A great way to preserve the summer’s bounty is by turning into shelf-stable, ready-to-use vegetable stock powder! Also perfect for using up past-their-prime vegetables in the back of the fridge. This method doesn’t require a dehydrator and is simple and easy to do! Although you can make a larger quantity faster with a dehydrator —> I […]
Homestead Monthly: October 2015
Egg Shop Closed for Business Well, it’s happened. Our 1.5 year old hens are in the middle of a molt PLUS are feeling the effects of shorter days and cool nights… which means that we are getting 1-4 eggs per day from 14 hens. And between the two of us, we eat at least six […]
How to Freeze Kale
I am quickly becoming known as The Kale Lady. I hand out big bunches to family and friends, and make anyone who tours our garden eat a piece, especially if they’ve never had it before, and extra-especially if they try to tell me they don’t like it. I love cooking with it and try to […]
How to Make Apple Cider Syrup
This is like autumn in a jar. It’s tart and tangy but sweet, complex and deep with notes of molasses and caramelized sugar. And there’s only one ingredient! Karl and I have dreams of pressing cider from our own apples from our antique apple trees (someday… just have to wait for them to grow) and I […]
What Do I Do with All These Cherry Tomatoes?!
I do it every year. I have all these varieties of cherry tomatoes that I love, just love and have to plant. “Well, I only really need one of each plant, but I’d better make it two so that I can give some away to friends and family. If I want two plants, I’d better […]
The Homestead Monthly: July 2015
What a Difference a Month Makes! The garden is in full swing- we’ve been eating kale, lettuce, summer squash, and peppers for weeks! The tomato plants are heavy with green tomatoes that should be starting to turn color any day now. And just yesterday I spotted a tiny little broccoli crown forming- which is late… but […]
Simple & Easy Preserving
Hi Friends! I am thrilled to let you know that I am sharing a guest post about simple and easy preserving over on the Paleo Parents blog today! Preserving is such a great way to connect us with our food, with nature, and with our ancestors. And it doesn’t have to complicated at all. Freezing, […]
The Complete Guide to Preserving and Using Preserved Blueberries
If necessity is the mother of invention, a trunk-load of blueberries is the mother of this blog post. We were fortunate enough to be invited to pick til our heart’s content at a local blueberry orchard. Located on tree-lined rolling hills in the countryside, on a perfect dewy morning- we picked over 70 pounds of […]
Small Batch Maple Syrup-Making: You Only Need 1 Tree!
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 […]
Dehydrated Vanilla Bean Pear Slices
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 […]