Yes!  Sarah, Sally, Honey, whatever, she says!  She's been called worse!  Sarah is her birth name, Sally is what she has been called forever and SHE calls everyone Honey, so we have all dubbed her Sarah Sally Honey!

Sarah lives on 40 acres just outside of Toston, MT on land that is just 20 minutes from the land her grandparents (on both sides) homesteaded.  She and her husband, Dennis, have been in their beautiful home for 11 years now.  They took great pains and about 2 years to make sure the house was located on just the right spot on the land.  Their gorgeous sunroom faces the South and in the winter the sun adds a lot of warmth to the home.  During the summer the hot sun just passes right over the top.  Their home was built on virgin soil.  Sarah is most passionate about the fact that her land has never been chemically treated.  It's exciting for Sarah to know that she's growing food and raising animals on land that has remained the same since the Indians walked on it.  She has followed in their very footsteps, finding remnants of their inhabitants close by. 

Sarah states that it's virtually impossible to live chemically free.  "I swear it's as hard to be organic as it is to be a Christian", she says!  It's something you always work at."

On the top of Sarah's "must have" list when they were building their home was a walk-in cellar.  It's just awesome and the envy of all who see it.  She doesn't even have to leave the comforts of home to go to the cellar!  Awesome!   The other thing she is most proud of, and rightly so, is the fact that it was their goal to move into the house debt free and they succeeded.  Even if that meant living in a camper on the property for several years.

Sarah raises a variety of things on her farm and has raised just about anything you can think of that a farm might have.  She currently has 2 milk cows, several milk goats, some calves, a few guineas and several hundred laying hens.  She provides the Real Food store in Helena with fresh eggs weekly, and I am talking LOTS of them with 400 hens!  Sarah also raises Canaries.  She has a bird room that is alive with the sound of canaries.  She gets a lot of enjoyment out of them and sells the males as song birds. 

Of all the creatures on her place, she loves her milk cows the most.  The goats come in a close second, but the cows rank first.  It's a pleasure to watch Sarah with her cows.  Their relationship is simply awe-inspiring.  I never knew of the relationship between a woman and her cow(s) until I met Sarah.  Now I get it!

Simply put, Sarah is the matriarch of the bunch.  She continues to be an inspiration to us all and when she turned 60, she bought herself a chainsaw as a birthday gift.   

Sarah makes goat's milk soap with her goat's milk and has it for sale on her website http://www.organicwaysoap.com.  It's also listed in the links section on the left.  She has a 3 bar minimum and you'll be happy you bought three bars!  It's great stuff.  She only uses pure ingredients along with her own goat's milk.  Sarah is a stickler for quality and it shows.  She also has eggs for sale locally.

If you have a desire to live off the land, Sarah suggests, " You just do it!  Use a little elbow grease and take off and do it!  Start out little and work up.  Find someone who knows about what you want to learn and don't be afraid to ask questions." 

Sarah is a true Montana treasure.  She's been living this way all her life.  She's never known any other way.  Up until 15 years ago, Sarah only cooked with a wood stove.  She did all of her canning, even in the summer on that same wood stove.  She grows what she eats and knows what she eats.  Just since the new home has she enjoyed some of the comforts of the 21st century.  She's become a kitchen gadget junky and loves anything that will help make the process a little easier.  Salad Shooter Sally!  Yup, she's got one!  I just laughed and said, "Leave it to you to shoot your salad with a gun!" 

Sarah has a philosophy that goes like this, "I don't raise anything that costs me money.  They all have to pay their own way.  If I have extra milk, then I buy a calf or a couple of pigs.  Nothing lives here without working for it!"  And work they do, she and Dennis both!  She also believes that if it can be bought, it can be made.  "I like to depend on myself!"  This "organic" lifestyle is hard work, but well worth it.  

The crops Sarah is most proud of are her children.  Her son Kevin lives in Portland and is the creator and owner of a landscaping company, http://www.bigskylandscaping.com.  Her daughter lives not far from her and is doing the toughest job on earth, raising children.  Sarah feels blessed to have at least two of her grandkids close by.  She enjoys them as much as she can and that little Emily is a WOTD in her own right!  She planted the entire garden last year with her pregnant momma by her side, and at 6 years old!  All in all, Sarah has 7 beautiful grandkids and 1 great granddaughter.  Along with her kids, they are her pride and joy. 

One book she wouldn't want to live without is Carla Emery's "Encyclopedia of Country Living".  It's a comprehensive reference book that she turns to again and again. 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact her at organicwaysoap@aol.com, especially if you have questions about how the first homesteaders used to do things.  She's got a lot of life-knowledge up there in that head of hers!  She should write a book!

Here's a picture of Sarah and her cow, Little Bit.  In Sarah's hand is a bull semen catalog.  She and Little Bit are picking out a mail order husband!

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