Old skills, new zip code

Made from scratch,
made with love.

Canning, baking, real bread, a garden that actually feeds you. The old-fashioned skills, taught so they fit a modern life, whether you've got acreage or a single sunny windowsill.

Start here Meet Kate

Where to start

The skills.

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🍞

Baking

Breads, pastries, and sweet things from scratch.

1 guide 🫙

Canning

Jams, pickles, and a pantry you built yourself.

6 guides 🍳

Cooking

From-scratch meals and weeknight dinners.

8 guides 🌱

Gardening

From seed to table, even in a few pots.

4 guides 🏡

Homemaking

Homekeeping and the rhythms that hold a week together.

5 guides 🎄

Holiday

Seasonal traditions and gatherings worth the effort.

Coming soon

New to this?

Start here.

If you do nothing else, these are the three I'd hand a friend first.

1

Bake one loaf

The no-knead sourdough that proves you can actually do this.

 2

Put up one jar

Beginner water-bath canning, start to finish, no fear.

 3

Grow one thing

The easiest edible to start, even on a windowsill.

Free guide

The sourdough guide I wish I'd had.

The exact steps, the timing that actually matters, and the mistakes I made so you can skip them. Your first loaf, minus the intimidation. I'll send it right over.

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Fresh from the kitchen

What's New

What I've been cooking, growing, and figuring out lately.

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A note from Kate

Hi, I'm so glad you're here.

I grew up in rural Ontario, where making bread, putting up jars for winter, and keeping a garden weren't hobbies. They were just how things got done, and I never thought any of it was special.

Then I moved to San Diego, started nannying, and kept hearing "wait, you know how to do that?" Turns out the ordinary skills I grew up with are rarer than I realized. So I'm sharing them here: the real, useful version that works in a small kitchen or a patio garden, no magazine-spread pressure.

Read My Story

Let's stay in touch.

A note from me most weeks: what's in season, what I'm putting up, and the occasional recipe I'm a little too proud of. That's the whole pitch.