Homegrown & Homemade
Nothing compares to homemade bone broth! And I feel like I’ve unlocked the secret to making the BEST chicken bone broth of my life. I’ve been using this particular method for a couple years now, and I won’t go back to using any other because it so good! So if you find that your homemade bone broth is lacking in flavor, or if your bone …
Every year when the weather turns cool (the start of chapped lip season!) I make a new batch of homemade lip balm. It always ends up slightly different, but it’s always the best lip balm I’ve ever used. Homemade is best and nothing store-bought can even compare! My goal when I set out to make homemade lip balm was to create a recipe that was …
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 kettle over an open fire at their farm. I just …
First aid on the homestead- are you prepared? If there’s anything I’ve learned from homesteading, it’s that nothing ever goes exactly how you want it to. And it comes with inherent danger- being out in the elements, long days, using dangerous equipment, and working with farm animals. Like the time we brought home our first ducks, put them in a pen we cobbled together, from …
It doesn’t happen often, but when I get the sniffles I turn into a big whiney baby. I’m useless. No pushing through and carrying on with the day here, nope. I’m in bed, on the couch, taking it easy- and almost always with a pile of used tissues on the floor… yes mom, I still do that! You tried hard to break the habit, but …
Seasonal pollen allergies are dreadful. There’s nothing worse than stepping outside on a gorgeous summer day and feeling your nose start to tickle and eyes turn itchy. You’ve got tissues shoved in every pocket, and you’re trying to finish your tasks as quickly as possible in order to retreat back inside as fast as you can. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to garden for hours, pick raspberries, …
Yep, I’ve been slathering lard on my lips. And honey, naturally. Join me, won’t you? My lips need extra TLC all year round: in the below-freezing winter weather the dry air really takes a toll on them, and in the warm summer months I spend a lot of time outside in the wind and parching-sun, and this Honey & Lard Lip Repair Cream has been a …
I get excited about a lot of things in life- like my first batch of homemade lard soap turning out awesome, finding a new product to keep deer away from our apple trees, or discovering Aronia berries… and even better, discovering that I can grow them myself. I love when I can grow things myself! These berries are becoming popular because of their incredible nutrient content. They certainly aren’t …
After convincing Karl to try a piece of our Christmas tree, I asked him if he had any witty openings for this “How to Eat Your Christmas Tree” post. He says: “If you like trying new wild edibles, then this post is sure to have you on pines and needles.” And then, with a big cheesy grin, he laughed at himself like Steve Urkel. So, there’s …
In my modern kitchen, on my modern stove sits a piece of equipment that connects me to the generations of cooks that came before me. It’s something that people have used for hundreds of years to make nourishing food for their families, and I love carrying on this tradition. If you don’t have a cast iron pan in your kitchen right now, I ask you: why in the world not?! …
