About Homestead and Chill
Welcome to Homestead and Chill, a hub for information and inspiration on organic gardening and modern homesteading. Here you can learn how to grow, cook, and preserve your own food, raise backyard chickens, bake sourdough bread, make DIY herbal remedies, sustainable crafts, and more. You can also find our hand-crafted organic skincare products, sourdough starter, and more in our shop. We’re so happy to see you here!
Who is Deanna Talerico?
Deanna Talerico, also known as “DeannaCat” or @deannacat3, is the CEO and creator behind Homestead and Chill. She is a garden educator with over 15 years of experience in organic gardening and food preservation, and 10 years of experience raising backyard chickens.
She shares practical, well-researched, and easy-to-follow advice, hoping to empower others to deepen their connection to their food and the natural world, and lead more healthy, sustainable lives.
Deanna is a retired Senior Environmental Health Specialist, holds a M.A. in Environmental Studies from Brown University, and a B.S. in Sustainability and Natural Resources from California State University, Chico.
FREE Garden Planner
& Planting Calendars
Stay connected and learn! Sign up for our weekly newsletter with the best seasonal gardening tips, recipes, crafts and more – and get a free 21-page printable gardening planning toolkit, complete with seed starting and planting calendars for every growing zone.
About Aaron Talerico
Aaron Talerico is Deanna’s partner and husband, and the COO here at Homestead and Chill. You’ll see him as “Mr. DeannaCat” in the comments section, as he helps to answer all your burning questions.
Though he’s mostly behind-the-scenes, Aaron plays an essential role in keeping Homestead and Chill (and our homestead) running smoothly. He manages our online shop, editing, inventory, Pinterest, bookkeeping, and customer service.
As a retired produce department manager, he also offers ample knowledge about organic fruits and veggies! In fact, Aaron and Deanna met working together in a small natural foods store while they were both in college, where he wooed her with persimmons.
About Our Homestead
The Homestead and Chill headquarters is located on a 2.7 acre private property on the Central Coast of California (zone 9) where we’ve worked to transform barren land with dozens of raised garden beds, fruit trees, native pollinator plants, medicinal herb gardens, and compost systems. We share our property with wildlife, chickens, cats, and four miniature donkeys.
However, we learned and did ALL of the same good stuff (minus the donkeys) on an average 9000 square foot lot first – simply on a smaller scale! We believe you can “homestead” in any size space. Learn more about our old urban homestead here. We turned the front yard into a food forest, and even fit a greenhouse and rainwater system on that property too!
Eager to Get Growing?
Our Start Here page features our most popular articles by category, including gardening, seasonal recipes, natural health tutorials, guides to start a new homestead and more.
Work With Us
Thank you for your interest in working with Homestead and Chill or @deannacat3 on Instagram. We enjoy supporting brands and high-quality products that we truly love and use, and that align with our company ethos that we can stand behind. Please contact [email protected] to connect!
Company Ethos
This is not your traditional homesteading site. At Homestead and Chill, we believe small spaces hold huge potential! You don’t need land to grow food, or grow a deeper appreciation for plants, nature, and wellness. All you need is an open mind and a little creativity. We also believe in science, kindness, respect, and equity for all. This is a place where people from all walks of life – regardless of background, race, color, gender, creed, or sexual orientation – can come together in the shared interest of learning new healthy life skills. Read more here.