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Whole-Fed Homestead

Living Close to the Land & Thriving on Real Food

You are here: Home / Archives for Craft/Project

Wild Rose {Old-Fashioned} Lard Soap

June 16, 2018 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 2 Comments

Making lard soap… is there anything more homestead-y than that? Karl’s grandma (a real-deal homesteader and farmer) tells a story about how when she was young, she would bring home the used tallow from the fryers at the local diner she worked at, and they would make big batches of tallow soap cooked in a […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Homestead Tagged With: craft or project, handmade gift, health, homesteading

Milkweed Pod Santa Ornaments {Handmade Gift}

December 8, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 1 Comment

My parents planted a Christmas tree farm when I was just a young girl, so I grew up learning to make holiday decorations to sell for extra spending money at the tree farm. As a 16-year-old, I was a Christmas craft extraordinaire! And also a really big geek, but that’s a story for a different day. Evergreen Kissing Balls, […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Handmade Gift, Holiday, Homestead Tagged With: Christmas, craft or project, foraging, garden, handmade gift, homesteading

How to Make Beeswax Birthday Candles

January 14, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 11 Comments

In celebration of the year that you were born, you should have the finest. You deserve the Cadillac of birthday candles on your three-tiered, from scratch, chocolate cake with real buttercream. You’re nodding your head. Have you ever seen more adorable candles? The soft yellow wax, the rustic handmade look- have I mentioned that I like rustic […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Homestead Tagged With: craft or project, handmade gift, homesteading, honeybees

Cranberry & Pine Centerpiece for the Holidays: Easy and Inexpensive!

December 1, 2015 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 4 Comments

I can’t quite put my finger on why homesteaders appreciate frugality so much. Is it because we are a most-practical bunch? Is it because we look towards simple pleasures and shy away from extravagance? Is it because we want to save as much money as possible so we can buy more livestock?! Whatever it is… […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Homestead Tagged With: Christmas, craft or project, frugality, handmade gift, homesteading

How to Build a Rustic Garden Gate

August 16, 2015 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 4 Comments

When we moved to our homestead a couple years ago, one of the first things we noticed was that over the years the resident squirrels had most graciously planted a black walnut grove in the yard. The entire yard. The trees would have to come down because they were taking up our outdoor living space. We […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Homestead, The Garden Tagged With: craft or project, garden, homesteading

Small Batch Maple Syrup-Making: You Only Need 1 Tree!

March 28, 2015 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 41 Comments

This is our 4th year tapping trees and making our own maple syrup. And I’ll tell you a secret: the most trees we’ve ever, ever tapped is 4! And this year we only tapped 2! When there is still snow on the ground and it is too cold to do most other outdoor projects around the homestead, maple […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Foraging & Gathering, Homestead, Preserving the Harvest Tagged With: breakfast, craft or project, foraging, homesteading, maple syruping, preserving

Homestead Gifts: Handmade Holiday Evergreen Kissing Ball

November 30, 2014 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 2 Comments

I love a gift straight from the heart- and this Kissing Ball is just that. I grew up on a Christmas tree farm; the trees were planted when I was about four years old, and for many years- from middle school to college, every holiday season I stood out in the cold Wisconsin weather and sold Christmas […]

Filed Under: Craft/Project, Foraging & Gathering, Frugality, Handmade Gift, Holiday, Homestead Tagged With: Christmas, craft or project, foraging, frugality, handmade gift, homesteading

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I’m not starting tomato seeds anytime too soon, I’m not starting tomato seeds anytime too soon, but I am thinking about it! Here are some varieties that are on my definitely-will-grow list for this coming season! These are standard must-grows for me, with the exception of the two new varieties I mention. I’ve been honing this list for many many years!
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🍅Juliet (mini-Roma, excels at everything)
🍅Chocolate Cherry (deep flavor, stunning color)
🍅Valentine (dark, meaty, rich for a cherry)
🍅Sunrise Bumblebee (she’s a looker)
🍅Russian Rose (gorgeous rosy red, delicious)
🍅Big Rainbow (multi-colored, good acidity)
🍅San Marzano (classic paste variety)
🍅Super Sauce (gigantic meaty paste)
🍅Pomodoro Squisito (new, elongated paste)
🍅Tegucigalpa (new, rare, tapered paste)
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There’s one more variety I’m excited about, it’s a chance seedling that popped up in our garden last year. We have a lot of rotten tomatoes on the ground every Fall, which means we have a lot of volunteer tomato plants every Summer. Most are tilled under, but this one survived hiding amongst the potatoes. It produced really cool tomatoes like I’ve never seen before!! I saved the seed and will plant them and see what we get!
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We’re fortunate to have some amazing greenhouses in the area, so I always pick up a handful of unique tomato plants-whatever catches my eye- from them every year too.
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We plant close to 30 tomato plants every year- they’re one of my very favorite things to grow! (Can you tell?!) 😜
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#heirloomtomatoes #organicgarden #gardening #oldfashionedskills #homesteaders #homesteadlife #lifeonthefarm #homegrown #homegrown #tomatoseason #tomatogrowing
Feels like sunshine getting this gorgeous glowing Feels like sunshine getting this gorgeous glowing citrus delivered every month! What an amazing way to brighten the dull winter here!
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In partnership with @uscitrus, who ships the most delicious, juiciest, fresh citrus! That gorgeous smoky pink-orange one is a “Super Red” Grapefruit. It was spectacular- check out my stories today to see the inside, plus see the other citrus that came in my box this month!
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This citrus is grown on small farms in Texas, picked when it’s perfectly ripe, and shipped directly to you for a very reasonable price.
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I’m eating a grapefruit, orange, or tangerine nearly every day, and I’m making copious amounts of sparkling water with lemon and lime juice... what a wonderful way to get my daily vitamin C. I LOVE IT!
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#sponsored #craftcitrusclub #uscitrus #freshcitrus #homesteaders #homesteading #homesteadlife #winterinwisconsin #winterblues
Finished shelling the last of the “Cascade Ruby Finished shelling the last of the “Cascade Ruby Gold” flour corn today! I really enjoyed growing this one— it was a fast finisher, which I appreciate for our short growing season.
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The colors are wildly stunning! Each ear was one of four colors: yellow, light red, dark red, or orange. I’m not sure if planting a yellow seed kernel made a stalk with yellow ears, or if the genetics are such that it’s totally random and a yellow seed kernel can produce red or orange ears... but I’d love to know! Perhaps an experiment for next year if I grow it again.
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Now we just have to grind it and then it can be used as cornmeal for cooking and baking with. It’s supposed to have amazing flavor, so I’m looking forward to giving it a try!
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#organicgarden #gardening #oldfashionedskills #homesteaders #homesteadlife #lifeonthefarm #homegrown #homegrown #homegrowncorn #cascaderubygold
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