Join us for an unforgettable day at the Homesteaders of Iowa's Homesteading Event! Connect with experts in sustainable living through a dynamic line-up of top speakers and discover unique products from talented vendors. Watch skilled artisans demonstrate traditional techniques, and let your kids explore hands-on activities designed for learning and fun. Whether you're new to homesteading or an experienced enthusiast, this event offers something for everyone. Get your tickets now and be part of this exciting celebration of self-sufficiency!
At HOI Expo 2025, we believe in the power of homesteading. Our story began with a simple dream: to bring together like-minded individuals eager to learn and grow. Over the years, we’ve created a vibrant community where sharing knowledge and skills is key. We are hosting HOI Expo 2025, Midwest Conference to teach, strengthen, and encourage everyone to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Our goal is to inspire you to live more sustainably and connect with others who share your passion. Together, we can make a difference!
For more information, please visit: https://homesteadersofiowa.com/hoi-expo-2025/
Buy Tickets: https://app.promotix.com/events/details/HOI-Expo-2025-tickets
Friday, February 21st
9:45 am
Dr. Patrick Jones – Theater – Friday 9:45 am
Ten Plants That Can Change Your Life – Herbal medicines in your own backyard.
Clinical herbalist and practicing veterinarian Dr. Patrick Jones discusses how to become a self-reliant herbalist. His focus is on being plant-based rather than product-based. This lecture will be a deep discussion of ten amazing plants that are readily available in your own yards and gardens. You’ll leave this lecture feeling empowered to recognize, grow and use these plants to work true medical miracles. You can be an herbalist!
Difficulty: Easy
Miranda Skubal – North Classroom – Friday 9:45 am
How to Turn a Homesteading Day Into a Homeschooling Day
More info to come. . .
Beckham Miller – Middle Classroom – Friday 9:45 am
Grafting Fruit Trees
Come to the class to learn techniques and several aspects of grafting. And then later, join me in the vendor hall for a demonstration.
Difficulty: Average
Dawn Crist – South Classroom – Friday 9:45 am
Sheep, Wool & Creating! Oh my!
From Sheep to Shawl, or socks, or loom. How fiber goes from on the animal to on your body.
Also catch her in the vendor hall where she will demonstrate spinning.
Difficulty: Average
11:30 am
Tonya Kisling – Theater – Friday 11:30 am
Toxic-Free Living – DIY Skincare & Cleaning.
We will be focusing on empowering people to make their own products from natural skincare lotions to homemade laundry detergent.
Join me for a hands on workshop where you’ll learn to create your own natural cleaning products and skincare using simple, non-toxic ingredients.
You’ll discover the benefits of using natural alternatives to commercial products and how to avoid harmful chemicals.
In this class you will:
• Learn to identify toxic ingredients
• Explore the benefits of using natural ingredients like goats milk and tallow
• Receive recipes for popular skincare and cleaning products
• Participate in a fun, interactive session to create a large batch of natural laundry detergent
• Take home a small portion of the homemade laundry detergent to try at home!
Whether you’re a seasoned DIY enthusiast or a beginner, this class is perfect for anyone looking to live a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle.
Difficulty: Easy
Lori Fenter – North Classroom – Friday 11:30 am
Food Preservation
The many ways to preserve your harvest.
We will go through the basics of canning, freezing, dehydrating, and freeze-drying your harvest.
Panel: – Middle Classroom – Friday 11:30 am
Faith and the Homestead
Come ready to discuss with our Panel how faith fits into the homestead.
Difficulty: Discussion
Dr. Michelle Burgmeier – South Classroom – Friday 11:30 am
Homestead Poultry Diseases
We all want to have high-quality meat and eggs, while raising healthy poultry. Dr. Burgmeier, DVM, asks “What can make your chicken’s and other poultry sick?” Both meat and egg layers can be affected by a variety of illnesses or parasites. Let’s talk about these issues ahead of time and be aware of what we can do to prevent problems and what we can do to treat them should they arise.
Difficulty: Average
1:15 pm
RuthAnn Zimmerman – Theater – Friday 1:15 pm
Cooking From Scratch 101
Learn how to whittle away at your grocery budget by cooking from scratch! RuthAnn explains how she uses what she grows or bulk stores to cook for her family.
Difficulty: Average
Clyde Majerus – North Classroom – Friday 1:15 pm
The Timing of Events for
Spring Vegetable Gardening
In his talk: “Timing of Events for Spring Veggie Gardening” Clyde will talk through the sequential steps for growing a great garden using his Time-Phased format. He begins with preparing the garden bed, selecting crops, garden layout, planting, growth, and ends with harvest and preservation. Clyde’s handout and slide chart are intended to provide you with a “Road-Map for Your Veggie Garden”, getting you ready to make it happen. As part of this class Clyde will show and explain how his garden planning chart works.
Difficulty: Average
To Be Announced – Middle Classroom – Friday 1:15 pm
Monty Schrunk – South Classroom – Friday 1:15 pm
The Fascinating Life of Bees
Basic information about a honeybee colony.
Get to know our favorite insects that give us the golden nectar of honey. From their life cycles to how they communicate with each other these little creatures will amaze you!
Difficulty: Easy
3:00 pm
Dr. Patrick Jones – Theater – Friday 3:00 pm
Livestock Health: Principles, Practices and Natural Interventions
Join Dr. Patrick Jones, veterinarian and clinical herbalist, for an in-depth discussion on principles and practices to maximize the health of the animals your family depends on. He’ll discuss preventative strategies as well as herbs and other natural interventions to solve problems when they arise.
Difficulty: Average
David Yoder – North Classroom – Friday 3:00 pm
Balancing Your Soil, Organically
David will explain sampling your soil to unlock the nutrients available and unavailable to your plants. He will touch on the function of mycorrhizae in your soil. But mostly, this will be a class of taking action to balance your soil. David’s approach is one that is geared toward the average homesteader.
Difficulty: Average
David Mixdorf – Middle Classroom – Friday 3:00 pm
Your Homestead Library
If you’re beginning your homesteading journey or interested in learning about a specific topic, where do you find the proper information? This presentation will show you some of the best sources of information that you can add to your library.
Difficulty: Easy
Sherelyn Hornick – South Classroom – Friday 3:00 pm
Time saving Tips and Tricks in your Kitchen
How to make your own mixes.
This class will offer time saving ideas to use in your kitchen. Handouts of recipes to make money saving mixes will be given out. There will be some time saving ideas when baking.
This class is not a duplication, but rather, it compliments RuthAnn’s “Cooking From Scratch.”
4:45 pm
Keynote – John Ewing – Theater – Friday 4:45 pm
Building Your Legacy
This is a 90 minute class.
John goes into why we Homestead and how that affects your future. He links the past with the present and the future in a way that most haven’t considered.
Becky Taylor – North Classroom – Friday 4:45 pm
Fermentation Method of Food Preservation
The fermentation process will be discussed and demonstrated using a variety of foods. Use of the necessary equipment will also be demonstrated. There will be samples of my favorite fermented recipes for taste testing. Questions are encouraged during the class.
Difficulty: Average
To Be Announced – Middle Classroom – Friday 4:45 pm
Dan Whitmore – South Classroom – Friday 4:45 pm
Keeping Bees in Horizontal Hives
Dan shares his experience of keeping his own bees and working with students of his annual beekeeping classes His methods include providing bee-friendly horizontal hives with deep Layens frames, capturing local bee swarms and refraining from the treatment for disease and mites in order to strengthen the resilience of the bees.
Difficulty: Average
Saturday, February 22nd
9:15 am
RuthAnn Zimmerman – Theater – Saturday 9:15 am
How To Get Children to
Help on the Homestead.
Learn what to expect through each developmental stage of childhood, keep your sanity and even build relationship while getting chores done!!
Difficulty: Average
Kimberly Maloy – North Classroom – Saturday 9:15 am
Foraging
Difficulty: Average
More to come. . .
Steven Yoder – Middle Classroom – Saturday 9:15 am
Choosing Your Greenhouse
Steven will explain different greenhouses, what you should look for, and how to start out small if that better fits your budget.
Difficulty: Easy
Michelle Hall – South Classroom – Saturday 9:15 am
So You Want Cows – It’s as Simple as 1-2-3.
In this class, I will make the assumption the attendees have little to no experience with cattle.
I’ll discuss the 3 reasons you might want homestead cattle, the 3 things you need before you buy homestead cattle, the top 3 things to look for in homestead cattle, the 3 mistakes that will kill your dream of owning homestead cattle and my top 3 tips for being successful with homestead cattle.
11:00 am
Dr. Patrick Jones – Theater – Saturday 11:00 am
Herbal First Aid. . . For Man and Beast
Clinical herbalist, naturopath and practicing veterinarian Dr. Patrick Jones discusses the use of medicinal plants in first aid scenarios. You will be astounded at the interventions that are possible using only plants readily available in your own backyard. You’ll be even more astounded to learn how easy it is for you to do it yourself should the need ever arise! Learn to address bleeding, infections, earaches, respiratory emergencies, burns, wounds and other common issues from one who has dealt with such things in practice on a daily basis for years.
Difficulty: Average
Sara Holton – North Classroom – Saturday 11:00 am
Value-Added Products
Learn the intricacies that go with marketing your Homestead products.
To Be Announced – Middle Classroom – Saturday 11:00 am
Becky Taylor – South Classroom – Saturday 11:00 am
Canning Food: Preservation Practices, and Equipment
The process of canning foods will be discussed and demonstrated, using both the water bath and pressure canner methods. Equipment will be discussed and will be available for hands on demonstration. The class is presented using a science based approach, but in a way that removes the fear of failure. Understanding why we do things a certain way leads to success. Canned food items will be available for inspection.
Difficulty: Easy
12:45 pm
Monty Schrunk – North Classroom – Saturday 12:45 pm
Keeping Bees Doesn’t Have to be Hard.
Natural Beekeeping compared to Conventional Beekeeping. We will look at different houses for the honeybee and what difference it makes in their health and productivity.
Panel: – Middle Classroom – Saturday 12:45 pm
Faith and the Homestead
Come ready to discuss with our Panel how faith fits into the homestead.
RuthAnn Z., Dr. Jones,
Difficulty: Discussion
Dawn Crist – South Classroom – Saturday 12:45 pm
Midwifery in Iowa
What are you options for birth in Iowa? How do you find a midwife? Can you birth at home? Bring you questions, stay for a rousing discussion of what we do as homebirth midwives.
Difficulty: Easy
2:30 pm
David Mixdorf – North Classroom – Saturday 2:30 pm
Raising Rabbits on Your Homestead
Difficulty: Average
Lloyd Allard – Middle Classroom – Saturday 2:30 pm
Candle Making
Difficulty: Easy
Clyde Majerus – South Classroom – Saturday 2:30 pm
Helpful and Creative Ideas
for Vegetable Gardening
Clyde will fill your brain with simple, yet effective ideas for the veggie garden. These ideas will save you time and help to increase your produce yield. His handout and slide chart will be a great “Take-Home” of valuable options to improve your veggie gardening efforts. As part of this class Clyde will show and explain how his garden planning chart works.
4:15 pm
Keynote – John Ewing – North Classroom – Saturday 4:15 pm
Intro to DIY Solar for Everyone
From Small to Large Systems
This is a 90 minute class.
This class is to give homesteaders a real world, fun and easy understanding of the capabilities of solar energy on their property. It will cover simple projects like how to build a solar electric fence or heat water or even ventilating root cellars. Once these topics are covered, we will cover full off Gird home applications for home or workshops.
We will discuss how to size a load and how to find hidden power drains that lurk in the average modern-day homes.
We will discuss simple power backup systems as well as portable systems. We will also discuss the limitation of wind and solar energy and also the cost associated with renewable energy.
To Be Announced – Middle Classroom – Saturday 4:15 pm
Dr Michelle Burgmeier – South Classroom – Saturday 4:15 pm
EKK. . . Is it an Emergency or maybe it’s Not??
That’s right…I said it, the dreaded emergency! Perhaps there is something you can do about it or perhaps the veterinarian is needed. Some of the more common veterinary emergency situations will be discussed, with things you could, should, and should not do in the situation. And sometimes that depends upon your training and confidence!
Difficulty: Average
Cobblestone Hotel & Suites Main Street is located adjacent to Bridge View Center. For more info and to make reservations, please visit https://www.staycobblestone.com/ia/ottumwa.
