A natural living site where you'll learn about organic gardening, foraging, home medicine and more.
Now that gardening season is over, Mike and I enjoy watching a good farm-to-table cooking show in the evening. We learn, we laugh, we get inspired. Sometimes a new dish ends up on the table the next night. Continue Reading
I’m the girl who’s not in love with canning. I much prefer to preserve my garden produce by dehydration or lacto-fermentation because both methods do a much better job of preserving nutrients.
Canning does have its place, and I do can tomatoes and sauce, and maybe a few jars of applesauce.
And I can dried beans (legumes). That may be surprising, since storing the beans dried is so easy. Here’s my reasoning – some days I just like to have something available that’s fast and easy. And cooking dried beans is anything but fast.Continue Reading
After watching the documentary Food Inc., I knew that life would never again be the same. I knew that the grocery store would no longer be the main source of food for our family.
The process has been slow, and not always easy. But it has been worth it. Seriously, not a night goes by that Mike and I do not declare that we sure do eat well. And for that we praise God!
And that’s why I thought I’d pass along these tips that might help to make your journey just a little easier as you reduce your dependence on grocery stores.
Some of the ideas may be obvious; others may be less so. Hope you find them all helpful.Continue Reading
It’s as though our yard knew just what we’d need before we ever moved in. Space for a garden. Two black maple trees to tap. And a big ole fireplace for boiling down the sap.Continue Reading
Rufus was in a cage for 8 months. Out of dozens of cats at the animal shelter, I knew he was the one for us the minute I saw him and without warning, I was crying. Sheesh. Why do I do that?
The transition to our home wasn’t the easiest one for him. He wanted to be friendly, but his fear held him back. All we know about his time before the cage was that he was a stray. All they could tell us about his age was “adult cat”.
At first all Rufus would eat was the junkiest food out there. Food with lots of fillers and grains. We hoped to feed him raw cat food, but we had to let him adjust to his new environment before we could take that step.Continue Reading
I had a fun, online, conversation recently with some homesteader “chicks”. Some, like me, are urban homesteaders. Others have lots of acreage. And we got to chatting about what we want for Christmas. There wasn’t a bottle of perfume on the list, although chocolate, a cute sweater, and a date night did make the cut.
Homesteading women are hard workers, and that was certainly reflected in their wish list. What kind of woman would want homesteading supplies for Christmas? A passionate, dedicated one who knows who knows what she wants in life, that’s who!Continue Reading