About SMHomestead
Real skills, learned on real land — and shared honestly with anyone who wants to live a little closer to it.
Meet Daniel Highfield
I'm Daniel Highfield, and SMHomestead is my homestead — both the land I work and the notebook where I write down what I learn doing it. I didn't grow up with all of this figured out. I picked it up the way most useful things are picked up: by doing the work, making mistakes, and paying attention to people who knew more than I did.
I spent four years as a weather forecaster in the U.S. Air Force, where reading the atmosphere wasn't a hobby — it was the job, and people's safety depended on getting it right. That training shapes how I think about preparedness: watch the patterns, respect the data, and never confuse a calm morning for a guarantee.
For the past two years I've owned and run a ranch, learning agriculture and livestock the way it's always been learned — one season at a time. I've spent seven years as a ski instructor, which taught me how to break a hard skill into pieces someone can actually learn, and how to stay calm and useful when the conditions turn. And I'm currently a business student, building the foundation to make this homestead something that lasts.
Why this site existsOur Mission
SMHomestead is about rural self-sufficiency and preparedness — the practical kind, not the doomsday kind. The goal is simple: share skills that help real people live more capably on real land. How to read the weather before it reads you. How to raise animals and grow food. How to be safe and competent outdoors. And how to put modern tools — including AI and automation — to honest, useful work instead of letting them gather dust.
Everything here is organized around five pillars:
- Weather & Preparedness — forecasting, resilience, and being ready.
- Ranch & Agriculture — livestock, soil, gardens, and stewardship.
- Outdoor Life — camping, fishing, skiing, and outdoor skills.
- AI & Automation — practical tech for a working homestead.
- In Memory of Sari — the recipes and lessons that started it all.
For Sari
This homestead carries a name on purpose. It's the Sari Memorial Homestead — named for the woman who introduced me to so much of what I love about this life: agriculture, cooking, camping, fishing, skiing, and snowboarding. Nearly every skill on this site traces back to her in one way or another.
Sari passed in 2016, but her lessons didn't. This site is, in part, my way of keeping them alive and passing them on. Read her full tribute →