Homesteaders Natural Products born out of family’s self-sufficient lifestyle

NORTH RIVER, N.S. — Melonie Swinamer and her family have created a sustainable lifestyle for themselves that they now share with others.

The Swinamer family journey began on 1/5 of an acre in Western Shore, between Mahone Bay and Chester, where her husband Darrin’s family is from. On this small property, Swinamer says they were 70 per cent self-sufficient.

“We grew our own meat with chickens, turkeys and goats; had our own goat’s milk and chicken eggs; grew fresh produce in raised bed gardens and a small greenhouse; and we had solar panels to run most of our house,” she says.

This was just the beginning.

Six years ago, the family moved to a 25-acre old homestead in North River, north of New Germany, which they have been renovating ever since. And now, the family is 100 per cent off the grid, relying on the sun and a diesel generator.

It was during this process of becoming self-sufficient that Swinamer says she started learning more about natural products, growing their own food, and making their own household and personal products. This was when someone suggested to Swinamer that she try making soap using essential oils. Around the same time, the family had expanded their animals from just chickens to goats and had an abundance of goat’s milk.

“I decided to try goat’s milk soap and was hooked. We haven’t used anything else since,” she says.

The soap-making process started with a lot of research and experimentation with scents and additives until she found recipes she liked, says Swinamer.

“I decided early on that I wanted to use only good quality natural ingredients, organic when possible and stay away from kits, perfumes and dyes,” she says. “I use only essential oils and natural colourants like flowers, herbs, roots and seeds.”

This experimentation led to the creation of Swinamer’s business, Homesteaders Natural Products, where she makes and sells a line of natural products.

Homesteaders Natural products’ most popular soap scents are lavender, orange-patchouli and peppermint patty which has cocoa and smells just like peppermint patty candy. Other scents include geranium, cedar wood, basil-mint, café-au-lait, lemon-thyme, oatmeal-honey, fennel, rosemary-lime and of course unscented.

Besides making and selling soap, Swinamer also makes all-natural lotions including a healing lotion which is good for head-to-toe daily moisturizing, sunburns, rashes, bug bites and much more. She has two types of outdoor lotions which deter black flies and mosquitos from biting and is currently working on sunscreen and a tick repellant as well. In the past, she has also made shave soap and soap for dogs.

Her most popular product, though, selling more than 400 sets a year, are her wool dryer balls. These balls, which replace the need for dryer sheets by helping to reduce static and drying time, are better for the environment and one’s health.

For those interested in learning more about the soap-making process, Homesteaders Natural Products is offering a soap making class on Feb. 23 is at Art Happening on King Street in Bridgewater. In this two-hour class, people will learn about the different types of handmade soaps, soap/lye calculator and recipes, soap making methods, additives and care. This is a class, not a workshop, so Swinamer will be talking and doing demos but it won’t be hands-on. All attendees will go home with recipes and two bars of soaps.

Swinamer will be offering a series of crafting workshops, one or two a month, mostly at Art Happening. They also hope to do more farming workshops, including animal husbandry, forest foraging, food preservation, seed saving and more. Information will be posted in the upcoming events section on their Facebook page, homesteadersnaturalproducts.

Those interested in purchasing products from Homesteaders Natural Products can find them at local farmers’ markets as well as in various shops along the south shore. A full list of locations can be found on their website.