For the burgeoning number of backyard gardeners aspiring to grow a rich array of fresh food for their families, The Seven-Step Homestead offers a doable, incremental program for turning any yard into a primary food source with vegetables, fruits, chickens, pollinator plants, and medicinal herbs over the course of several years.

Leah M. Webb, MPH, CHC, is a garden consultant who holds a Master of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Ecology. She was the children’s garden manager at the Georgia Southern Botanic Garden and spent two years studying nutrient cycling in a soil lab. Motivated by the desire to supply her family (including two children who have serious health challenges) with as much fresh, healthy food as possible, she developed the seven-stage implementation plan for her own homestead and gardens in western North Carolina. Find her online at leahmwebb.com.