Radiance of the Ordinary

“A rare gem sure to inspire the rooted life. Tara will not only speak to your heart and mind, but she’ll awaken your subconscious with words that pierce your soul.”—Justin Rhodes, author; filmmaker; homesteader“Tara invites us into her deep intimacy with the world in all its radiant texture—joy and grief, wonder and pain, love and longing. Her writing holds both the weight and the lightness of being, and with it, the reminder that we need both. Through her words, the transcendent becomes grounded, and we’re gently called home to ourselves, where the connection we yearn for has been waiting all along.”—Kate Kavanaugh, host, Mind, Body, and Soil podcast“Tara welcomes the reader in with the warmth of an outstretched hand—and one does not want to leave. Even in the depths of grief, she never leaves the reader, never loses us. Hold tight, she seems to say. Do not look away. This is important.This is a beautiful book, true and necessary. In language that shines and shimmers, Tara shares a life lived with grace, honesty, and most of all, love. This is a book that the world needs.”—Heather Heying, coauthor of A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century“This beautiful book is a new classic in the realm of farm memoirs. A gorgeous collection of essays that read like homilies, immersing the reader in the soft light of the ancient rhythms of family and farming while also offering guidance and steadying words through the harsh realities of the cycle of life. Couture’s message: be strong, be productive, notice beauty. This is the farm book we needed for these times.”—Larissa Phillips, columnist, The Free Press; farmer, Honey Hollow Farm

Tara is a writer and homesteader with a background in nutrition. She and her husband live on Slowdown Farmstead in Ontario, Canada, where they raise the cows, rabbits, ducks, geese, chickens, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens that provide them with most of the food they consume throughout the year. Tara writes about ancestral nutrition, family, homemaking, nature, sovereignty and autonomy, grief and loss, and authenticity.