martha stewart doesn’t live here, a simple homesteader does (a letter to martha stewart)

Dear Ms. Stewart,

Before you read this letter, please let me say how much I appreciate all you have done to advance the fields of crafting, baking, decorating, gardening, cooking, organizing, etc.  Clearly, you have added a unique sense of finesse to what the rest of us strive to do on a daily basis without assistants, stylists, producers, etc.  AND you’ve managed to garner a mad number of advertising sponsors!  Wow!

In all this, I honor you.

But when someone referred to me as “Martha Stewart” after I posted photographs of my suburban farm and blogged about living a simple life [note:  not “Simple” as a magazine title] and tweeted about empowering girls through homesteading, that’s where I drew the line.

Thank you for trailblazing the way by spinning traditional chores and responsibilities into a multi-million dollar empire.  Certainly, you have raised the glass ceiling for crafters, gardeners, caterers, and designers everywhere.

But as for me, I am comfortable in my shabby overalls (and no, not as in “shabby chic”) as I dig in the dirt sans gloves and feel God’s creation running through my fingers.  My home isn’t perfect, and I certainly am not photogenic at the end of a long afternoon of hauling mulch, turning compost, and planting seeds.  Truth be told, I don’t want assistants, producers and photographers hanging around–they might find out the truth about my farm–that my life is spent tending to organic food and a happy child, not to decorated walls and neat closets.

So, respectfully, Ms. Stewart, what you have accomplished is amazing, but I’d like to suggest that what I have accomplished, while very different, is just as spectacular.  I’m no Martha Stewart, but I am proud to call myself a suburban farmer, a simple homesteader, and an invested mother.

And as for those “someones” who compare the two of us, they may never understand the joy, peace and grace I find in this place I call “home,” but if it gives them pleasure to compare me to you, then so be it.  Your name clearly stands for something that many people revere.  If you ever want to step behind the scenes, however, and let your hair down and get your fingernails dirty, then know you can do that here at Growing Grace Farm.  (But be aware, Rosie, our lead chick, is pretty much a diva and will be stiff competition for photo opps.)

Sincerely,

Cameron~homesteader, farmer, and simple living advocate