Our Best Harvest Season Yet! It finally feels a little bit like we’ve arrived. For four years we’ve worked hard shaping our homestead into what we imagined- building orchards and gardens, planting trees, installing mushroom logs… it has been a lot of work with little reward so far, until this year. Things are finally starting […]
Homestead Monthly: July & August {harvesting, preserving, and loss}
Onion & Garlic Breath In July we harvested nearly 200 bulbs of big beautiful garlic, and in August we harvested over 100 gorgeous onions- a first for both! Our first year growing garlic was a huge success- we grew 29 different varieties… and now we’re tasked with sampling them all and trying to whittle our […]
Homestead Monthly: May & June {sow, weed, nurture, and reap}
Oh, hi. Yes, we’re still here. Here’s what’s been happening on the homestead! Planting and More Planting Putting things into the earth and watching them grow has been our whole life for the past two months. And weeding.. Oh the weeding! After having our old barn buried and the ground smoothed and leveled, we found ourselves […]
Homestead Monthly: Feb + March {maple syrup, apple pruning, and homestead expansion}
In the last week or so the weather has turned decent, and just like that it feels like we’re off to the races! I’m not sure which I like better, spring or fall- but I am definitely looking forward to this season of progress on the homestead! Fruit Tree Pruning and Maintenance We spent a lot […]
Homestead Monthly: December + January {natural beauty, fame, and fresh eggs}
Overall we had a lovely start to the winter season with unseasonably warm temperatures, which means the chickens got to free range for a while longer, and we were harvesting kale, chard, parsley and celery from the garden for a record amount of time! The holidays were filled with family and good food, and we […]
Homestead Monthly: November {barn demolition, butchering, and winter preparations}
Bye Bye Barn So, one really big thing happened this month that has taken a lot of our time, energy, and brain space. We essentially “sold” our old 100+ year old big beautiful barn to a reclaimed wood furniture company. The back of this barn started to cave in during the last month, so we […]
Homestead Monthly: October 2016 {shiitakes, rare apples, and an unfortunate honey harvest}
Welcome to the homestead monthly, a collection of all the major events that happen on our homestead every month! Unfortunate Surprise Honey Harvest You may remember that I reported (just last month!) our meager honey harvest, and that all three of our colonies were full of plenty of honey and looking great going into winter. Well boy was I […]
Homestead Monthly: September 2016 {purple veggies, mushroom hunting, and canning}
Hi friends! This is where we take a look back at all that we’ve accomplished during the month, and reflect on the real-life ups and downs that come with “living close to the land.” We’re on the downhill slide towards winter and are busy wrapping up summer projects on the homestead. Here’s what happened in September: […]
Homestead Monthly: August 2016 {heirloom veggies, abandoned chicks, and monarchs}
Tomato Dreamin’ You know what’s silly? Planting 60 tomato plants for 2 people. You may remember that last year we were completely blind-sided and devastated by tomato blight. Forty tomato plants and one pint of tomatoes harvested… it was a terrible sight. This year we were determined to beat the blight, so we tilled up […]
Homestead Monthly: July 2016 {weasel trouble, chicks, and the great harvest begins}
You Dirty Weasel We started out the month with sadness and heartbreak, unfortunately. If you’ve farmed for long enough, or experienced the loss of an animal to predators, then you know the feeling. The “something isn’t right here” feeling. For us, it was when Karl went out in the morning to let the chickens and […]