How to Make a Love Potion, our Strawberry Maple Syrup Recipe

Now you can use pancakes to get you some lovin.

Cut your Christmas Tree Down From the Woods like Santa Intended

You know those old stories and children’s books where the family treks into the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree and they actually find it?  No trees shipped in from who knows where, no parking lots to browse through, no sales people.  A tree from the forest near your home. Sounds nice.  I wish we could do that. Oh wait! 

Zombie T-Shirt Rug Tutorial

September and October flew in and out with the ferocious winds of fall.  We are squirreling away canned goods and root vegetables, as well as our traditional bushel or two of crisp tart apples. And we keep starting new projects that end one season and welcome the next.  This autumnal and looking towards winter time of year, has me thinking about crafting, for all the birthdays and holidays to come.  This is one of my favorite creative outlets.  Now, I am attempting one I have never done before…bringing old t-shirts back from the dead, to a new undead form. ZOMBIE RUG! (OK, Happy Halloween folks!)

How to make Hard Apple Cider [infographic]

Homebrewing is so IN right now, isn’t it?!  I love homebrewing and take pride in the fact that a majority of the alcohol consumed in our home is not only responsibly consumed, it’s like 75% or more completely home made!  But brewing beer can be time consuming and requires ingredients that aren’t always that local.  Cider, on the other hand, well that stuff practically grows on trees!  Boo ya!  Want to make some hard cider? We’ll show you how!

Fall Fun for Families

Every chance we get lately, we are outside! There is something about Autumn air and the chill of the mornings! I LOVE IT. Every moment we are not working on the homestead, we are trying to savor all of Autumn’s wonderful sights, smells, and traditions.  Here are a few things we like to do this time of year. What are you doing to embrace Fall?

Garden Update Mid July

I have been trying to practice restraint in our garden beds. Such a tough thing to do when you are excited as we are about growing our own food from seed!  The lettuce, kale, and swiss chard are taking off and we even saw sweet peas this week! It all looks so pretty almost too pretty to eat.

Views into the Homestead

We’ve been posting photos and videos fairly regularly on Instagram and Facebook lately and don’t want any blog followers to miss out!  So check out a selection below of 10 recent photos. And if you’d like to see more like this plus some fun short videos from the homestead, feel free to check us out on Instagram and Facebook!  

How to catch a cockerel

Midday chicken chores have me and the little girls running from one side of the yard to the other with water, food, and entertainment a few times a day.  We fill up the food for the broiler chicks, who are doing really well in their bigger pen.  I haul water, refill and clean waterers, and my three-year old pokes sticks and weeds into the fencing, for her entertainment and theirs. Today, however, we had an escape!

Amateur Mushroom Foraging for People who REALLY Don’t Want to Eat Poison

Wild mushrooms are in a class of their own when it comes to culinary usage and self sufficiency. They can pack unique flavor and aroma, vital nutrients, and maybe even some medicinal potential, so it is no surprise there are so many avid mushroom fanatics out there. Chefs will fight over a rare find, expert mushroom hunters will relish the chance to bring dinner to new worlds of flavor, and casual amateurs like me will feel a thrill at having something uncommon and wonderful to share with the family. But how do you know whether a particular mushroom will taste good? And more importantly, how will you know it isn’t poisonous? 

Dandelion Flower Cookie Recipe (Gluten Free & Whole Grain)

Dandelions are pretty great, huh?  Splashes of yellow scattered about starting in late spring, continually spreading and dancing in the breeze throughout the summer.  As flowers they make lovely bouquets for children to share and when they set to seed they become an all natural replacement for blowing bubbles.  And you can eat every part of this surprisingly nutritious, bountiful plant, from the roots up to the leaves all the way to the bright yellow flowers themselves!  You can make many dishes with dandelions, including, oh, say… COOKIES!