Welcome
Welcome to Shoestring Farm Girl!
I’m Carrie Lynn, creator of Shoestring Farm Girl – just a middle-aged woman running a homestead on 25 acres in Virginia. I certainly didn’t start on 25 acres, it was a 0.8 acre city lot. I left my busy career in the hospital for a more sustainable lifestyle. I wanted to grow real food, and a life that feeds my family and my soul. One that truly fits with who I am. It’s been good not just for my body but my mental health as well. It has also meant a lot of mud, broken fences, goat birthing drama, sore muscles, surprise piglet litters before breakfast, and the best goat cheese you will ever spread on homemade bread.
This isn’t a perfect filtered homestead blog. You won’t see chandeliers in the chicken pen, nest-box curtains, or goat playgrounds worthy of Pinterest. Mainly because a chandelier in the chicken coops sounds like a lot of work to clean chicken poo off. Social media is cute, and great for ideas, but it’s not the reality of homestead and farm life. I’m the friend who’s tell you how to keep your champion show jumping goats in their pen, give you tips on keeping that senior horse comfortable, and let you know the pigs will literally eat your to-do list. Not just that, but what to do when your goat has bloat and a vet can’t see you for 3-4 hours because there is a Nationwide vet shortage. How to reduce your feed bill so you don’t have to take a second mortgage to feed all your livestock. You’ll also get real shortcuts that save money, routines that help you stay sane, and the small wins that make all the mud and freezing temperatures worth it.
What you’ll fine here:
- No-nonsense livestock care on a budget, with advice and resources that fit real farm life, not the fantasy version.
- Budget homesteading that stretches every dollar, from animal care to keeping the house from looking like the pig pen.
- Real talk on routines, animal health, birthing chaos, cheese making, garden wins, and the spectacular fails. Lots of fails.
- The honest side of this life: mud, joy, “what the heck was I thinking” moments, and the satisfaction of putting food you raised on your own table.
- Sometimes you need resources close by, and sometimes using technology can help your farm run better. But there isn’t an app for everything, and AI will never replace real, hands-on farm work.
What’s in the Shoestring Farm Girl Shop?
This site is home base for all your Shoestring Farm Girl needs. The tools live here too, becasue I got tired of scribbling notes on feed bags.
Practical Printables – Trachers, logs, and checklists I wish I’d had on day one. Resources to help you build your livestock binder. You know, for when the Wifi doesn’t work in the barn, or the power goes out and you can’t remember a medication treatment plan. Quick reference resources so you’re not trying to get advice from a social media group in the middle of an emergency. Everything from animal care, health logs, feeding, and all the unglamorous stuff that keeps animals alive and the budget intact.
Homestead Resource Books – Starting with practical titles like Budget Goat Keeping, now available on Amazon. I want people to have a reliable resource to reach for when their favorite animal suddenly stops eating, right at their fingertips, not frantically scrolling through conflicting information online about what to do to help them. These are the kind of books you actually dog-ear in the feed room, not just display on a coffee table.
Educational Blogs – The free long-form pieces. Goat digestion and parasite control, cheap livestock feeding tips, what worked, what bombed. Topics that are well researched and not generic AI content. Topics that give you information to help develop management systems and protocols for your specific needs. Or just helpful advice on my fails, so you can learn from my failures and reduce some of your own.
Kids Farm-Theremed Educational Materials – I’m a homeschooling mom, so I know you sometimes need an educational workbook or activity to keep the little ones busy and learning while you tidy the house or meal prep. I make workbooks for kids to get extra practice, whether they’re homeschooled or in traditional school, while also learning a bit about homesteading and farming. These include handwriting and activity books that feel more like the barn than a classroom worksheet. They’re made for little hands that already know what a goat looks like and where there eggs at breakfast come from.
Homestead and Farm Coloring Books – Let’s be honest, we all need some time to recharge. I love adult coloring books, so I decided to make some with a homestead and farm themes. These are simple, true-to-life pages for both kids and adults.
I’m not selling perfection – far from it. I’m sharing what’s working on this farm right now, what failed in a big way, well researched and science backed information, and systems that keep your animals fed on a tight budget. I use my research and experience to help others bring dreams of homestead life to reality without spending a fortune.
If you’re a frugal homesteader, a wannabe goat mama, a homeschooling family, or you want real food and funny stories, you’re in the right place. We can figure it out as we go, using what we’ve got, and learning from each other’s wins and train wrecks. Things like how my goat fence with all the supplies from the farm store didn’t contain my goats, but the log fence I build with timber from my property did. Or how my favorite sow escaped her pen heavily pregnant, disappeared for 10 days into the woods, then showed back up one night for dinner with a large litter of piglets in tow. These things happen, and nobody gets it all right the first time.
So check out my site. Say hi in the comments, ogive us a follow on social media and to see up-to-date farm drama. Muddy boots and all. Don’t forget to subscribe to my monthly newsletter for tips, educational content, SFG updates, product discounts, and giveaways.
Welcome to the chaos, friend. Let’s get our hands dirty and swap stories!
-Carrie Lynn