For People who Like to Grow, Make, and Figure Things Out
Gardening, food, preparedness, recipes, quiet reflections, and old-fashioned know-how — shared weekly from our Wisconsin homestead. To subscribe, just enter your email in the sign-up form below.
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Some browsers and privacy settings block embedded forms. If that happens, you can comment below and I’ll add you manually.
What you’ll receive
- A weekend newsletter with new and seasonal posts
- Practical gardening, food, and preservation guidance
- Calm, realistic preparedness ideas
- Recipes, home remedies, and wild food knowledge
- Occasional updates on free classes, guides, or trusted partner offers
Free Subscriber Bonuses
- Common Sense Homesteading 101 Printable Guide
- Printable Garden Planner
- Bread Baking Troubleshooting Guide and Q&A
- and more
This newsletter is for you if you…
- Enjoy learning practical skills at your own pace
- Prefer real-world experience over quick fixes
- Want to be more capable without being extreme
- Like a calm, thoughtful approach to preparedness
- Appreciate occasional reflections from life on a working homestead
You don’t need land, livestock, or a perfect plan — just curiosity and a willingness to learn.
A Note about Common Sense Home

I’m Laurie Neverman, creator of Common Sense Home. Common Sense Home is run by our family from a small homestead in northeast Wisconsin. We grow and preserve much of our food, experiment with practical resilience projects, and share what works (and what doesn’t) along the way.
We’re not perfect, and we don’t do everything ourselves — but we believe in learning, adapting, and using sound judgment to build steadier lives. Along the way we’ve gone through job losses, economic upheaval, and the Great Toilet Paper Shortage of 2020. (More about us here.)
What Readers Say
“You make us readers feel like family, and you have solid advice because you and your family have paved the way for us to follow however it best fits our lives. I also love your recipes! ❤ Thank you for all you do.” – Krystal C.
“Your newsletters always feel like a note from a friend.” – Heather N.
“I like the sense of home and family and down to earth real living. You’re like my country cousin who teaches me the good ways.” – Roxyann B.
“I love the free guides. They are such a big help for me. All of the ones I have down loaded I have saved in my I-books. My husband and I have been slowly working on homesteading for the past four years and are planning a big move during this year. All of the information you share is awesome and I love it!!” – Nikki D.

If this sounds like a good fit, we’d be glad to have you along.
To subscribe, enter your email in the sign-up form above, or leave a comment below if you can’t see the form.
We send one main newsletter most weekends, with occasional extra emails when something feels especially useful. You can unsubscribe anytime.
— Laurie, Common Sense Home


I would love to be added to your email list, please!
Done, and welcome. Watch your inbox for the welcome emails.
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Thanks: Lawrence
You’re in. Check your inbox for your welcome emails with links to the free guides.
Hi there! Just read your article on Plaintain. I knew it was good for skin ailments and actually made an infusion last year. This year, I have so much in my garden that it looks like I planted it there. I wanted to determine other uses before I remove it to make room for vegetables. I now think that I will also transplant some for continued production.
I would love to be added to your email list, please! Great article!
Glad you enjoyed the article. I have you signed up and you’ll be getting your welcome email shortly.
please subscribe me
Please subscribe me
Laurie I just read your post about the person complaining about your dirty hand in one of the pictures on your website.. Please don’t pay attention to people like that….they are just trolls who explore different websites to complain and criticize people. They are just miserable and unhappy people who only feel good about themselves by hurting someone else. A hundred people can tell you how wonderful your site is and how informative but when that one horrible person writes in to criticize it is so easy to focus on that hurtful feeling. I look forward to getting updates and emails from you. I have tried several of your recipes and I love hearing about your family. You are amazing…. you know so much and you work so hard, Keep up the wonderful emails and posts that you do!!!
Thanks, Patricia.
I was surprised but not surprised by the comment, as some people display no manners or common sense nowadays. Even though the person was a jerk, it was good to be able to share the comment with people who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and get things done.
Please subscribe me.
Would love to subscribe. I see others have had trouble also. I use FireFox.
Thanks for taking time to comment. I have you signed up and you’ll be getting your welcome email shortly.
Hello, are you still taking subscriptions to receive your planner? I couldn’t get it to work, got a 404 error.
Hi Janelle.
I’ve signed you up and you should be getting your confirmation email shortly.
Could you tell me what browser you’re using? We’re trying to troubleshoot why the form is malfunctioning for some readers.
Love your articles!!! Would love nto subscribe but the suscribe link goes to a 404 page. Can you sign me up?
Done.
Hello Laurie,
I found you because of the gardening journal/seedling planner and have been enjoying your site! Looking forward to downloading and using your planner 😉 Please sign me up too! Thanks!
Hello Laurie,
I wish to subscribe to the lot of interesting stuffs your provide us with but I don’t know how to ! 🙁
I’ve signed you up and you should be receiving your welcome email soon.
subscribe
I would like very much to subscribe to your newsletter! Thank you.
I want to subscribe to your newsletter, please. Lots of good info!
Welcome.
Would love to make my own perfume
Please see https://commonsensehome.com/make-perfume/.
I did not see a subscription box, but please sign me up for your newsletters, and I would love a copy of your ebook “Common Sense Homesteading”. Thank you
Hi,
Please subscribe me to your newsletter. Thanks
Hi,
Please subscribe me to your newsletter. Thanks
Hi,
Please subscribe me to your newsletter. Thanks!
Done. Check your email inbox, and welcome.