Hey friend! I'm so glad you're here. I'm Carolynne—the one behind every plan, testing every build with my husband Eric in our Alberta backyard, and running Hillside Market from our little homestead in Zone 3 Canada 🇨🇦. I created the Yardstead Society to support you in two ways: 1️⃣ Build Support (Free) Get help with your DIY projects from start to finish. Whether you're building a greenhouse, chicken coop, or backyard retreat, ask questions, share progress, and get guidance from the community. Eric and I are both here to help with build questions. 2️⃣ Yardstead Support (Paid Membership) Weekly calls with me, expert interview sessions, and access to resources for actually living the lifestyle—growing food, raising chickens, preserving your harvest, and working toward real self-sufficiency. 👋 Start by introducing yourself! Tell us where you're from, what you're building, or what you're hoping to grow or raise. Already finished a project? Post it under Progress Pics so we can celebrate with you. 📚 Explore the Classroom: - Build Spotlights – See what others have created - Project Planning Tools – Checklists and resources to help you succeed - Yardstead Resources – Growing, raising, and preserving (paid members) - Plus all Yardstead Society members get monthly discounts on guides and gear Tag me (@Carolynne Hill) or Eric (@Eric Hill) anytime with questions or to share what you're working on. Let's get building! ✨ — Carolynne PS: Say hi below! 👇

Live in 2 hours! Today at 11am Mountain Time. How Jenni from @fiveoaksfarmAL built a multi-million dollar business from a homestead skill. Come learn how to do it too! Only way to catch this for free is to join us LIVE. GRAB YOUR SEAT HERE See you soon!

As a way of building my soil, I added compost, but since I didn’t have enough and ran out of energy after shovelling by 4 yards, I opted to rake it into permanent beds with it the main garden. Since I also purchased raised beds and soil - ran out of budget to be able to get a worthy amount of compost. Instead, I purchased some cover crop. $20 in seeds goes further. It’s a little patchy but it’s growing. I have oats and crimson clover. The oats I will crimp in July and it will die off before flowering and I will leave it and let it compost. The crimson clover is *supposed* to winter kill. I am currently doubting myself, haha did I just create a weed situation for myself? I guess we’ll know next year. I am also going to throw down winter peas in late October for an early spring cover crop - I think.

I have transplanted just about everything now. I have seeded everything but corn and beans since it’s is so cold and wet. I still have a raised bed to build and then 2 to fill and then one strawberry patch to dig. My body isn’t very happy right now about all the hard labor. But it’s paying off! Cover crop is sprouting. The rows with compost are looking amazing. We didn’t have enough for the whole garden, so I focused on the rows and doing cover crop in the paths.

Getting some beds established and transplanting one of the 42,000 crepe Myrtle’s we have wild on the property.