Kate MacLean lives simply and beautifully. If you’ve ever seen her Instagram, you’ve likely swooned over the rolling green hills and the picturesque livestock roaming around. I know I personally followed along last month as her family nursed a little calf that had been formally rejected by her mother. It’s a whole other world when you’re used to living in a big city. But beyond the idyllic setting, Kate is creating a beautiful little pocket for her family through her creativity and values. Get to know Kate and make sure to follow along with her on IG when you’re done reading!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m a mother of two, writer, farmer and homesteader up in the hills of Central Vermont. I moved here eight years ago and was lucky enough to move my whole family here, too, over the years. My parents now live 100 yards away, on the same property. My sister and her husband now live on the far side of the land in a cabin we built for them. And, my mother-in-law has a weekend cabin across from them. I’m very close with my family and so very grateful to have them all here. My children and the four family dogs move freely between homes. We eat at least one big meal all together every week. But in the summer, when other siblings and friends are visiting, we eat nearly every meal together, at a big long table in the barn.

Your homestead looks like a dream. How did you end up organic farming in Vermont?

Both of my parents have sisters named Kate (how I found my own name) who live in Vermont. I grew up in Massachusetts but we always spent time up here visiting them. When I began farming, I knew I needed to be close to family, I knew I needed a rural state that was supportive of small farms, and I needed a land that could weather the coming climate changes. Vermont fit all three needs and was a state I was so intimately familiar with.

Can you tell us about your writing and illustrations? What do you and your sister work on together?

I feel so lucky to get to live next to my sister for 100 different reasons and working together is certainly one of them. Running together, gardening together, drinking cocktails on the porch, hunting for mushrooms, watching her inject her imagination into my children’s adoring minds. We just finished an illustrated children’s novel about the farm. Fiona’s illustrations enriched the writing more than I could ever have imagined. I think we both have a tremendous appreciation for how the two work together and now how we work together, too. Now begins the slightly less fun part of finding a publishing home for the book.

Where do you find creative inspiration when you’re feeling burnout?

My most creative time is at night. I usually start ‘writing’ in my head while I’m out on the farm, going through the motions of evening chores. The combination of the solitude and the dark never fails to get my mind moving.

What is your dream project you have yet to tackle?

Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac is one of my favorite books. It is a journal of sorts of observations of the natural word on Leopold’s land over the course of a year. It is accompanied by his stunning photography. Someday I want to pilfer my own journal entries to make such a recording of a year on the farm.

Are there any causes or movements that you’re particularly passionate about?

Naturally, I care a lot about the small farming movement. This snowballs into a passion for animal welfare, land stewardship, land access, the dismantling of industrial agriculture, rural development, food access, food apartheid, among others. I think it’s nearly impossible to view one movement or cause in isolation. One success is so often intricately dependent on the success of others.

“I usually start ‘writing’ in my head while I’m out on the farm, going through the motions of evening chores. The combination of the solitude and the dark never fails to get my mind moving.”

What does a typical day look like for you?

I’m a mother, a writer, a farmer, a homesteader and a local official. Recently, I, like so many parents, have added homeschool-teacher to that list. Every day is an inelegant mesh of the six. I’ve tried to stick to rigorous schedules but the nature of children and farm make that nearly impossible, so everything revolves around those two suns. Work fits in around them.

Go-to breakfast?

Savory oats. This is particularly needed in the winter months before braving the Vermont winter mornings. Steel-cut oats, cooked with wilted kale or spinach and shiitake mushrooms. Mix a little parmesan in at the last minute. Put a fried egg on top and a fair helping of hot sauce.

“I’ve tried to stick to rigorous schedules but the nature of children and farm make that nearly impossible, so everything revolves around those two suns. Work fits in around them.”

What’s always in your fridge?

Kimchi, raw milk, sourdough starter and various wilted and soil-covered greens from the garden.

Do you have a daily uniform or outfit that’s your signature?

In the winter, I simply wear as many layers of wool as I can reasonably fit on. In the summer, I wear my Handyma’am coveralls almost every day. They’re incredible, they’re durable. They make me feel good, powerful, capable.

3 favorite items in your closet?

Everything in there is old. They are mostly thrift store dresses, threadbare and stained, meant for the impossibly easy decadence of a Vermont summer day.

What are your all-time favorite, must-read books?

I don’t know that I could pick one, or even a handful, but this morning it is snowing and it is early May, and I can’t help but think of one of my old faves, The Shipping News by Annie Proulx.

Currently listening to?

For music, John Prine, the kids and I have been honoring his life this spring and have rediscovered a few of his albums. Mostly though, I listen to podcasts; Pod Save America, The Ezra Klein Show, BBC World Service, Fresh Air.

Do you have any bedtime rituals?

I plug my phone into the only power cord in my house, which is in the kitchen and thus am able to leave it downstairs away from my bedroom. I always shower at night. That’s a farmer-habit, no use in showering in the morning if you’re going to get covered in dirt and grime that day. Once I’m passably clean, I kiss the sleeping kids one more goodnight, then I find the most dense The New Yorker article available, usually something about economics as that is my weakest subject, and allow it to do the heavy lifting to get me to sleep.

Current beauty routine?

I’m a pretty firm believer in hydration and sleep for beauty. The cheapest, yet most effective of options. If there were one product I would recommend it would be Dr. Hauschka lip balm. I use it at night, or when I’m going outside in the winter. My lips are full and smooth as a result.

Anything exciting on the horizon you can share with us?

Yes! But I can’t share here quite yet.