The Birth of Fernwood Cottage's Homestead shop

 We've got an idea - and we hope we can work together to make it happen!

Our idea for Fernwood Cottage's Homestead Shop has been born out of a lived understanding that homesteaders tend to be self-sufficient, independent-minded people. Not prone to working collectively. However, in Maine, it’s very difficult to break into markets, find like-minded people, and develop networks that encourage, support, and foster a collaborative approach to the homesteading way of life. We hope our Homestead Shop can fill that gap. 

Like Fernwood Cottage itself, whose products have been developed largely based on a need to make something for ourselves that we couldn’t find elsewhere, the idea for the Homestead Shop came about because we ourselves wanted to market our value added products but had difficulty finding vendors who understood what we are about.

1. We produce many different products, so it’s hard to define what our “business” is.
2. We’re never going to be “big”. We’re a one-man, one-woman homestead – we can’t meet production runs in the hundreds or thousands – and don’t really want to. 
3. We’re a business second, a homestead first. We don’t want to go “coast to coast”, “scale-up”, or “go global”. 
4. We want to make things from our own land. We want to create a livelihood with our own hands and be answerable to God and ourselves only. We are libertarian minded, constitutionally adherent, and our approach to doing business is deeply rooted in our Christian faith.
5. Our products are quality, but practical. 

Artisan galleries don’t understand the second part of that last sentence. Wholesalers don’t understand our scale. Craft fairs tend to feature products that cater to tourists or feature chachkies (Tchotchke is a Yiddish word for a knickknack or a trinket, often used to describe miscellaneous objects.) Nothing against jewelry or painted mushroom tops, but our products are meant to be USED!

Does this sound familiar? Do you struggle to find venues to sell your homestead-created product for any of the above reasons? Do you make something of quality, to be used, maybe even to produce something else? Are your products almost completely produced from materials from your own land?

The GOAL:

Fernwood Cottage's Homestead Shop is for homesteaders & all who love their land.  The "goods" in the Shop are produced by Maine Homesteaders & showcase what "living on your land" means in all its forms.  The Homestead Shop becomes a nexus for Maine's Homesteading community for information, ideas, creativity, & promoting the values of good, honest, hard-work!