Seasonal Homemaking: What I am Creating, Cooking, and Cleaning This April

April Homemaking

April feels like a deep breath, doesn’t it? This April so far, we had more sunshine days than not. Which is a welcome after a long grey winter. In NW Montana, Winter is not officially over to me until around Mother’s Day. That’s when the fear of frost is usually over and I can get my hands digging in the garden again.

It’s a month of both sunshine and a bit of mud. Of open windows mid-day when the sun is out, and crisp chilly evenings and mornings.

I have loved seeing the return of the birds and have glimpsed a few butterflies. I have been getting so excited for warmer days and long to be able to be barefoot in the grass every day.

April homemaking for me looks like a lot of preparation this year. We are in our new home, so we are building a garden, fixing fencing on our property (goodness why is fencing SO expensive?!), and we have baby chicks and new bunnies. We had hoped to get at least one pasture fenced for goats or sheep, but I don’t know if that will happen this year.

I have felt the strong urge to declutter my home so it runs as smooth as possible during the Summer. In the Summer, we LIVE outside here, and the house gets neglected. We are busy in the garden, camping, hiking, swimming…. so I am trying to tie up an loose ends and finish any small projects that we started inside our home.

April homemaking has me feeling all the Spring cleaning madness and I am trying to not feel overwhelmed with my to-do list. It’s a balance between getting all my tasks done and sneaking outside to soak up the sunshine when it’s out.

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What I’m Cooking in April

The kitchen begins to feel a bit lighter this time of year. I add in more green salads and fresh veggies. I also am back to baking fresh bread daily in my bread machine. The smell of bread baking all day is amazing, but does tend to make me hungry!

In April, I find myself:

Baking simple breads and lighter treats
Cooking meals that feel nourishing but not heavy
Adding in a bit more greens
Taking our meals outside in the sun when we can

The meals these days are not elaborate, but I am still trying new things. In the Winter I cook a lot from scratch, but as the days get warmer, I tend to take a couple shortcuts when I can because I just want to be outside. Last night I made these taco cups with wonton wrappers- they were SO good. Just a fun twist on taco night (which we have some version of every week).

What I’m Cleaning in April

April often brings the desire to refresh everything at once- I am trying to resist that pressure, but I admit that I am in a cleaning and purging craze right now. I have rearranged and reorganized our homeschool room (which is also our dining room) again. I am moving books, decor, hanging pictures that I haven’t got to yet. I am feeling the need to simplify and have less visual clutter.

With all this purging and re-organzing, I am also doing a bit of actual cleaning. But instead of chasing a perfect “spring clean,” or a huge deep clean, I am focusing right now on tending the spaces we live in daily.

Right now, that looks like:

Opening windows whenever the weather allows
Wiping down or steam cleaning surfaces in the main areas of the home that have been collecting a bit of grime or dust
Slowly working through cabinets and shelves
Purging and organizing homeschool supplies and kids toys
Letting in light—both physically and emotionally

April seasonal homemaking steam cleaning kitchen cabinets — I was sent this steam cleaner, and I started steaming all sorts of random spots in my home! It worked like a charm on my nasty oven and didn’t have to use any chemicals.

This kind of cleaning isn’t really rushed, it’s more of a steady, when-I-get-to-it type of cleaning. I will randomly get these insane bursts of energy and laser-focus on a project (hello ADHD) and those or the days I get so much done. Those are the days I will decide the baseboards need to be scrubbed squeaky clean or the bathroom needs a deep clean with my steam cleaner. But other days I have a hard time just putting three meals + 500 snacks (ok, more like 10) a day and don’t have time to even get myself dressed or wash my face….

I know women who are laser-focused, goal driven, and bursting with energy every day. I am not one of those woman, but I sure do admire them. I will take my few days of energy and put them to good use. A couple days ago was one of those days, and my husband and I worked on our garage. We still have several boxes that haven’t been unpacked yet and without a basement to store things, the garage is full of Jenga box towers- but we are getting there.

Something I keep telling myself is that it’s less about perfection, and more about creating a home that feels cared for and ready for a new season.

April seasonal homemaking — *peep the cute cabin dollhouse I have been working on!* I have been purging like crazy to get these shelves tidy… the visual clutter stresses me out- I do miss having a dedicated homeschool room where I could just shut the door and not see the mess, but it has been a real joy to sit all together in the main area of the house every day and it has been easier for me to pop into the kitchen or the laundry room to keep my daily chores going while still doing lessons. In our last house our homeschool room was in the basement, and I hated going up and down the stairs a million times a day. I recently added this little curtain on a tension rod to cover one of the bookshelves, and it makes the world of difference!

What I’m Creating in April

I have a few projects I am working on this month. One fun project is a cabin dollhouse that was given to me and I am slowly fixing it up. I have had too much fun with this, and spent way too much money of dollhouse furniture (it adds up fast!). I will share the grand makeover reveal hopefully next month!

Another project is my powder room- which I plan to finally paint this weekend during the rain we are expected to get. My husband prepped the bathroom for painting and wallpaper several weeks ago, but when I saw how much the wallpaper would cost that I wanted (which took me 3 weeks to decide on), I said no way am I spending that. So I decided I am going to just paint the beadboard and walls, and down the road I will use a stencil or stamp on the walls to add some vintage whimsy.

This month’s Ladies Craft Night is in a couple weeks, and I am so excited! I am sharing some basic needle felting tricks, and we are making little mushrooms. I will be sharing that party here by the end of April! I completely skipped the month of March for my series of Seasonal Homemaking, but I did do a craft night with a few gals. We made kitchen towels and hand sewed different cute felt pieces on them. I admit I never even finished my towel! My lopsided flower was a bust, and I have it still sitting on my craft table hoping to get some attention.

In this season I am:

Planning out the new garden
Dreaming of our future homestead and being thrilled that we have a flat 5 acres to work with
Creating simple spaces that feel fresh and calm and clutter-free
Taking our art time outdoors when we can. My boys draw or paint and I like to watercolor or color with colored pencils
Working through this month’s Simply Earth essential oil recipe box and making homemade natural cleaners (use my code MYSIMPLEWILDFREE to get a free bonus box worth over $40 and a free $45 egift card for a future purchase!

April seasonal homemaking cabin dollhouse

What I am Reading

I was seeing these cute little books all over Instagram awhile back, and decided to read the first book of the series. I am hooked! I just ordered volume two of the series, and cannot wait to dive in. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1… if you are a Jane Austin fan, you will love these! These “journals” are written by a young woman named Emma in London in the 1800s, who is witty and relatable and has a good sense of humor.

I am also reading this Women’s Devotional Bible (The Gospels). I highly recommend this for anyone that needs the bible stories written in simple plain English. Although I do love reading my traditional bible, I find that in the morning when my brain is still a little fuzzy, I cannot even comprehend what I am reading. I end up kind of zoning out or re-reading the same passage over and over. So I started reading this and I have such a hard time putting it down! Some days I only get a couple paragraphs in, others I am consuming page after page. I try to wake before my kids again, and sometimes I only get 20 minutes.

April seasonal homemaking book and cup of tea

Motherhood

Spring brings new energy, but it also brings its own challenges. My children feel the shift, too. There’s more movement, more curiosity, we’re a bit busier, and often there is more mess.

April motherhood looks like:

Letting them be outside longer
Welcoming the dirt and the noise (and trying not to obsess over clean floors)
Adjusting rhythms without losing steadiness
Staying present in the middle of all the projects and to-do list
Continuing to read good seasonal books together

April seasonal homemaking mom reading to kids

April doesn’t need us to rush into fullness and busy ourselves with preparations. We can tend what is in front of us… to open the windows, to make a nourishing simple meal, and to care for our homes and our people with intention. If you are also feeling a bit overwhelmed with the projects you need to start and finish this Spring, just remember to try to slow down and savor the season when you can. Take a few moments to just breathe outside, notice the birds, look for signs of Spring and new growth. Take a meal outside, enjoy a family walk after dinner…. enjoy the beauty and newness of Spring!