(upbeat folk music) - [Craig] Over the past 10 years, Jill Winger has helped thousands of families live the old-fashioned, on-purpose lifestyle by growing their own food, ditching the grocery store, and creating a more satisfying life through modern homesteading.

Jill Winger, the "Prairie Homestead".

Next on "Wyoming Chronicle".

(lively orchestral music) - [Voiceover] Funding for this program is made possible in part by: The Wyoming Humanities Council, helping Wyoming take a closer look at life through the humanities, thinkwy.org, and by the members of the Wyoming PBS Foundation.

Thank you for your support.

- And as we begin this "Wyoming Chronicle", it's my pleasure to be joined by Jill Winger.

The Prairie Homestead, Jill, Welcome to the Wyoming Chronicle.

- Thank you.

I'm so excited to be on.

- It's our pleasure to have you.

we're in this beautiful place somewhere near Chugwater.

Cheyenne is over a couple of hills to the south, but you are the Prairie Homestead and, Jill, let's begin there.

Tell me, what is the Prairie Homestead?

What does that mean?

It means a lot of stuff.

- [Jill] It does mean a lot of stuff.

And so I guess the most elementary definition, it's just the name of my website, it's a blog I started back in 2010, and my goal was twofold: to document our own journey here on this piece of property, and then also to share that with the world and inspire others.

So that's where it started, and it's kind of morphed into a lot of things since that time.

- [Craig] And you thought of the idea 10 years ago, what brought you to Wyoming?

- [Jill] So not homesteading, believe it or not.

Actually, horses, I've always been a horse girl, and I decided to go to LCCC in Cheyenne upon graduating high school.

And so I went there, did equine studies, and then met my husband, who's a Cheyenne native, and decided that this was where we'd stay and raise our family.

- We're Standing in front of your beautiful home.

Tell us what it was.

- [Jill] Yeah, so Christian and I, my husband, we like to say that projects are our love language because we do a lot of them.

And so when we bought this, it was very rundown.

It was this little kind of- I think it was 900-square-feet, yellow plastic siding, and it was an old pheasant farm.

And so there was some pens, and a lot of trash.

Right over there, there was an old washing machine full of clothes in the front yard.

So we had a big project ahead of us.

We started with cleaning and redoing outbuildings.

And then as our kids started coming along, we eventually added on to the house.

And it's just kind of been a project of cleaning up and making it pretty ever since then.

- [Craig] What gave you the idea that people might have an interest in living in a way that people lived in a simpler time, 10, 30, 50, 100 years ago?

When did that enter your mind?

- So we had bought the house, we'd been here a couple years.

I had quit my job, I was working as a vet tech.

So I was home alone with the baby, our first baby.

And I had a lot of spare time.

And one thing that kept speaking to me was how to save money, and do more things from scratch.

And so it really just was my own interest to start with.

And then as I found so much fulfillment, and so much confidence, and so much joy in learning all these skills, you know, people would say, "I wanna do that.

"Well, why are you doing that?

How can I do it?"

And I thought, "Well, why not put it up to the world?"

And that's kind of the genesis of where taking it from just our own interest to everyone else began.

- I think it's interesting to me that you really didn't have that experience growing up.

You weren't a great cook.

- No.

(laughs) - You weren't a great baker.

- Right.

- Yet you've evolved into that.

So how did you learn?

- [Jill] A lot of trial and error.

So my husband and I kind of have this tendency to just dive in and figure out how to swim later, which sometimes works out great, sometimes, you know, it's a little rocky.

But yeah, I did a lot of reading, I did a lot of Googling, I watched videos, read blogs.

And just tried a lot of things.

I'm not afraid to make mistakes, I guess.

- This idea of maybe living in a simpler way, when did it start to get fuel, I guess?

- Yeah, so I would say about a year or two of being consistent online, and just consistently sharing and publishing recipes and publishing tutorials, people started to take notice.

And that was kind of before YouTube really took hold and podcasts were a thing, so everyone read blogs.

And so I started to get this blog readership of people who wanted to make their own butter, and make their own bread.

And I started to notice, you know, I was putting out a lot of different types of content, but the stuff that would get the most interest was simple, from scratch recipes, and just those old-fashioned skills.

And so I started to dig into that more, and share more of that, and it became popular pretty quick.

- [Craig] So there's some irony that we spoke about, off-camera, that learning old-fashioned recipes the way Grandma used to do it, for lack of a better descriptive way of talking about it, but that's exactly what it is.

But you're an influencer now.

And to our viewers who may not know what that means, your followers now aren't in the dozens, or the hundreds, or the thousands.

We're talking tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who look to you now for this for this style of life, using podcasts, video, YouTube videos, technology, social media; there's some irony there.

- [Jill] There is, it's definitely a paradox, and it's not lost on me.

This craziness of sharing how to make sourdough bread on a video, while someone's watching on their pocket computer.

But I feel like that's really powerful, and I'm not a purist in the sense of- you know, I do old-fashioned things, and I make bread, and we homeschool our kids, and we keep chickens, but I'm not afraid of certain pieces of technology when they make sense, and when they serve our ultimate purpose.

And so, for me, being able to find that community and comradery, and to be able to inspire people to take on this lifestyle, I feel like the internet's an amazing way to do that.

- Early on, you decided to publish a book.

- I did.

- That ultimately became an Amazon best-seller.

- Yes.

- Walk me through, first, the genesis of that idea and what has become of it.

- Yeah, it started off pretty basic.

You know, I found an agent, and we started to talk about ideas, and I'm like, "I don't know, should it be about chickens, or should it be about gardening?"

And we kind of honed in on, "What does my audience like the most?"

And it's always the food.

So, we decided the cookbook would be the thing.

And then it was this process of taking all the recipes that were in my head, and on scraps of paper, and getting them condensed down.

So, you know, books are a big deal, it was about a two-year process.

I had a great Wyoming photographer who came, and we worked on all the amazing images.

And I didn't know what to expect when we published it.

I didn't know if it would just sit on shelves, or if it would get traction, but it's done really well.

And it's been pretty cool to see it kind of take on a life of its own.

And I think it all comes down to, it's just down-home food with just basic ingredients.

And people love learning how to make the things from scratch, where they don't have to use boxes, and mixes, and cans, it's just basic stuff.

And it feels really good to put those together with their with their two hands, and have something to show for it.

- Jill, we're in the- I guess the dairy barn part of the barn.

- Yes, the milking parlor.

- The milking parlor?

- Yes.

- What happens here every day?

- So this is where we milk, which is- it's kind of exciting to have this room because for the first 10 years of milk cows, we had a bucket that I'd sit on, out in the barn, and milk under the cow that way.

So, last year we decided to kind of even take our food production even a little deeper, and decided, "If we're gonna do this milk cow thing, let's really do it right."

So we modified this part of the barn, put down the mats.

We wanted it to be something really easy to clean.

And we did invest in a milking machine, which I kind of love.

I mean, I can hand-milk, but this is pretty awesome.

So we've been using this for over a year now, and it's great.

- You want to live, Jill, a subsistence lifestyle.

This is for you, it's not for a commercial venture.

Is that right?

- [Jill] That is right, and so last year we ventured into commercial beef for the first time.

But prior to that, it was always just for us.

We'd raise a steer out in the pasture, we'd milk for us.

And our goal as homesteaders, at least our version of homesteading, is just for our own food supply here.

It's not necessarily to be a market farmer, or to sell to the public, just 'cause we have a lot of other things going on.

- So I'm guessing milk, cheese, the whole thing?

- Yes, I started hard cheeses this year, which was quite the learning curve, but we're getting it figured out.

I had a Gouda the other day from the cheese fridge that was pretty good, if I do say so myself, so... - [Craig] So again, you're just researching, learning, trial and error.

- [Jill] Trying, and sometimes it works great, sometimes it's an utter disaster.

(laughs) - So here we are in the milking parlor and I'm thinking of your kids, what responsibilities do they have when it comes to the barn, for instance?

- Yeah, they really run the barn and the chicken coop.

And as like- so my oldest is 11, and as she's grown, she's just grown into these responsibilities.

But you know, down here, we do the milking right now, but she takes care of her goat, she feeds the horses and the cattle, she checks water.

She'll chop ice in the winter, takes care of the cats.

And my son, he's almost nine, he takes care of all the chickens, the water for me.

They take a lot of ownership down here, which I love.

And it honestly takes a lot off my plate.

So it's a family affair, for sure.

- The kids are involved in 4H.

It's not like you try to- - Yes.

- insulate your family here, - No.

- and not have social interaction with others.

- Correct, yeah, it's really important that we're a part of the community.

And I want them to have those interactions, especially since they are homeschooled.

You know, we're here on the farm, and we homeschool, and we have home businesses, but I want to make sure we're not home, you know, 100% of the time.

We need to have those outreaches into the community as well.

- You know, you talk about your recipes, that you tell people how to make bread, you tell people how to do things in the cookbook, but then they understand a little more about, "Boy, they're doing a lot more here than just publishing recipes."

- Yeah.

- What sort of reaction you get from folks when they really start to learn the breadth of the operation?

- [Jill] Surprise, I'd say, 'cause I think there is an element of this belief that homesteaders are just on this piece of property, 24/7.

They don't have friends, they don't go anywhere, they don't do anything but milk the cow, and can the tomatoes.

And that's okay if that's someone's end-game.

But for me, I guess I have broader interests.

And so there's other things I love just as much as the bread, and the canning, and the gardening.

So some people- a lot of people are supportive.

Every once in a while I'll have someone be like, "You can't do that because you're also a homesteader."

And I'm like, "I don't do the boxes, I don't do the labels, I kind of make my own rules," I suppose.

- [Craig] So you are on social media.

- I am, yes.

- You know very well what Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and, maybe even more social media venues that I'm even aware of, are.

With that comes a fan base.

- [Jill] Yes.

- And with that comes blow-back, sometimes, push-back.

- [Jill] Yes.

- How do you handle that?

- It's been a process over the years.

I'd say back in the beginning, it bothered me a lot more, where you'd really just feel like a kick in the gut when someone would leave a comment.

These days, it doesn't bother me as much.

There's times, if a post- I don't try to be controversial on purpose, but sometimes posts become controversial almost by accident, and there's times where I just don't look.

I just let it go, let it happen.

I don't know, I feel like sometimes it's okay to be a little polarizing.

Again, I don't get political, I don't get crazy controversial, but sometimes when you're saying things that really matter, it creates a reaction in people, and that's okay.

And it's okay to let people have that reaction.

And I don't moderate comments aggressively.

If people have disagreements or whatever, as long as they're respectful, I just let that be.

I think that's important to let that free discourse happen.

- Who comes up with your strategy?

Is it all you, Jill?

Is it, you know, "This is what I'd like to say today"?

You have folks that assist you with web-work, and social media work, and that kind of stuff.

Give me an idea of the breadth of the Prairie Homestead.

- [Jill] Yeah, so the ideas are generally me.

And one thing that's really important, is I give- I try to get myself a lot of mental space, because I have that burden of being the idea person.

So I just- honestly, my ideas come from being in the garden, and having that quiet time kneading bread, and being out here on the wide open spaces.

But once I have an idea, I do have that team who helps me implement.

And so I have someone who helps manage my Facebook page, I have a gal who answers all my emails for me, a gal who makes sure that when someone buys a product, that it is delivered properly, and it works, the videos work, and the PDFs open.

Yeah, I have a great team.

And I also have a coach that I work with.

I've worked with coaches for years who I bounce ideas off of, and he helps me refine those.

So it's definitely- it's not a completely solo operation.

I really need my people.

- Before we move on to your garden, which is where we're gonna go next, if you were going to- and maybe you often do, give advice to folks who want to dial it back- dial their lives back, make their lives a little more simple, a little more old-fashioned, if you will.

Where do you tell them to start?

- So on a very practical level, the kitchen.

And you can do that, whether you live in the middle of New York City, or out on a homestead in Wyoming.

So I recommend that people try turning off the TV for just a little bit, or maybe putting their phone down, and trying to create something in the kitchen, whether that's bread, or some sort of dish, or, you know, browning a roast for the first time, and cooking in their Dutch oven.

Those are the things that kind of give you that ignition and makes you excited to try the other aspects of the old-fashioned lifestyle.

- [Craig] Biggest fail in cooking you've ever had was?

- I was fermenting kefir, which is a fermented, bubbly, sweet drink, and I didn't open the bottle soon enough.

So it over-fermented, and I went to open it in my kitchen, and it exploded up in the ceiling.

And it was blueberry, so it looked like a little murder scene all over, and it was sticky, and it was bad.

- Do you have photos?

- I don't think I have photos of that time.

I didn't have a smartphone then, so it was like the old point-and-shoot.

And I was like, "I'm not- we don't need a photo of that."

- Smart move, probably.

- Yes, yes.

- All right, let's go check out your garden.

- Absolutely.

- [Craig] And we're continuing our discussion with the Prairie Homestead, Jill Winger.

And we're at your garden, Jill.

- Yes.

- You have a big garden, we're towards the end of the season, much has been harvested.

There's still more to get out here.

- Yes.

- What do you grow?

- A little bit of everything.

- Yeah?

- Well, that Wyoming will allow.

You know, the tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, onions, squash, cucumbers, cabbage, all the traditional garden stuff.

- [Craig] Uh-huh.

And you can a bunch?

- I do, yes.

- [Craig] Did you can when you were a child, when you we're younger?

- I didn't.

My mom, I think she canned peaches a few times I remember, but I was like, "No thanks, I'm not interested."

So I had to re-learn that skill as an adult.

- And so again, the whole goal here is so that you can have enough to last you through the winter.

- Yes, or close.

- How does that work out?

- I mean, some years better than others.

There are plenty of times I'm thankful to have the grocery store to fall back on, and I'm not above going and getting what I need.

- So tell me, so how does that work?

We were talking off-camera here.

Does that hat come down, the sunglasses go on, the hoodie comes up, and you go to the grocery store?

Because really, you would prefer never to have to go, but you have to go every now and then.

- I do, I don't have too much shame.

I mean, I don't teach- I mean, you know, the people who follow me for homesteading advice, I don't teach that the goal is just, ultimate, being a hermit self-sufficiency, you never get off the homestead, and you never support other businesses.

'Cause I feel like there's a lot of amazing connections to be had, and other local producers, and farmers, and growers, and farmer's markets.

So, the goal for us is not ultimate self-sufficiency, but just to do the best we can.

And honestly, there's just a lot of joy for us in that idea of sitting down to a meal we've raised here on this property.

And that's just- it's just a cool feeling.

It's worth the work, for me.

- You need staples, you need salt, and other things.

- Yeah, salt and I don't, you know, I don't grow wheat here.

I feel like I'd need a lot more land to get enough wheat for all the bread I bake.

So I don't have any shame in buying those things at the store.

- So there are some cables above us.

- There are.

- They haven't been tested yet, as I understand.

Tell us what they're for.

- So this is our crazy hail-net structure.

And we had been thinking of this idea, 'cause I've had my garden demolished, like most Wyoming gardeners at one point in time, by a horrible hailstorm.

And I told my husband, I'm like, "I am not doing this anymore until I can have some insurance against the hail."

So last year, I believe, we built this with these- I think it's aircraft cables, and these big old pipes.

And right now, it's off, but we usually have orchard netting that goes over the top, and it looks like a big circus tent.

And I think it's been good for the garden shade-wise.

It's like 14% shade, and so the plants have liked that, but I haven't tested it with hail, because ever since building it, we've had zero hailstorms.

- And again, do your kids have responsibilities in the garden?

- [Jill] They do, they really- the barn is more of their focus, but they're out here.

You know, one cool thing about having a garden with kids is they like vegetables more, I think, and they'll come out here and graze, or they'll be like, "Can I have a snack?"

You know, I'm like, well, I don't have any- - [Craig] Built in-snacks for kids.

- Built-in snacks, and the rule is, you know, I don't do a lot of snacks in the house, but you can have whatever you want out of the garden.

So they're out here, eating tomatoes and cucumbers, and they think that's pretty cool.

So for me, I do a lot of tomatoes, sauce tomatoes, 'cause that's what I can.

I do a lot of pumpkins 'cause I love making pies, green beans go in the freezer.

So we've kind of narrowed it down to the stuff we really like and eat.

- What else would you like to have here that you don't have today?

Is there anything on your list?

- [Jill] Bees are down the road.

I just haven't had the time to invest in really understanding the whole beekeeping process, but I think that would be pretty cool.

- [Craig] Sure.

- And I think a root cellar, because to have more storage capability, because we grow a lot of potatoes and a lot of onions, and trying to strategically fit those in the basement is stressful.

(laughs) And keep them at the right temperature.

So we'd like to do an old-fashioned root cellar here, pretty quick.

- And you've never met a potato you didn't like, have I read that?

- I love potatoes.

(laughs) The Idaho in me, I suppose.

- Yeah, there you go.

So what's on your plate in the evening?

I mean, every evening, is it steak and veggies, that's it?

Or, what are we eating for dinner tonight?

- I mean, it is pretty simple.

And I feel like, you know, when people start talking about whole foods, or homegrown foods, maybe they overestimate how complicated it needs to be.

So, I mean, we keep it simple, it'll be a pork chop or a steak, or maybe a skillet meal with some ground beef and potatoes, and vegetables from the garden, or vegetables from the larder down in the basement.

So we keep it pretty simple, we're not too extravagant.

- [Craig] What are you passing down to your kids, in your mind now?

And the reason I ask that is because you made a decision in- you know, you had your folks that were hoping maybe your life would go one way, or maybe kind of related to maybe horses and stuff, but not the direction that it went.

- [Jill] Right.

- And now you're being a role model for your kids.

And maybe you have hopes and ideas of what they may or may not end up doing with their life.

What are you hoping that they're learning here?

- Skills, how to be proficient, and confidence.

You know, a lot of confidence comes from knowing how to do things, and knowing how to work with an animal.

And so those are really important.

You know, I've always said, if they don't want to live in the country, or they don't want to have a homestead, or a milk cow when they're older, that's fine, but I want to have them to have this foundation so they can go into a big city, or the suburbs, or wherever they may go.

And have that confidence, and know who they are, and know where their food comes from.

Because I think every single human needs to have that understanding of where food comes from, and how it's grown, and what it takes to produce it.

- So you have people in rural...

The rural West, let's say, or the Heartland of America, that are following you, but you also have people in Manhattan- - [Jill] Yes.

- who are following you.

What are you hoping they're taking from you?

Certainly they can get a recipe to maybe make their own bread, but what else do you hope that they learn?

- I think an awareness of food, 'cause I just feel like so many Americans, and just people in general, we have this idea that food is someone else's responsibility.

And I think it is all of our responsibilities, as eaters, to just understand it.

And I'm not saying everyone should grow a huge garden, or have chickens, but just to be a little more conscious in our food choices.

And the other thing is, I'm very, very- I feel very strongly about people working with their hands, even if it's in their Manhattan apartment, and they're knitting, or they're kneading bread, because it's so good for us.

And I feel like in our digital age, we're missing a lot of that tactile accomplishment, that generations past had.

So I think that's really important for anybody.

- "Tactile" doesn't mean keyboard only.

- Not keyboard only.

No video games, that doesn't count either.

(both laugh) - A lot of things that COVID impacted.

- [Jill] Yeah.

- It impacted your brand.

- [Jill] It did.

- In what way?

- It exploded, which I didn't necessarily expect that.

I honestly thought when COVID first started coming, I thought, "Well, this is a shakeup, and it- maybe the economy will just crash immediately."

And I thought, "Well, maybe I'm gonna have to adjust my brand accordingly, or my business model."

And it actually shocked me.

It skyrocketed, and my blog got more traffic.

I had videos about bread go viral, and people were really hungry for that information.

So it's been interesting.

- [Craig] There are people, I think, because of COVID, that we've heard anecdotal stories of, "You know what, my busy city lifestyle compared to Jill Winger's lifestyle?

Boy, this doesn't look so bad."

Have you gotten some people that have kind of asked you those types of questions?

- As far as thinking that maybe they don't want all this work?

- No, no, that they don't want the big city rush- - Or they don't want the big city anymore, sure.

- and bustle, and the- you know what, what you're doing here, "If I'm going to invest 8, 10 hours a day on something, this doesn't look too bad."

- A ton, and I- there's a huge move of people moving out of the urban areas right now, which I find interesting.

And I think there's just something inside of all of us that calls to- just simple.

And it doesn't have to be as extreme as we do it, but I think people are really craving that right now.

- So we're gonna go to the greenhouse here, as we end our visit with you here on the ranch, but I want to also talk about another investment that you've made in Chugwater.

- Yes.

- The Chugwater Soda Fountain.

- Yes.

- How did that come about?

- It was a little crazy.

I mean, I'd been driving by that little restaurant for years, and about the last two or three years, I just thought, "Man, I think I could make something of that, I think that would be a fun project."

And I kept telling myself, "No, no, no, no, no, no, like not right now, absolutely not."

And then I told myself, "Maybe when I'm 60 and I retire, I'll get a restaurant like that and cook for people."

And then- I tend to be an action-taker, and I tend to try to break through my own limiting beliefs and the stories I'm telling myself.

And I thought, "Well, why am I telling myself the story, 'I have to wait'?

Why couldn't we do that now?"

So we did a lot of research, and talked to a lot of people, and decided that it made sense, in a crazy way, to us.

So we bought it in April, 2021, and we've been working on it, and renovating it ever since.

- So tell us a vision for the Chugwater Soda Fountain.

And as I understand it, Wyoming's longest continually running soda fountain.

- [Jill] Yes, it's got a cool history, a cool building, a quirky, quirky atmosphere.

So really, Christian and I wanted to invest back in Wyoming.

- [Craig] Christian's your husband.

- Christian's my husband.

We wanted to invest back into Wyoming, and Chugwater, specifically.

And so that was the way that made sense to us.

We love business, we love renovating, and I'm like, "This is our skillset, so let's use our skillset to invest back in."

And our- my goal is really just to have it be a special place for the community and the surrounding areas.

And when people drive through, I want to give them a taste of this amazing small town, Wyoming, and that whole- the whole experience.

- [Craig] And as I understand it, it might even be the case, that I can stop in, and have you cook the burger.

- Right now, on occasion, I am there cooking.

(both chuckle) Long-term goal, you know, I don't plan to be there.

- Or your daughter, perhaps.

- And my daughter, yes, she's been there.

I don't plan to be there seven days a week, long-term.

But, you know, it's fun to- you know, to understand the inner workings of a restaurant.

I kind of need to be there and see it, so- and I enjoy flipping burgers and making milkshakes.

- Are you spread too thin?

- There's been times, for sure, yeah.

It's a constant juggling act for me.

And outsourcing and hiring the right team members has been crucial.

So, I just want everybody know, I don't do this all myself.

I have a very robust team.

And so it's making sure that I'm outsourcing properly, I'm hiring the right people.

And my goal is, is if I'm feeling overwhelmed and too busy, that's too much, and I need to reevaluate.

- Let's go check out the greenhouse.

- Absolutely.

- Think that's my favorite place so far- - Yes.

- on your ranch here.

- Me too, me too.

- So, here we go.

- Okay.

- Jill, we're gonna end our show today in front of your beautiful greenhouse.

- Yes.

- This greenhouse has evolved a little bit as well.

What do you use it for?

- So our goal is to try to counteract Wyoming's tiny little growing season.

- [Craig] Good luck with that.

(laughs) - Yes, seriously.

So we dreamed about a greenhouse for- ever since we bought the place.

And last year we finally bit the bullet, and Christian built this, and it took us a long time to find one that was gonna withstand the wind, and the extreme weather, but so far it's- I think it's okay.

So our goal is to grow more food throughout the winter, and increase our self-sufficiency just a little bit more.

- And your idea is to maybe provide some heat to do that.

- Yes.

- Maybe with geothermal?

- That's the goal.

- [Craig] Where did that idea come from?

- So we met a gentleman in Alliance, Nebraska, The Greenhouse in the Snow.

So we went to tour his place, and were just wildly inspired, how he grows oranges, and all these exotic fruits in Nebraska, which is pretty similar to our climate.

And so we kind of wish we'd have thought of that before we built it, but I think we have access to a backhoe, and Christian's pretty handy, so I think we're going to do our tubing and our hole over here, and then pipe in that temperate air into the greenhouse.

- [Craig] It really strikes me about everything that you do, you're not afraid to try, and you're not afraid to learn.

- Yep.

- Where'd you get that?

- So ever since I was a kid, kind of the way I've gotten what I wanted, was to experiment and to get creative, and to be a little scrappy.

And so I've kind of taken that into homesteading, and I haven't waited for the perfect opportunity or the perfect amount of knowledge, 'cause I realized pretty early on, that doesn't exist.

And so, you know, it started with dipping my toe in the water in various ventures, and figuring out that the best way to get what I wanted was just to dive in, and make those mistakes, and then adjust and keep going.

And so Christian and I have carried that into every part of our life, and I feel like it's really served as well.

And yeah, we fall on our face sometimes, but it makes us pretty brave to try things like this.

We do our due diligence, to a point.

And then we're like, "You know what, more research isn't gonna help, we just gotta try it," so... - [Craig] So you and I are gonna visit 10 years from now, 15 years from now, the Prairie Homestead.

What's that gonna mean to you?

What's that gonna mean to your fans?

How's it going to be marketed 10, 15 years from now?

Do we know?

- [Jill] That's a good question.

And I love a good vision, but when I get introspective on the vision for that, I haven't been able to get a super clear picture.

And I know right now, I'm just supposed to put my feet in front of the other, and keep on doing what I'm doing.

I feel like a local footprint is really important to us, and I see that continuing to grow.

I want to bring more life and industry into our little tiny community here.

And I just want to keep helping people think outside the box, be more intentional, and really step into what they dream of.

So I think- I don't know, that can mean a lot of things, but that's where I'm headed.

- Best wishes to you.

- [Jill] Thank you.

- And best wishes to your family.

What you have here is just so surprising, because I am looking through your greenhouse at I-25.

- [Jill] Yes, yep.

- Thousands and thousands of people drive by here every day, and to not have the knowledge or the appreciation that a nationally known influencer is right here, living her passion, and impacting, you know, hundreds of thousands of people, is just interesting to me.

And I'm sure it is to our viewers.

So Jill, thank you so much for joining us on "Wyoming Chronicle".

- Thank you.

It's been a pleasure.

- It's been a great pleasure.

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