Homegrown & Homemade
Biting flies, biting midges and gnats… I think those are all the same thing, or at least similar. Similar in that they are annoying little things that bite and can drive you crazy! Our chicken coop is at the back of our lush yard, just nestled under the towering cherry and oak trees. Its southern exposure picks up the first rays of the sun, and …
I love these so much. I love everything about them. Straight from the earth, very easy to prepare- with no dehydrator or special equipment needed. Unless you consider a twist tie and a string as special equipment… Plus: no food dyes, no sugar, no additives, no gluten, no bad stuff at all. Heck, these even have some nutrients in them! Natural, organic purple sprinkles. This …
I grew up a tom-boy, with a dad who was well versed in what to eat (and what not to eat!) from the woods, the yard, and even the roadsides. Eating berries from the hillside and mushrooms from deep in the woods is one of the great pleasures in life! I suppose though, if you didn’t grow up with wild edibles, and nobody has ever …
I am convinced we live in the middle of Tick-Central. Meeting place of the National Association of Wood-Ticks. If ticks had a yearly convention, they might hold it in the state of Wisconsin. And I hate them. I loathe these weird, disease-ridden, blood-gorging, leg-climbing creepy stalkers. I didn’t worry much about ticks when I was little. I played in the woods, rolled around in the …
A couple weekends ago we celebrated the spring season with Karl’s family. His Grandparents came over to the big city from their small farming town a couple hours away. As usual we had a meal and talked farming with Grandpa. No one can talk farming like an 85-year-old farmer! (That’s him, above in the picture.) Grandma and Grandpa are in their 80s and still farming. Every building …
Old-Fashioned. Homemade. Duck Fat. Potato. Need I say more? You don’t have to use duck fat; lard or olive oil with also give you incredible results! We’re partial to duck fat here on the homestead, plus- duck fat was made for potatoes… What’s So Great About Homemade Baked Potato Chips? They are thick-cut and crispy, covered in a simple spice and salt blend, and baked in the oven …
Wondering how to repair and paint old, used bee equipment? This is for you! One thing at the top of our spring to-do list was a beehive overhaul. My dad raised bees when I was young, so we were lucky to inherit a lot of his old equipment, including some hive boxes that needed a lot of attention. For the past 15+ years, these hive boxes …
(gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, easily dairy-free) No live chickens were actually smothered in the making of this blog post. I don’t know if it’s because spring is almost here and our chicks will arrive soon, or because our ducks finally started laying eggs– but I just can’t stop making (bad) fowl-related jokes. Chicken is the quintessential homesteader’s meat. You can raise chickens just about anywhere, you …
What we mean by “protect yourself” is: Make a good investment. Know what you are getting yourself into. Prepare so that there are no surprises down the road. Get exactly what you want from your dream property, farm, or homestead. We bought our first house this past October. The perfect country property with outbuildings, acreage, and an old farmhouse. It took us over three years of …
Preserving the harvest really starts in spring time with garden planning. Which is what I am in the thick of right now! Roma style and paste tomatoes are a big part of our fall harvest every year. We can them, freeze them, eat our weight in them fresh, and even dehydrate them. Making tomato leather was a new tomato preservation method that I tried last …
