About

basket of sunflowers and calendula

Hello & welcome to The Nerdy Farm Wife!

My name is Jan and here’s where I share natural soapmaking ideas and tips, along with DIY skin & body care recipes, plus herbal home remedies.

I’m especially fond of finding fun uses for common garden plants, along with weeds and otherwise overlooked plants!

My interest in herbs and more natural living began when my son was a toddler with all sorts of food and environmental allergies, asthma, and eczema. I taught myself to make soap for his ultra sensitive skin, created a lemon balm lip balm for his cold sore breakouts (It works! He hasn’t had a cold sore in the 17 years since!), and made tons of other helpful herbal products for the whole family.

Speaking of family… we (my hubby, kids & I) all work together on a second website called Unruly Gardening. There, we focus on foraging and growing, plus share recipes that use foraged and homegrown foods. Come visit me there too! :)

We roam around and grow/forage on about 100 acres of land in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I have 14 myotonic goat wethers who move around the land, working on dense patches of kudzu, Japanese knotweed, autumn olive, bittersweet, and more. We also have turkeys, pigs, quail, chickens, ducks, and several rescue animals – 2 dogs, 4 cats, and a bunny!

I’m also a bestselling traditionally published author and you can find those print books listed on my Amazon Author Page. Plus, I have an eBook shop with digital products.

Privacy & Disclaimers

Please see THIS PAGE for our full privacy policy, affiliate disclosure and disclaimers.

Your email address and personal information stays “in house” and will never be sold or used for spam.

The information on this site is for idea-sharing only. While we do our best to provide useful information, any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk and not a substitute for medical, legal, or any other professional advice of any kind.

Contact Info

Please use our Contact Page for all correspondence. Either me, or my email manager Tracy (also an experienced herbalist & soapmaker), will try to respond to emails within 24 hours, but please allow extra time on holidays and weekends. Thanks!

Press, Guest Posts & Media Features

Mountain Rose Herbs – How to Make Your Own Soap with Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs – Bath Bomb Recipe with Lavender

Soap Queen – Thyme & Witch Hazel Facial Bar DIY

Modern Soapmaking – Citrus Breeze Brine Soap

HGTV – Creative Genius: Jan Berry

Well + Good – Make Your Own Spring Cleaning Products With Plants From Your Garden

InStyle – 3 Easy Ways to Make Your Cleaning Products Eco-Friendly

Money Saving Mom – Turning Scraps to Cash

Hobby Farms – How to Make Winter Rose Soap