Welcome to the Yardstead Society 🌱 If you're new here, welcome! And if you've been part of this community for a while, I'm so glad you're still here. The idea behind the term "Yardstead" is pretty simple: You don't need acres of land to do more for yourself. You can start with the yard you have. Grow some of your own food. Build a greenhouse or raised beds. Raise chickens. Preserve what you grow. Learn practical skills that make you a little less dependent on buying everything you need. That's what yardsteading is all about. And Yardstead Society is completely FREE to join. This community is here for people who want to learn, try things, ask questions, share what they're working on, and get inspired by what other people are doing in their own backyards. Inside you'll find: • DIY building resources + support • Real Hillside Market customer builds • Greenhouse, gardening + backyard homesteading resources • Practical skills + things worth knowing • Workshops + educational resources • A place to ask questions, share progress + learn from each other If you found us because you're building one of our Hillside Market DIY Guides, this is also where you'll find additional builder resources and a community of people tackling many of the same projects. But you absolutely don't need to be a Hillside Market customer to be here. Maybe you have a big acreage. Maybe you have a suburban backyard. Maybe you're just starting to wonder what you could do with the space you have. You're welcome here. My hope is that this becomes a place that makes you curious. That gives you ideas. That teaches you something useful. And, most importantly, that gets you out there actually DOING some of it. Build something. Grow something. Learn something worth knowing. That's the Yardstead movement. 🌱 Now introduce yourself below! Tell us where you're from and one thing you'd love to learn, grow, build, or do for yourself. – Carolynne

Hey friend! I'm so glad you're here. 🌱 I'm Carolynne, the founder of Hillside Market and the person behind the Yardstead Society. My husband Eric and I build and test our DIY projects right here on our little homestead in Alberta, Canada 🇨🇦. I created the Yardstead Society as a place for people who want to build, grow, learn useful skills, and do more for themselves at home. Whether you're here because you're building one of our DIY plans, want to grow more food, raise chickens, preserve your harvest, or you're simply curious about learning some new skills, you're in the right place. 👋 FIRST: Introduce yourself! Tell us where you're from and what brought you here. What are you building, growing, raising, preserving, or hoping to learn? Already built one of our projects? Share it in Progress Pics. We LOVE seeing what you make! 📚 THEN: Explore the Classroom You'll find things like: • DIY builder resources + project planning tools • Real Hillside Market customer builds • Greenhouse + gardening resources • Growing, raising + preserving resources • Workshops + practical skills worth learning • New resources added as we learn and grow together 💬 AND: Use the community! Ask questions. Share what you're working on. Share what worked (and what didn't). Learn from other members. Eric and I are both here too, so tag @Carolynne Hill or @Eric Hill when you have a question for us. You don't need to know how to do all of this already. That's kind of the whole point of being here. Let's learn how to do more for ourselves. 🌱 — Carolynne P.S. Say hi below and tell me ONE thing you want to learn how to do! 👇