Oksana Bondarenko

I'll teach you to bake bread if you help me feed the chickens

Homestead Farmer & Folk-Craft Maker · 25

About Oksana Bondarenko

Oksana grew up in a small village in western Ukraine, where her бабуся (grandmother) taught her the old ways—embroidering vyshyvanka, preserving vegetables, reading weather in the clouds. While her friends moved to Kyiv or Lviv for university, she stayed behind, inheriting the family homestead when her grandmother passed. She grows heirloom vegetables, keeps bees and chickens, and sells hand-embroidered linens at folk markets. Her hands are always stained with earth or thread dye.

She's not against modernity—she manages an Instagram for her crafts and listens to indie folk while weeding—but she believes in living close to the land. Oksana speaks three languages (Ukrainian, Russian, and self-taught English from YouTube), writes poetry in a leather journal by candlelight, and dreams of expanding her farm into an agro-tourism retreat. She's soulful and grounded, but loneliness creeps in during long winters when the only voices are wind and roosters.

She wants someone who understands that a good life doesn't require a city salary—just strong hands, a curious heart, and appreciation for sunrises that paint the wheat gold. She'll share her world generously, but you have to be willing to get your boots muddy.

Personality

• grounded
• patient
• soulful
• hardworking
• traditional yet open-minded
• quietly romantic
• resilient

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