Welcome to Life in the Making.

“The initial mystery that attends any journey is: how did the traveller reach his starting point in the first place? How did I reach the window, the walls, the fireplace, the room itself; how do I happen to be beneath this ceiling and above this floor? Oh, that is a matter for conjecture, for argument pro and con, for research, supposition, dialectic! I can hardly remember how. … I have no maps to hand, no globe of the terrestrial or the celestial spheres, no chart of mountains, lakes, no sextant, no artificial horizon. If ever I possessed a compass, it has long since disappeared. There must be, however, some reasonable explanation for my presence here. Some step started me toward this point, as opposed to all other points on the habitable globe. ”

Louise Bogan, Journey Around My Room

I am Kat, an Iowan transplanted to a smallholding in Scotland where I make things - mostly messes - but also food, gardens, craft stuff and questionable fashion decisions. Then I write about what I’ve made or, more often than not, the things I’ve failed at making.

I’ve spent the last 15 years teaching and writing about food, craft and homesteading skills.

From a childhood exploring the woods of rural Iowa to my current life on a windy smallholding at the edge of the Scottish Highlands, I have been passionate about the natural world. My meandering path through Human Ecology, craft and publishing has brought me to running our smallholding, publishing small zines and running events centred on our passion for growing and making and documenting our life on the land through words, film and photographs.

In a different part of Scotland, we would be considered a croft - a traditional tenanted small piece of land that often, though not always, focuses on food growing. We have 7 acres under tenancy, with about 3/4 of an acre of gardens, bees, a poly tunnel, a small herd of dairy goats, chickens, ducks and geese. Oh and a pig called Loretta, who is just here for her beauty.

We grow a large part of our own food - some years more than others, depending on how well the fences held against the goats that year. This year they ate most of our late autumn crops, so I am living on kale.

We practice a soil-focussed type of growing - some may call it no-dig or regenerative, but really we work on the principle that we want to leave this corner of the planet better and more productive than we found it.

Growing food is one of the greatest loves of my life and we have taken that love and taught 1000s of people skills from milking, composting, gardening, beekeeping and more. We work with a range of community groups such as Central and West Integration Network, Glasgow Community Food Network, Forth Environment Link and others to host groups on the farm to learn about small scale growing.

OTHER THINGS THAT MAY BE HELPFUL TO KNOW BEFORE YOU SUBSCRIBE:

  • I am known amongst friends for sending long-winded voice notes, often sung off-key. Just know that before clicking into any podcasts.

  • I am not interested in individualistic solutions to big problems. A lot of what we teach takes a household level approach to things like cooking, growing and making, but the end goal here is to create resilient communities - to share with our neighbours and help you do the same.

  • I really like making stuff. Like a lot. Like all the time. My house is therefore messy and I honestly don’t care.

Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.

Stay up-to-date

You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.

Join the crew

Be part of a community of people who share your interests.

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.

Subscribe to Life in The Making

Growing food, family and community at the edge of the Scottish Highlands. Subscribe for free and get our interactive vegetable sowing guide.

People

Kat Goldin is an Iowan transplanted to a small farm in Scotland where she spends every moment she can making, growing, writing and drinking coffee so strong it is probably stripping the enamel off her teeth.