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DIY Detergent Recipe 🧺 + 6 Truths About Love 💛
Question of the day: How many tabs do you have open for “homestead plans”?
Cedie Omaña
June 19, 2025
NOTICE: Formerly known as The Steady Homestead, we’ve rebranded to The Homestead Movement! Same great content, just a fresh new name. 😊
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Preserving food is preserving tradition."
— Marisa McClellan
HOMESTEAD TIP OF THE DAY
Animals suffer in the heat too. Make sure your livestock have plenty of shade, good airflow, and cool water. For chickens, freeze water bottles or ice blocks and place them in shallow trays. Add electrolytes to their water during extreme heat. For goats or rabbits, hang fans in barns or move their pens under trees. Early summer is also a good time to trim heavy coats or brush out excess fur to keep them cool.
IN TODAY'S EDITION
Homestead Tip 🌱
Poll Results From Last Tuesday 📊
All Things Homestead: A Simple Homemade Laundry Detergent That Works 🧺
Personal Development: The Six Ways to Understand Love (Especially When Life Is Full) 💛
Today's Top Picks 🛍️
Let’s Keep It Reel 🤣
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Tired of Feeling Brushed Off at the Doctor’s Office?
You know something’s off, but they say it’s “normal.”
You ask about natural options, and they roll their eyes.
You leave with a prescription and no real answers.
I’ve been there too. That’s why I started learning to care for my body and family with herbs, not just pills.
The Medicinal Kit gives you the knowledge and tools to build your own herbal medicine cabinet safely and confidently.
🌿 No guessing. No gatekeeping. Just clear, trusted guidance from someone who’s walked the same road.
If you're ready to take back control of your health and finally feel heard, this is your next right step.
POLL RESULTS FROM LAST TUESDAY
Which homesteading “superpower” do you wish you had?
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ Never kill another plant
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Wake up early with energy
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ Build anything without YouTube
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Make perfect sourdough every time
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Make goats listen 😅
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Others (Feel free to specify your answer after you've voted.)
via @beehiiv polls
Feel free to participate in fun polls in our next newsletters! 😉
Also, follow us on our social media accounts for daily homesteading inspiration and updates.
ALL THINGS HOMESTEAD
A Simple Homemade Laundry Detergent That Works 🧺
Most laundry products on the shelves today are loaded with chemicals that are hard to pronounce and even harder on your skin, wallet, and septic system.
As homesteaders and homemakers, we care about what touches our clothes and our families. That’s why switching to a homemade, natural laundry detergent just makes sense.
Ingredients You’ll Need (and Why They Matter)
These aren’t fancy, and they’re likely already in your home:
1 bar Castile soap (or another natural, unscented soap)
Why: This is your base cleaner. It lifts dirt and grime without leaving a residue.2 cups washing soda
Why: This boosts cleaning power and helps remove stains and odors.2 cups baking soda
Why: This softens the water, balances pH, and deodorizes naturally.Optional: 10–20 drops essential oils (lavender, lemon, or tea tree work great)
Why: These give a light scent without chemicals and add antibacterial properties.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Grate the Soap Bar
Use a hand grater or food processor. The finer the pieces, the faster it dissolves in your wash.
2. Mix All Ingredients in a Large Bowl
Add the grated soap, washing soda, and baking soda. Stir well until it’s evenly mixed.
3. Add Essential Oils (Optional)
If you're using essential oils, drop them in and stir again. Store your mix in an airtight container.
4. Use 1–2 Tablespoons Per Load
Yes, that’s all. It might look small, but it packs a punch. Use more for large or heavily soiled loads.
A Few Helpful Notes
It’s Low-Sudsing: This is normal. Suds don’t equal clean. It works in both HE and standard machines.
Store in a Dry Place: Moisture causes clumping. Use a glass jar or a tightly sealed bucket.
It’s Septic-Safe: This recipe won’t harm your septic system or clog pipes.
Troubleshooting Tips
Clothes not feeling fresh? Try adding ½ cup white vinegar to your rinse cycle for extra softness and odor removal.
Soap clumps in cold water? Dissolve the detergent in a cup of warm water first, then add it to your washer.
Hard water issues? Boost with a bit more washing soda or a scoop of borax (if you're comfortable using it).
Make It a Family Task
Kids can help measure and stir, making this a great home-school or after-school chore. Label the jar with instructions so anyone can help with laundry, even your teens or your spouse.
It turns an everyday task into something empowering.
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Six Ways to Understand Love (Especially When Life Is Full) 💛
Let’s be honest for a sec, many of us wear a dozen hats by 9 a.m. We raise kids, care for animals, tend to gardens, run households, and hold the emotional glue together. And yet, when it comes to love… giving it, receiving it, or just understanding it, we still feel unsure sometimes.
Here are six powerful ways to think about love that make real sense for homemakers and homesteaders.
💬 Love as a Capacity
Love is something we are able to do, not just feel.
Love is our ability to build connections and stick with them. No matter what we’ve been through, we never lose the ability to love again. That means we’re never too late to learn how to show up with care, loyalty, or forgiveness.
Example: Maybe you weren’t raised with much affection. That doesn’t mean you can’t grow into someone who gives it freely now.
💬 Love as a Quality
Love is shown through how we treat others… not just who we say we love.
Love isn't a fixed thing. It's more like a style of action. Just like we say, “She spoke kindly,” we can say “He acted lovingly.” It’s not about what we call love, but it’s how we live it daily.
Example: You can act in love by listening patiently, serving others, or cooking a meal without being asked. All of it counts.
💬 Love as a Commitment
Love is also a promise we keep, especially when things get hard.
Loving others well means showing up with steady care. It’s doing what you said you’d do, treating people with honesty, and thinking about what’s best for them. Even in conflict, love holds firm.
Example: When you're tired but still choose to stay calm with your kids, or you talk things through with your spouse instead of walking away, that’s commitment.
💬 Love as a Purpose
Love gives us a reason to wake up and try again each day.
It’s not just what we do, it’s why we do it. We can choose to pour love into everything we touch: into our families, our animals, our land, our neighbors. It becomes the foundation of how we live.
Example: Planting a garden, not just for food, but because you want to feed your family well—that’s love as purpose in action.
💬 Love as a Grace
Love is also something we receive, not just something we earn.
Love is a gift. It’s a grace built into us at birth, one that never runs out even if life gets hard. We don’t have to be perfect to deserve love or to give it. We only need to stay open to it.
Example: Think of how freely a child offers hugs. That’s grace. And it’s still inside us, even if we forget.
💬 Love as a Practice
Love grows when we choose it again and again not once and done.
Just like we tend gardens or build strong sourdough starters, love needs daily attention. The more we practice love in small moments, the more natural it becomes to live in it.
Example: Saying “thank you” after dinner. Leaving a note by the coffee pot. Letting someone else take the last slice of pie. These tiny acts stack up over time.
For Homemakers and Homesteaders, Love Is in the Living
On the homestead or in the home, love shows up in small, steady ways, like feeding chickens before coffee, folding clothes no one thanks you for, or tending a sick child at 2 a.m. These may not look like grand acts of love, but they shape the heart of a family and a life.
Love isn’t just one thing. It’s many. And that means we have many chances each day to lean into it, even if we’re worn out or frustrated.
We don’t have to get it perfect. But we do need to keep trying.
THE STEADY HOME’S GIGGLE CHAMBER
What do you call a June morning on the homestead? Ten minutes of peace before the bugs wake up.
LET’S KEEP IT REEL!
I've put together some fantastic farm videos that are sure to make you laugh. Take a look and enjoy the fun!
Sometimes you just gotta give your chickens the hard truth for their own good! 😅🐔
@marie13sg #summer #sun #chick #chicks #chicken #chickensoftiktok #animals #pets #pet #animals #cute #homestead #happy #momlife #love #livingmybestli... See more
When all you want is a chill day, but your farm animals are out here giving you the judgy stare like, “Must be nice.” 😆
@thebucketlistranch Can’t a girl just relax every now & then?!🥴🐮 Follow @thebucketlistranch to watch us attempt to homestead and build a ranch from scratch🛠️ ... See more
Let’s be real… our chickens can be super judgy sometimes 😂🐔
@kailyncrain Anyone else feel like their chickens are always judging you🤣 #chickensoftiktok #chickens #farmlife #chickenfarm #momlife #sahm #funny #fun... See more