Welcome to Anchored in the North Homestead

Welcome. We’re glad you’re here.

My wife and I didn’t grow up on farms. We’re both originally from the city, and choosing a homestead life has come as a bit of a shock to our families — who still think we might be slightly out of our minds.

We’re both veterans. Between the two of us, we’ve completed roughly ten deployments. We met while on active duty in Virginia and built our relationship through long stretches of distance, difficult assignments, and time apart. Service shaped how we think — discipline, resilience, ownership — and those values now guide how we’re building our life.

Today, we’re married with our first baby, less than a year old, and living on a few acres in southern New Hampshire. Through our years in the military, we’ve traveled to more than 30 countries and across much of the United States. Those experiences changed us.

One thing we noticed while traveling was how normal fresh food is in many parts of the world. In much of Europe and the Middle East, it’s common to shop daily at local markets — buying what was grown nearby, often harvested that same week. Meanwhile, in the United States, the average meal travels over a thousand miles before it reaches the table. That reality stuck with us.

Reading Joel Salatin’s “Folks, This Ain’t Normal” reinforced that perspective. It challenged how we think about food, distance, and systems — and ultimately helped shape a simple mission between the two of us:

When we had the time and stability, we would begin growing our own food.

After leaving active duty, we started preparing. We read everything we could get our hands on. We spent countless hours learning — what we jokingly call “YouTube University of Homesteading.” We found our home in southern New Hampshire, though not without setbacks. Between house challenges, welcoming our first child, both of us being full-time students, and me working full-time, last year felt like survival mode.

This year, we begin.

Our first egg layers are on order. We’re starting small, learning as we go, and building intentionally. We don’t have it all figured out — far from it — but we’re committed to documenting the journey honestly.

If you’re interested in resilience, fresh food, long winters, and building something that lasts, we hope you’ll follow along.

Modern systems. Old values. Northern grit.