A busy homestead in Hawley is filled with multiple forms of creativity, including a weaving loom, a child’s easel, kitchen projects, and wood creations. Billings Brook Farm is home to colors, shapes, flavors and joy.

Despite the fact that 6-month-old Robert is teething and received not one, but two shots at the doctor’s office earlier in the day, he cheerfully grins at a visitor. He’ll probably have projects going before too long, since his 6-year-old sister, Rachel, has been helping with chores since she was 2. The children’s parents, Elizabeth and Shawn Billings, have transformed their place into a locus of ingenuity and productivity.

Readers may have seen or purchased Billings Brook Farm jams, caramels, cookies and eggs at regional outlets, or cutting boards and other artisan objects at craft fairs. More western Massachusetts residents and tourists are bound to encounter the farm’s goods in years to come; the Billings’ are constantly hatching new plans for parlaying the fruits of their labor into products they can share with others.

Elizabeth, 40, and Shawn, 45, each grew up around hard-working creatives. Shawn Billings is a Shelburne Falls native and spent lots of time on the Ripley Farm in Montague, which is owned by his uncle, Gary. “I have loads of family around here,” said Shawn.

Elizabeth Lefebvre Billings, who grew up in Orange, credits her mother, Joyce Wilson, for inspiration. “My mom was and is one of my biggest influences,” said Elizabeth. “She gardens, sews, knits, spins yarn, cooks, bakes, and cans. We raised chickens and angora rabbits. My mom has many renaissance homesteading skills. She’s self-taught, and taught me how to do those things, too.” A retired speech pathologist, Wilson also plays the harp and hammered dulcimer. “My dad is a musician, too,” said Elizabeth, “and has played with the Medicinal String Band and Calico Harmony.”

With all that self-starter moxie in their backgrounds, the Billings’ moved to their 27-acre spot in 2016. They found well-established high-bush blueberries on-site and found they had more berries than they could use; they sold some to McCusker’s Market in Shelburne Falls, which is part of the Franklin Community Co-op. “We kept and froze berries that weren’t so pretty,” said Elizabeth.

Shawn harvests firewood to feed wood stoves, sells surplus wood, and uses a chainsaw mill to produce rough boards. The Billings’ began raising chickens for their own use, and soon sold surplus eggs, too.

“Unfortunately, there’s a bear highway going right through our property,” said Elizabeth. “Our chickens were almost entirely wiped out by bears who developed a taste for meat after sampling dog food. So we need to build our flock back up.” They’re looking to build a bigger coop to satisfy egg customers’ demand. “We’re planning a Fort Knox of coops with no windows, transparent roofing lets in light, and ventilation will also come through the roof.”

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The Billings’ hope someday to raise pigs, and used to raise alpacas for fiber, “but it was too labor intensive while I was pregnant,” said Elizabeth. “Alpacas are more fragile than other livestock or fiber animals, having only been introduced to the U.S. around 1980. They’re very susceptible to parasites and such.”

They grow a wide variety of vegetables. “A friend introduced me to radish chips,” said Elizabeth. “I’ve never been a big radish fan, but I love these radish chips!” She fries thinly sliced radishes in vegetable oil, “like potato chips. They’re so good!”

Shawn Billings loves fresh chives, so they grow those, too. “We also have rhubarb, and are trying to think about what to do with it,” said Elizabeth. Her husband suggests making strawberry-rhubarb jam, but the master jam-maker replies, “I was thinking of something a little more unique … maybe pear-rhubarb?” Elizabeth is quick to say, however, that what she makes and sells must technically be called fruit spread, rather than jam.

A labeling law says that jams, jellies and preserves must contain at least 65% sugar. “I use less than that, so technically I’m supposed to call it fruit spread,” said Elizabeth, who designs her products to prioritize overall flavor, not just sweetness. “I find that with less sugar, we get more flavor,” she added. “Sometimes I use pectin to get the gelling effect.” Elizabeth is limited in what she can make at home. “I can make fruit spreads, and baked goods that don’t require refrigeration for safety.”

Elizabeth tries to source local ingredients, and Billings Brook Farm is in the process of expanding their fruit selection. “We’re putting in raspberries and Jewel strawberry plants,” said Elizabeth. “We planted pear trees. There were apple trees here when we moved in, and we planted two new ones — a King and a Liberty, which is disease- and rot-resistant.” They would like to produce peach-lavender jam. “But peaches are finicky at our elevation,” she said.

The Billings’ benefit from their proximity to Headwater Cider, located around the corner from their house. Owner Pete Mitchell mentors his neighbors in grafting and orchard management. “We help Pete pick apples and press cider, and he helps us press our own apples,” said Elizabeth. “We make chaider fruit spread from chai tea and our cider, as well as apple cider caramels.” The Billings’ get their heavy cream to make caramels from Meadowsweet Farm, another wonderful neighbor.

Billings Brook Farm products can be found at the Meadowsweet farmstand and Oliver’s farmstand in Goshen, as well as Hager’s in Shelburne and at Trailhead in Orange. To have their kitchen certified under the cottage kitchen law, the Billings’ well is tested yearly. “I recertify through FRCOG (Franklin Regional Council of Governments) Board of Health, and do Serv-safe every five years, plus allergy awareness,” said Elizabeth.

As a weaver, Elizabeth produces scarves, towels, and blankets on both a floor loom and a Rigid Heddle loom. “Rigid Heddles are smaller than floor looms, and sometimes called lap looms,” she said. “I loaned mine to a local fifth grader, a homeschooler, who takes weaving lessons with me.” Elizabeth took advantage of weaving classes while working at Webb’s in Easthampton, “the biggest retail yarn store in the country and a destination for fiber artists from around the country.”

While his wife makes delectable products, weaves, attends to the children, serves on the town agricultural commission, learns to make cheese, and does dozens of other things, Shawn Billings often engages in sustainable forestry and management, logging, and milling … that is, when he’s not parenting or working full-time as a security officer. Shawn makes cutting boards, custom furniture, coffee tables, easels, and wall displays. “I started making jewelry boxes when I was in my early 20s,” he said, “from pallets and scraps.” His Uncle Vern operates a sawmill in North Leverett.

Shawn and Elizabeth Billings met while students at Greenfield Community College; Elizabeth was recently out of high school, and Shawn was on campus thanks to the GI Bill. “We became good friends through an acting class,” said Elizabeth, who earned an associates degree in photography from GCC. They lost touch after Elizabeth moved on to Keene State and Shawn went overseas for two tours in Iraq as an Army medic, but later reconnected through social media.

At Keene State, Elizabeth earned a bachelor’s of fine arts degree with a concentration in graphic design. “I found art classes at GCC tougher than those at Keene State,” she said. “GCC is intent on building a community of artists who can critique each other so that — when we receive criticism from others — we won’t fall apart. GCC gave me a tougher skin and pushed me to do better, not just good. I credit GCC for my strong art foundation: I learned not only photography classes, but also drawing, animation, and color theory.” When transferring to study printmaking at Keene, she found it seamless, “because I had so many credits.”

She worked as a professional photographer for a while, including weddings, “but I burned out on the Bridezillas.” She enjoys designing logos, graphics and labels. “I love building a brand, especially when it comes to small businesses.” Elizabeth worked for several years at a Greenfield photography and framing shop after Paul and Kerri Franz bought it from Bill and Mary Forbes. She also worked at Mo’s Fudge Factor in Shelburne Falls, where she learned to make candy. Gazing at her two gorgeous young children, Elizabeth said, “Now, my first job is being Mom and taking care of the house and the farm.”

When Rachel is asked what she likes best about her home, the winsome youngster beams: “I love this house because I get to be with my family.”

For more information, contact billingsbrookfarm@gmail.com.

Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope,” and a musician, artist and mom. She comes from generations of farm stock. eveline@amandlachorus.org.