Hearth & Heart Homestead

06/10/2026

05/02/2025

I have silently pulled out of vending events and markets, removed the "shop" page from my website, and closed down my Etsy. Spirit told me to retreat, listen, and learn this year, and so that is what I am doing. And man, taking the "business" part out of my work with the plants has been so freeing! I can just be again... just play and learn through that play... it's wonderful!

I don't know if I'll ever return to selling products to be honest... but I still make them for myself, my family members, my neighbors, my friends... and this way of "production" feels good. I may keep it that way...

Still available to talk about plants... still can come to help identify and learn about the plants growing on your yard. Still will be writing blogs and trying to find time to host classes on The Hearth.

Blessed be 🙏

02/10/2025

A few mornings ago I had an idea to begin doing donation-based classes from my website. I spent a few hours exploring options for video conferencing software, wordpress integration of said software, & on how to go about collecting donations. Upon figuring it all out & setting up a test video call with a good pal to determine the fluidity & ease of the software, I put the project away while I prepared for a vending event.

The Mugwort that I harvested in the Fall has been on the drying racks in my garage all winter long (I'm a hibernator; don't judge me 😛). I finally brought her in and de-stalked & jarred the dried leaves while chatting about everything that has happened since we last connected. And then I asked Mugwort if she had anything to share with me & remained silent to listen.

I began to think about the platform I set up on my website & how I wouldn't always be using it, but that it would always be accessible on the interwebs. The message was clear: The platform I was building was meant to be shared with others so that they, too, could share their skills, art, & performances and receive donations to compensate their time and energy.

So I began building the vision. Things flowed smoothly & the platform came together quickly... & then the activation of an appointment booking plugin broke my entire website at 1AM this morning. Turns out, if you leave comments on on a wordpress blog, you're going to get A LOT of spam comments. And if you don't go through a couple thousand of those pending comments to mark them as spam & delete them, they take up space in your database. & a full database is slow & crashing database. Whomp whomp...

So, I restored a backup version, prior to plug in activation, & filtered the spam. I did all the things I needed to build my website to what it was before the crash and then went back to business.

& I did it! I built an online busking platform, called THE HEARTH, for skill sharing, performances, readings, you name it! I built it all, & will be running it all, myself with all free & open sourced software, so I'm keeping it low key & grassroots to prevent it from becoming more than I can handle.

NOW IS THE TIME TO GATHER & SHARE

02/10/2025

A few mornings ago I had an idea to begin doing donation-based classes from my website. I spent a few hours exploring options for video conferencing software, wordpress integration of said software, and on how to go abouts collecting donations. Upon figuring it all out and setting up a test video call with my good pal to determine the fluidity and ease of the software, I put the project away while I prepared for a vending event that evening.

The Mugwort that my friend and I harvested in the Fall has been on the drying racks in my garage all winter long (I'm a hibernator; don't judge me 😛). I finally brought her in and de-stalked and jarred the dried leaves while chatting about everything that has happened since we last connected. And then I asked Mugwort if she had anything to share with me and remained silent to listen.

I began to think about the platform I set up on my website and how I wouldn't always be using it, but that it would always be accessible on the interwebs. The message was clear: The platform I was building was meant to be shared with others so that they, too, could share their skills, art, and performances and receive donations to compensate their time and energy.

So I began building the vision. Things flowed smoothly and the platform came together quickly... and then the activation of an appointment booking plugin broke my entire website at 1AM this morning. Turns out, if you leave comments on on a wordpress blog, you're going to get A LOT of spam comments. And if you don't go through a couple thousand of those pending comments to mark them as spam and delete them, they take up space in your database. And a full database is slow and crashing database. Whomp whomp...

So, I restored a backup version, prior to plug in activation, and filtered the spam. I did all the things I needed to build my website to what it was before the crash and then went back to business.

And I did it! I built an online busking platform, called THE HEARTH, for skill sharing, performances, readings, seminars, you name it! I built it all, and will be running it all, myself with all free and open sourced software, so I'm keeping it low key and grassroots to prevent it from becoming more than I can handle.

Come check it out (linkylink in the commentos)

NOW IS THE TIME TO GATHER & SHARE

02/07/2025

We're here at the Cascata Event Room for First Fridays on Main brought to you by Taste of Montour with daughter company Lyn Wicks and partner Empty Hand Carpentry & Woodworking

02/04/2025

We enjoyed a cozy, quiet January here at the Hearth & Heart Homestead but February is another story... our booth returns to Montour Falls this Friday for Taste of Montour's First Friday on Main at the Cascata Event Room with daughters Lyn Wicks & partner Empty Hand Carpentry & Woodworking

01/03/2025

Dropped off a beautiful display of my flower essences at FLX Studio & Maker's Market today (shelf built and painted by Empty Hand Carpentry & Woodworking)! Excited to have these plant allies featured in a store, increasing their visibility and accessibility. Montour Falls is a favorite town of mine, and I'm happy to have a presence there!

Happening now is Taste of Montour's first First Friday event and while we aren't there vending this month, we plan to in upcoming months! And there are many wonderful vendors there tonight so if you're looking for something to do this evening, head down to Montour Falls and check it out!