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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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 have missed receiving your newsletters. I wonder if someone have unsubscribed me.
Hi Gigi.
I couldn’t find a newsletter subscription associated with this email address, but you are welcome to subscribe again, or I can add you back. Sometimes the email software misidentifies readers as not active and removes them, so if I disappear from your inbox, please check in.
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I love your site, lots to learn and see, 🙂
Glad you like it. Tell your friends! Google AI summaries and search changes are wiping out our traffic.
Would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Thank you!
I’ve entered your email and you should be receiving your welcome letter shortly.
I wish I had been a subscriber for ever…such a waste of learning and enjoyment time.
Thank you, Margaret. I’m glad you enjoy the newsletters. BTW, I haven’t mentioned much about the ducks lately, but they got through our recent cold snap and are now enjoying the warmer weather. We’re expecting temps above freezing for the next several days, and they are loving it. It’s been a dry winter, though, and that concerns me some. There’s no snow cover to speak of, which is bad for the plants, and too much wind. Whatever will be, we must make the best of it.
Thanks for your content.
You’re welcome.
Love your content, cant wait to dive deeper and see everything. You are amazing!
Welcome, Betty, and thank you for your kindness.
Thank You
Life has been going in the wrong direction for many years now. I would love to go back in time and relearn simple living. Hopefully my grandchildren will become interested in this ideas ❤️
I love and trust your letters/news, wish I had half of your skills but next best is being able to look your files up. Stay well dear girl (Im 87) sorry but surely its never too late to learn. Hugs from me.
It’s always good to hear from you, Margaret. I figure it’s never too late to learn as long as we’re alive. Learning is life, life is learning.
We seem to be on a the tail end of the latest weird bug making the rounds, which is good, because there’s always plenty to do!
Hi. I enjoyed your article and I really miss homesteading but am doing medical missions now.
Just wanted to mention that an ethanol extract of goldenrod flowers harvested at peak brightness (When all the bees are gathering), pack just the flower heads closely into a glass jar and then fill with vodka to cover completely. Tightly close lid and set in a dark place as light degrades the active compounds. After several weeks it is ready to use and can be kept for years if in a miron jar or kept in complete darkness! It is the most potent treatment I have found for kidney restoration! tsp 3-4 times a day. I decant into smaller bottles for actual use so it is used up quickly as gets more light when using it It works well in combination with PectaSol C MCP powder
Thank you for sharing your experience. That’s good to know.
I love learning things about being self sufficient so Bring’um On
Welcome, Mike. I have your email entered and you should get your first email soon.
Hello,
I’m just starting my gardening journey, I could use all the help I can get.
Please add me to your mailing list.
Thanks
Tom
Welcome, Tom. I entered your email, so you should receive your welcome email shortly.
I also feel as though I’m reading a letter from a valued friend who is generous and kind. Sharing valuable skills to enable readers to survive economic turmoil and fulfil our dreams.
Thank you, Margaret.
Hi is there a way to perserve eggs
Yes, you can freeze them, dehydrate them (doesn’t work the best), freeze dry them, or water glass them.
Hello 🙂
I would like to be added to your subscriber list please.
Done! Welcome, and check your inbox.
Hello,
This looks wonderful. Please add me to your email list.
Thanks You
Hi Heather! I just added your email address and you should be getting your first email soon. Welcome.
Laurie would you please add me to your subscriber list.
I just added your email and you should be getting the welcome email shortly.
I would like to be subscribed to your newsletter, thank you.
I’ve added you to the list. Your first email should be arriving shortly. Welcome.
Just subscribing to your newsletter. This info is very much needed. THANK YOU.
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