Welcome to Ison Homestead! We’re Jeanine, Zach, and our girls Emma & Amelia. We’re tucked away in the northwoods of rural Wisconsin on a piece of land that has been in the family for four generations. This page is where we share everything we’re building, growing, making, and learning along the way. No gatekeeping. No mystery ingredients. Just real life on a real piece of land.
It started the way it probably starts for a lot of people: slowly, then all at once. We began paying closer attention to what was going into our bodies, what was in the food, what was in the products on our skin. Little shifts at first. Then we had kids, and “paying closer attention” turned into something closer to a full lifestyle overhaul.
When you’re responsible for small humans, you stop shrugging at ingredient lists. You start asking questions nobody wants to answer. You start making things yourself because it turns out it’s not that hard, and it turns out you actually know what’s in it. There’s a sense of pride when you make something your self that helps feed or care for your family.
So that’s what we did. We hunt and process our own game. We raise most of our own meat. We grow heirloom and hybrid vegetables…because we’re not perfect. We render our own tallow from the cows we raise, and make skincare products from scratch, including a whipped beef tallow face balm we’re bringing to market with honey and frankincense, because we got tired of paying for “clean beauty” products with questionable ingredient lists buried in fine print.
We’re also building this intentionally. Simpler living doesn’t mean doing less. It means doing things with more purpose. Every project, every recipe, every ridiculous farm moment gets documented and shared here, across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.
Welcome to our journey! We’re so happy that you’re here to join us.
The Ison Homestead Family