Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled...and other adventures from the radical homemaking frontier

An intimate inside look at the family and personal life of one of America’s leaders in sustainable living.

In spite of being hidden away on her family’s mountain farm in the Northern Catskills, Shannon Hayes’ words rang out around the world when she first published Radical Homemakers, a clarion call to men and women everywhere to make hearth and community the center of an ecologically sustainable future. In the face of fierce criticism, she has become the voice of a new generation of parents, farmers and urban and rural homesteaders committed to a life of self-reliance, economic independence, and community interdependence; free from corporate domination, grueling work schedules, and endless hours in the car driving to soccer games and ballet lessons. But the life path she advocates is not an easy one. It is rife with sticky counters, messy projects, dirty laundry, vomiting children, and dusty shelves.

Here, in a collection of 29 essays taken from her popular weekly Tuesday Posts at ShannonHayes.org, Hayes unveils the gritty details of her own radical homemaking life. We see her vulnerabilities, her mistakes, and her greatest lessons as she navigates through myriad topics from family finance and homegrown food, to homeschooling (all the way from sex ed to higher ed), to housekeeping, health care, and the power of community. This collection of heartwarming and humorous tales is sure to energize radical homemakers and inform and inspire countless readers new to this movement to pick up a garden hoe, hang out their laundry, or simply linger a bit longer with friends and loved ones around a home-cooked meal.