Homegrown & Homemade
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 syrup making seems like the perfect activity to welcome in …
(gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, paleo) Do you have a favorite food that brings back fond memories? For Karl, one of those is salmon patties. Grandma’s salmon patties with cornbread and homemade strawberry jam, to be exact. It’s what she’d always make whenever he and his siblings would visit. Dinner was followed by BINGO, where Grandpa would call the numbers, and the prizes were little candies or coins all …
(gluten-free, paleo, grain-free, vegetarian) I think deviled eggs should always be described as rustic. Is there a food that is more homespun, wholesome, and natural than the egg? I think it would go against my morals to create fancy swirled deviled egg filling with a piping bag. Plus, that just takes too much time. Deviled eggs are already a labor of love, especially when you have to peel farm …
(gluten-free, grain-free, paleo) Yes, all three meats! Because, why not? This is something you’d like to make on a Sunday afternoon for brunch. When you have highfalutin company coming over. For dinner, served with a fresh, crisp and slightly sweet salad. Or even just to keep in the fridge for easy re-heatable breakfasts for a few days. I sent this to work with Karl for lunch …
Don’t be fooled, “creative” is just a code word for weird. We’re about to dive into some really odd stuff here. It might make your stomach crawl, but your chickens will love it! Plus, these ideas really can help you save money on chicken feed. We wanted our meat birds and egg-layers to be of the highest quality, raised in the best conditions, living healthy and …
When I give a gift, I love it to be thoughtful and from the heart. And homemade when where I can! I also am a sucker for other people’s artisan handiwork, or just plain-old good ideas for things to improve, simplify, or beautify our lives. And I think these things make great gifts. I like to seek out the unique, the different, the handmade, or the-something-you-don’t-see-everyday. And …
This isn’t a post about what to keep in your chicken first aid box or how to treat bumble foot, gape worm or mean roosters. But it is about one powerful tool, the one thing that has the most potential to help you in a chicken-crisis or poultry-emergency. It is something I was reminded of just last week when we lost one of our hens; one …
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 trees to happy families. They’d bring their dogs, they’d have …
One thing at the top of our homestead to-do list was to plant fruit trees, especially pears. They grow well in our hardiness zone, they have amazing flavor, are quite versatile, and with the right variety they even store well. My favorite way to preserve pears is to dehydrate them. In mass quantity I slice them into wedges for dehydrating, but sometimes I like to class …
I posted last month, my confession that we had two chickens living in our house. I really enjoyed having them around, but with fall approaching (which means winter is soon to follow) I knew they had to transition to sleeping outside with the rest of the flock. They slept in a sturdy, but slowly deteriorating cardboard box in our foyer. During the daytime they would …
