Meet the Andersen’s
Family is everything
Hello!
We are the Andersens! A family of five, living on a run down 16 acre Homestead in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin. We are fixing up the Farmhouse, planting gardens, making space for animals and raising a family. So glad you could join us on our Homesteading Journey.
Where we came from…
We used to live in suburban Chicagoland, Illinois. It’s where we embarked on the homesteading journey, proving you truly can Homestead (to some degree), anywhere. We started growing food in raised beds and containers, eventually setting up a small garden area with herbs, flowers, fruits and veggies. I taught myself how to bake bread, various preserving methods and crafts. My husband focused on small engine and vehicle repair, expanding his home repair and renovation knowledge. We thought we were set. Then we moved to the country…
The Country
Ahh, the country! It’s been an adjustment with so much to figure out and learn. Social and community differences aside, there was the Great Chicken Debacle of 2015, followed by the Groundhog Disaster and something involving mice. There is almost always, something involving mice. We’ve had blights and voles, moles and beetles. Warping boards, flooding basements and even a plague of flies, actually several of those.
We’ve learnt how to start my car with a pair of pliers, treasured harvests of 10 tomatoes from 40 plants just as much as we treasured the 500 pounds from 30. We have fixed overgrown and fungus-infected pear trees, planted an orchard (twice), tamed weeds on over 4 acres, started a food forest, cleared out woods, harvested our own maple syrup and have the house kinda, sorta, liveable. Most importantly, we’ve made so many wonderful friends along the way. Life is varied, interesting and fun, even when it leaves us muddied and sore.
This is our adventure and we hope to share all we have learned, and are learning, along the way!

About me
My name is Neeks Andersen, chief homesteader and blogger for the Living Driftless crew. My husband, Danny, works full-time as a Carpenter and he helps make all the outrageous ideas I have, come true.
Farm
I love babies and will be forever sad we only have three (16, 14 and 3) but I am making up for it on the farm with our animals. Right now we have 36 chickens, a few pigs, 4 cats, 1 dog and a rabbit. We have plans to swap out the pigs we have and get new ones, add some goats and a cow (or two). Maybe bees? I’ll be posting about the animals over in the Farm section on the blog.
I am the chief gardener, planning and organizing what and how much we grow for the season. I started our first vegetable garden when I was pregnant with our oldest. He is now 16 so I have been doing this for a while, with varying degrees of success. You can find all the posts on Gardening, how and what we grow over in the Farm section.
Farmhouse
I have always enjoyed fixing up spaces, DIY projects and crafting. I love finding a piece of junk and turning it into something new. You will find projects as I do them and some handy how to’s over in the Farmhouse section. Along with Farmhouse restoration and renovation projects, recipes and anything else home and hearth related.
Life
Our youngest son was born the same year we purchased the farm. He was diagnosed with Down Syndrome at birth and over in the Life section, along with stories and experiences from all of us and ideas for creating your own “simple life”, is a section called Loving Everett Dane. There you will find posts that deal specifically with the unique challenges and joys associated with DS.
If you ever have any suggestions or ideas you think I should try or you would like to see covered, I love to hear from our readers, so please drop me a line
My latest blog posts.