From Homestead garden onto hands at your house

CERAMIC artist, Stephanie Gobor moved to Ballarat two years ago, bringing a dream along with her.

“We wanted to grow our own food to consume and we just really love gardening,” she said.

“I was looking for more sustainable or practical ways to continue with my art, and not feel so wasteful.”

Establishing a garden in the big backyard of her new house, she also learnt how to make soap, feeding a long-term curiosity.

Redirecting her creative skills, Ms Gobor combined these two projects to launch Ballarat North brand, Little Homestead in Ballarat, producing soaps, her ceramics and other small gifts.

“Our goal is for the ingredients in our products to travel zero miles. There’s no point in using something from far away when I can substitute things in that I have at my disposal,” she said.

“The crème de la crème of our Homestead house soaps is the Garden Bar, and that’s the one I’d like to be able to produce the most of. It’s basically just rosemary from the garden.

“In the microwave we separate the rosemary oil and hydrosol, which both end up being in the soap, and olive oil I source from a local supplier.”

With a home essential oil extraction kit, Ms Gobor has been experimenting with fragrances.

“People want really high smelling soaps. The first thing they do when they pick one up is smell it.

“The kit has enabled me to make a full Homestead soap, with almost 100 per cent ingredients from our garden,” she said.

The Homestead’s other house-shaped soaps, pots and specialty gifts have elements from Ms Gobor’s property, or are inspired by it.

“They’ll never be on a mass-produced scale. I love the homeliness of them, it’s special.”

Radical Homemakers has been an influence on Ms Gabor’s desire to use what she has access to at her own home, instead of buying things.

“My values lie there…making the best of what I have and being really seasonal.

“If I’m out of rosemary, I make a lavender soap. Calendula is also a bit of a winner, especially in Ballarat. It smells really nice and looks fancy with the petals in it,” she said.

“I won’t specially source a material if I can use something else.”

Visit instagram.com/littlehomesteadinballarat or littlehomesteadinballarat.com for more information or to get in touch.