The story & Contact info - Orange Grove Road

Hi, I’m Liz Jaconelli.

Here’s the story:

Roots of survival

My father, along with his 7 siblings, were very poor and survived by eating weeds, milking a cow, hunting and gardening. As a result of a rattlesnake colony near by, you can guess what was on the menu from time to time! He worked hard to become successful and provided a better life for his family.

Because of my father’s provident living habits, I was blessed to be raised on an abundance of home-grown food.

In my teens, our 1/4 acre home had reached a “Garden of Eden” semblance. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize the value of it all, because I just saw it as an allergy-misery-inducing chore.

Changing tides

But then, while still in my teen years, we moved to a small town to live on 6 & 1/2 acres in the forest. My father created a beautiful pond filled with koi fish and lily pads. A majestic maple tree sat along the main trail which led to a swampland that rested just at the end of our property. I remember looking out my bedroom window one morning, to see a doe with her fawn appreciating the apples from the enormous tree in the front yard.

Even with all this gorgeous abundance, as many teenagers do, I still chose to eat processed junk. It makes me cringe to admit that now. 😊

Fast forward to the end of my last college year, I found myself becoming increasingly fatigued with the smallest tasks. I had inexplicable pain in various places in my body and I couldn’t hold a thought. At the tender age of 25, I was branded with this weird condition called “fibromyalgia” or FMS. I felt like such a mess. I feared that I would never have the endurance to have a family.

Angels

Consequently, I tried in vain to improve my sorry state by just eating “healthy” and exercising a lot. But little did I realize I was making things much worse with my low-fat mentality and overtaxing my endocrine system with constant overexertion. I packed up and moved to AZ to get out from under the clouds and set up a fitness studio.

It turned out that the landlord of the building was in the process of creating a support group for people with FMS! In short, her research led me to a symptom-free life…and therefore to a place of deep appreciation for the lifestyle that my father had exemplified! She may have endured a few funny looks as she worked to convince me to eat butter and tallow. 😊

Her website, fibromyalgiarecovery.com, explains a lot of what she found, which empowered us both to become symptom-free for over a decade now. More like 15 years!

One fateful day in Katrina

Before being blessed with children, my husband and I took a trip to New Orleans. You can read here about our near escape from the extremely destructive and deadly category 5 hurricane. I learned some vital survival lessons, but the biggest impact it had on me was an awakening of how fragile our lives really are. Seeing thousands of people suffering and feeling helpless triggered a deep desire to become more self-sufficient and encourage others to do the same.

Proof in the puddin’

Before getting my health back, above all, I would have never dreamed, I’d be building a homestead. Nor did it ever cross my mind that we’d be leveling it by hand…with a shovel. And doing this in my “free time” between raising kids, cooking from scratch, milking goats {and yes making cheese and soaping}, pulling weeds, building fences, turning compost {and hitting the gym after}, church involvement, and blogging. As a result, my life is joyfully full.

Our philosophies

We’re restoring soil without store-bought inputs, mostly. Bedding and livestock feed are exceptions right now but the gears are turning to find ways to grow all that too. Although I’ll probably never get around to growing kelp. 🤔 lol
Our livestock is always treated with herbs first, and in cases where those aren’t enough, essential oils are our heavy hitters. Certainly, there have been rare exceptions, but they are shrinking as I am becoming more proficient with plants.
Hugely influenced by Joel Salatin, we’re working out the logistics of enlisting enthusiastic creature help. It does something amazing to my soul to see our livestock keeping everything tidy. Even if it means that our orange trees have awful haircuts.
Nature is always right so we’re learning to work with her.
Food is the best medicine most of the time {IF it’s grown respectfully}.

My dutiful father, helping us get our place in working order.

My complete FMS recovery details

You can read more about Liz Jaconelli’s story of recovery from FMS @kellythekitchenkop.com: Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

Please enjoy and pass it along to anyone you know who could benefit or contribute!

Best Regards and welcome to Orange Grove Road.

Liz Jaconelli Graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences. She opened a fitness studio where she worked as a personal trainer while helping clients achieve their fitness goals, consequently developing a passion for holistic health. Then after having children, Liz became a full-time homemaker. She went on to complete all but a few classes toward a degree in Holistic Nutrition from Clayton College but they mysteriously shut down, leaving her unable to complete the degree. She now uses the knowledge gained, caring for her family and her little homestead, as holistically and sustainably as possible.

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