Although our last frost is just a few weeks behind us, I have been gardening for months. And by that, I mean preparing- taking in knowledge, planning in my garden journal, building new hugelkultur raised garden beds, drying out duck bedding for mulch, depleting the manure piles…and of course, planting and watching everything come to […]
Good morning and welcome to a new How-To Monday! Today we’re going to be discussing bone broth and how to get it into your diet. Bone broth has been used for centuries, long before its effectiveness was even understood. Who hasn’t heard the suggestion that we should eat a bowl of chicken soup when we […]
Welcome to this week’s Traditional Homestead Quick Tip! Today we’re going to talk about how simple it is to make from scratch one of your baking staples: vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract from the store can be pretty spendy. And don’t even get me started on the artificial stuff…just say no. To make your own, […]
Living on a busy hobby farm provides countless beautiful opportunities for great photos. Springtime is especially busy for us this year with all of the new babies surrounding us: pigs, turkeys, rabbits, and chicks. There’s no doubt that spring brings all kinds of new life, whether it be new animals, the buds on the trees, […]
If you’ve thought about raising meat rabbits, you are not alone! The popularity of “Cuniculture” is on the rise amongst backyard homesteaders as a way of providing delicious, protein-rich, lean meat for their families. Cuniculture is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits, usually for their meat, fur, or wool. And, of course, […]
There is no season I look forward to more than canning season. Except maybe gardening season, but the two go hand in hand, don’t they? It makes me as anxious as my kids are for their after-nap-treat. And as the canning shelves start getting lighter and my boxes of empty jars begin to stack up […]
Seed starting can be an intimidating task for some. And yet to someone who has never started seeds before, it may be the opposite. What’s so scary about putting a seed into some soil? But to those who have ever started seeds- and failed- it can be discouraging. Especially when you’ve invested a decent amount […]
It’s that time of year. I’m guessing that if you haven’t yet placed your seed order for the upcoming gardening season, you’ve at least thought about it. Because even if you might be under piles of snow at the very moment, spring is just around the corner. For some of us, that corner is a […]
I’ve been eating farm fresh eggs from backyard chickens since I was a little girl. Anyone who raises their own chickens feels much pride in the daily treasure hunt that is egg gathering. There’s something extra special about them. Egg-stra special, if you will. Totally kidding. But not really. Bottom line is, we chicken rearers […]
Once upon a time, there lived a girl who thought that cream soups were bought from the store. And even though it made her gag just a little as she scraped the remaining snot-like remnants of oddly-yellow-colored contents from the inside of a can, these said cream soups were, after all, edible. Right? Ugh. There’s […]
