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About Better Hens and Gardens

Lesa, Tinkerbell, and Honey

First Goats Arrive at Bramblestone Farm

Welcome, I’m Lesa (it sounds like Lisa) and I write Better Hens and Gardens to help rural-minded folks transition to more self-sufficient, sustainable, lifestyles. It’s meant to share all the “stuff” we learned while building homesteads striving for a simpler life.

How We Learned

The Early Years – As an engineer and manager for a large corporation, I was relocated ten times over a span of twenty years. Over time, I became increasingly concerned about our food supply; so, with each move, I tried to shift closer to my vision of self-sufficiency, sustainability, and real foods.

During this period, my partner (Randy) and I built homes, patios, and decks; and grew vegetables, flowers, and fruit trees at multiple locations. All while living in suburbia and being employed full-time.

Bramblestone Farm – In 2000, we purchased ten acres that we named Bramblestone Farm and started a true rural journey. There, we experienced the full range of beautiful Northeast Ohio seasons and built a passive solar homestead complete with deck, patio, barn, livestock fencing, chicken coops, and apiary.

Bramblestone Farm Logo

We grew a large garden, raised Buckeye and Golden Buff chickens, bred award-winning Nigerian Dwarf goats, and became beekeepers. In 2013, I retired from the corporate world and in 2014, started sharing farm knowledge by writing for national magazines such as Urban Farm, Chickens Magazine, and Hobby Farms. You can see some of my highlighted publication credits HERE.

We believe that food grown without antibiotics, hormones, artificial fertilizers, insecticides, or herbicides is important; so, while at Bramblestone Farm, we tried to produce our own without those additives. The chickens supplied meat and eggs, the goats provided milk, the honey bees supplied honey, and the garden supplied fruits and vegetables. You can read more about Bramblestone Farm HERE.

Bramblestone South – In 2020, we decided to sell Bramblestone Farm and move to a more temperate climate. So, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, we left the goats, chickens, honey bees, and farm and moved to sunny Hilton Head Island.

We loved Bramblestone Farm and definitely miss it (I particularly miss my beloved goats); however, back health issues made it impossible for me to care for it properly anymore. So, I will continue to write about our adventures on the farm and all that we learned, as well as adventures at our new location.

The property at Bramblestone South is much smaller, but we plan on having gardens and honey bees. We’ll continue our efforts in self-sufficiency, sustainability, and real foods but perhaps with more of a focus on how to accomplish these goals as older folks. As you can see below, the property includes a pool with spa to encourage us to keep moving and stay fit.

Randy & Lesa Beside Spa & Pool

The Spa & Pool At Bramblestone South

We hope you enjoy Better Hens and Gardens, learn something useful, and share your insights or comments back with us!

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The contents of this site are the property of Better Hens and Gardens. All content contained herein is copyrighted. We love it when you share, but if you do, please link back to the original post. Material included here is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, the giving of medical advice. This blogs content is for informational purposes only and Better Hens and Gardens or others associated with this site shall not be held liable for any damages incurred through the use of information provided in this blog. Better Hens and Gardens accepts products for review and other forms of paid advertising; however, although compensation received may influence the content or topics covered in this blog, it will never influence our opinion of any product. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are purely those of Better Hens and Gardens. Any product claim or other representation about a product or service should be verified by the manufacturer. Better Hens and Gardens is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
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