We’re Portland Homestead Supply Company, a one-stop resource for urban homesteaders. Whether you’re just starting to can fresh produce or working your way off the grid, we’re here to provide the support and supplies to help you make the transition to a simpler lifestyle. Come check out our shop and visit the goats and chickens. We look forward to seeing you! – Happy Homesteading!
Kristl Bridge
Read about Kristl’s current homesteading projects
Beth Lorio
Read about Beth’s current homesteading projects
Beth came to the Homespun Store with not much homesteading experience beyond reading “Little House on the Prairie” when she was 9. In the last three years she has dabbled in candle making, canning and soap making, and she makes her own yogurt, ferments, and personal care products. Her current ambition is to make various kinds of cheese using kefir and kefir grains. Supposedly it is easy! And Beth loves easy! In fact, Beth has a secret dream to have her own TV series called “The Lazy Homesteader”… But now that dream is not so secret. Anyway, come by the shop and talk to Beth about your Homesteading dreams. If she can Homestead, you certainly can too!
Read about Clara’s current homesteading projects
Clara was born in Fort Collins, Colorado but has lived in Portland since she was six. She spent many years volunteering at OMSI and loves art, especially photography which she has spent more time doing this year. She is a senior at Cleveland High School and will be attending the University of Oregon Honors College in the fall. There she wants to study environmental science and education. She loves to make her own candles and face oils and grew up in a home that was always filled with fresh food from the garden. She is working towards minimizing her ecological footprint by buying local or second hand goods and making her own products.
Sarah Heath
Read about Sarah’s current homesteading projects
Sarah Heath has been a life long crafter and do-it-yourselfer. Having such a deep love for and understanding of homemaking skills, she’s a great fit for the PHS, and has found her time there beneficial in that it has reinforced and supported her growth in the field. Sarah especially loves fermenting, candle making, and is hoping to become more well versed in soap making. Sarah is not only an employee at the homestead store, but she is also a vendor, selling her whimsical garden themed jewelry at the shop.
Jessie Spain
Read about Jessie’s current homesteading projects
Jessie Spain works and teaches soap-making classes at her favorite store, The Portland Homestead Supply Company.
She is the owner of Tree and Ladder, a Portland-based backyard fruit care company whose mission is to help people grow healthy and delicious fruit at home.
Jessie has been farming and teaching small-scale sustainable agriculture for the past ten years. She is a graduate of the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, and has an A.S. degree in Horticulture. She co-teaches an intensive gardening workshop annually at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, where she worked as the Farm Supervisor from 2010-2012.
In the past, Jessie has raised Alpine dairy goats, and is now part of a Nigerian Dwarf goat milking collective. She continues to make cheese, yogurt, and goat-milk soap, as well as lotions, herbal medicines, sourdough bread, sauerkraut, and candles. Jessie also enjoys canning, dehydrating, knitting and beekeeping. Her future homesteading projects include learning how to make tempeh, miso and herb infused fruit wines. Jessie likes to stay busy while living a low-impact life, and finds that homesteading is a natural fit for her.