cooking, or raising goats and sheep, you’ll learn from other cold climate experts.
You'll walk away with:
- CLARITY on your goals and a vision for your life and landscape
- GUIDANCE from me - both one-on-one and group mentoring sessions
- COMMUNITY & ACCOUNTABILITY - like-minded people going through the same process who will lend ideas and support. Community and connection have been guiding forces for me. We need the accountability to keep us going!
- PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE - concrete tools for your resilient homestead
- Starting a vegetable garden so you can walk out your backdoor do to groceries
- Creating a food forest so you can be eating fresh fruit year round
- Harvesting rainwater so that you can minimize watering bills
- Building soil so you’re importing less and less amendments every year
- Pruning and maintaining fruit trees and shrubs so you can increase yields
- Resilient life practices so you can keep doing this for years to come
- The best medicinal plants for your garden
- Backyard animals that would be appropriate for your site and your lifestyle
- Preserving the harvest so that you can eat out of your garden 365 days/year
Here's what's included in the program:
-
2-hour Sessions every two weeks for 4 months (9 sessions total)
To deliver relevant content about permaculture principles, whole systems design and homestead practices. Also includes Q&A sessions and breakout rooms.($2,700 value) -
1:1 Deep Dive Sessions (2 sessions)
I will work directly with you to clarify your goals, develop your site plan and give you feedback. We will work through any obstacles you might have so you are 100% confident to implement in the Spring.($400 value) -
Resilient Homestead Community
Like-minded individuals who will help you brainstorm ideas, strategize about next steps, and make you accountable for coming up with a solid plan. ($500 value) -
Site Plan & Timeline for Implementation
Working together, we'll come up with an integrated site plan for your property, a custom species list, and a timeline for implementation. ($4000 value)
Plus these bonuses:
BONUS #1: site planning work session ($300 value)
During the program, I’ll host an online and in-person site planning work session. This will give you the opportunity to work on your site plan with my guidance and an opportunity to get input from others in the group.
BONUS #2: Guest Experts ($1000 value)
Having been in the local food movement for over a decade, I have access to various guest experts that will deep dive with you on specific homesteading topics. As a group, we’ll identify the top 3 topics and I’ll bring in the experts to cover the material! Whether that’s greenhouse building, setting up a market garden, herbalism, food preservation, nutrition and cooking, or raising goats and sheep, we’ll learn from other cold climate experts that will deepen your knowledge.
WHAT'S THIS PROGRAM WORTH?
Well, the value of all the training and resources you get access to is $8,900…
Although, let’s face it, setting up a self-reliant homestead that feeds you in food, beauty and community is truly priceless.
IMAGINE
- Cutting your grocery bill in half because you’re producing all of your own organic fresh fruit and vegetables.
- The peace of mind of knowing exactly where your food comes from.
- Walking through your food forest of apple, pear and plum trees and enjoying the birds, bees and butterflies that are benefiting from the habitat you’ve planted.
- Enjoying a garden meal with your friends and neighbors in your backyard.
- Leaving a legacy for your children.
- Taking practical steps every day to combat climate change.
- Becoming a hub for community-building in your region.
YOUR INVESTMENT?
$1550
(OR 4 x $390 payments)
In order to best serve you, I am keeping the group small. Sign-up today to secure your spot!
Feeling tight on finances? I have limited partial scholarships available, along with longer payment plants. Get in touch with me to talk more about it!
GET READY TO:
- Feel the safety and security of producing your own food
- Cut down on your grocery and watering bills
- Get healthy
- Reconnect to the natural world
- Feel positive and hopeful about the future
The investment you make now will feed you in food for years to come. What is that level of resilience worth to you?
Imagine having the peace of mind of knowing where your food comes from, providing for your family in these uncertain times, feeling prepared, and setting yourself up for long-term food security and abundance.
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM?
YOUR INVESTMENT?
$1550
(OR 4 x $390 payments)
STILL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM?
frequently asked questions
We will meet once every two weeks, on Tuesday evenings, starting the second week of November. All classes will be recorded so if you can’t make certain dates, you’ll be able to catch the recording.
Set aside roughly 1.5 hours/week to dedicate to this program. This includes your time on zoom calls, plus additional time to meet 1:1 with me and/or start mapping your site.
This is one of the reasons why I’m offering this early in the spring. Once May rolls around, you want to be in the implementation phase. Our time together will allow you to hone your plan and be ready to put the plan into action.
My design process applies to any scale, whether you have a smaller lot or substantial acreage.
Building food security for your family, cultivating your resilience and setting up a homestead that gives you food and security is THE thing to do right now.
The only thing you need is a computer, access to the internet, and the ability to join a zoom call.
Take action now and be part of the solution.
The time to join this program is NOW.
Design a life connected to your food, live healthier, and start building your resilience.
Large-scale food systems are fragile. More and more, we need to rely on ourselves and our local community to build our food security.
When you join the Resilient Homestead Program now, you’ll have the fall and winter to finalize your plan and gain the knowledge you need to be ready for implementation in the spring.
Don’t stay in the false starts, frustration, overwhelm or confusion, join the program and we’ll get you closer to your dreams!
With the fresh food that I pull out of my garden each season, my confidence builds that together we can solve some of the most pressing problems by living simpler and healthier.
I would love it if you joined me on this journey.