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Whole-Fed Homestead

Living Close to the Land & Thriving on Real Food

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Homestead Monthly: April {orcharding, raised beds, and fungus}

May 5, 2017 by crystal@wholefedhomestead Leave a Comment

Every time I write one of these monthly update posts, I think to myself: “a whole month has passed already?!” Every single time. I can’t even believe spring is here and half over already. It’s been a busy one! An Apple a Day We’re turning into pretty serious (crazy?) apple growers- we have 26 different […]

Filed Under: Homestead Tagged With: garden, growing mushrooms, homesteading, monthly update, orchard

A New Way to Preserve Fresh Basil (freezing method, and NOT in an ice cube tray!)

February 22, 2017 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 26 Comments

Basil: the quintessential smell of summer around here! If only there was a way to preserve it… Oh, but there is! And I’m not talking about basil-scented soap and basil hand lotion. I can’t quite decide if these products are a good way to get a basil fix, or completely weird?! While I agree that there […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Preserving the Harvest Tagged With: fresh herbs, garden, homesteading, preserving

Gardening with Chickens by Lisa Steele: Book Review

February 7, 2017 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 4 Comments

Gardening with Chickens by Lisa Steele should be your go-to reference for making your chickens work in your garden, and making your garden work for your chickens! When we got our first flock of egg-layers several years ago, I knew three things: I wanted to raise them as naturally as possible, I wanted them to […]

Filed Under: Homestead Tagged With: barnyard, chickens, garden, homesteading, review

Homestead Monthly: December + January {natural beauty, fame, and fresh eggs}

January 31, 2017 by crystal@wholefedhomestead Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Monthly Update Tagged With: chickens, garden, monthly update

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

Homestead Monthly: November {barn demolition, butchering, and winter preparations}

December 4, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Monthly Update Tagged With: ducks, garden, history, homesteading, monthly update

Homestead Monthly: October 2016 {shiitakes, rare apples, and an unfortunate honey harvest}

November 1, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 2 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Monthly Update Tagged With: chickens, garden, homesteading, honeybees, monthly update

Homestead Monthly: September 2016 {purple veggies, mushroom hunting, and canning}

October 4, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead Leave a Comment

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: […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Monthly Update Tagged With: chickens, foraging, garden, monthly update, preserving

Homestead Monthly: August 2016 {heirloom veggies, abandoned chicks, and monarchs}

September 5, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead 1 Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Monthly Update Tagged With: chickens, garden, homesteading, monthly update

Homestead Monthly: July 2016 {weasel trouble, chicks, and the great harvest begins}

August 5, 2016 by crystal@wholefedhomestead Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Homestead, Monthly Update Tagged With: barnyard, chickens, ducks, garden, homesteading, honeybees, monthly update

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Summertime captured in fruit leather! It seriously Summertime captured in fruit leather! It seriously tastes like a bright sunny day. It’s the perfect winter treat!
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This is homegrown raspberry with a hint of apple- I almost always add apple to my fruit leather because it makes for the best texture!
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#homemade #homegrown #fromscratch #homesteaders #homesteadlife #homesteading #fruitleather #growyourown #raspberrypatch
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
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