Homesteading

It’s mid-March, and the soft magnolia buds are getting plumper and plumper. Any minute now, the fuzzy shells will no longer be able to contain them, and every single velvety …

You can keep your hot cocoa bombs. Hot apple cider is the way to go. And when you throw in a few spices, some pomegranate juice and honey, well, all …

If you do a lot of cooking, you likely go through herbs and spices much quicker than most. And if you’re anything like me, I’ll bet you go through garlic …

If “giftable” is a word, then allow me to declare this the most giftable advent calendar of the season. If you like fruit, if you like sweets, but especially if …

Whether you grow them yourself, buy a couple at the farmer’s market, or you’ve got a spare can of puree in the pantry, fall is the time for pumpkin in …

Mason jars are among the most useful containers available. They can be used for crafts, decorations, storing non-food items, and, of course, their intended purpose – canning food. It’s funny, …

Ah, the humble crab apple. How many of us have walked right past these tiny little apples growing in our yards and parks? Sure, they have beautiful blossoms, after all, …

Everyone has recipes for tomatoes – sauce, soup, salads, sandwiches, the list goes on and on. But when the garden season draws to a close and you find yourself staring …

At the beginning of the season, we’re all guilty of sweating our tomatoes. We continually peek at them, waiting for that first tomato to ripen to perfection. And when we …

When it comes to tomatoes and pepper plants, I’m always feeding an army, even though there isn’t an army in sight. I assume the worst and end up planting way …

Gardeners know the absolute joy of tasting a homegrown tomato, bitten into, right off the vine. It’s why so many of us turn our noses up at those tasteless things …

Kombucha is gaining popularity as a drink of choice not only for its delicious taste, but its health benefits too. Kombucha is chock full of probiotics and antioxidants. Many people …

After a whirlwind week of sauce-making and canning, I have myself a sizable heap of tomato skins. Related Reading: How To Easily Peel A Whole Load Of Tomato Skins Normally, …

Garden for long enough and you’ll eventually find yourself surrounded by so much fresh produce that you couldn’t possibly eat it all quickly enough. As far as problems go, it’s …

Watermelon – the official fruit of summer picnics and barbecues everywhere. It’s hard to imagine a picnic table piled high with hotdogs, hamburgers, sweet corn, macaroni and potato salads without …

I love sweetcorn season! Nothing says summer like golden ears of corn dripping with butter, salt and pepper, served so piping hot you burn your fingers trying to pick them …

Groceries are expensive. Anymore, I find myself spending $50 to “pick up a few” things when it used to cost around $20. Curbing my food waste is more important than …

Ah, dandelions. Whether you love seeing them in your yard or detest them, you’ve got to admire their resilience. Despite our best efforts to purge them from our landscape, these …

If you’re new to raising chickens or are in the preliminary research stage of adding a few chickens to your backyard, you’ll be interested to learn that all chicken breeds …

This spring, while you’re out tidying your flower beds, don’t forget to cut a handful of hosta shoots to go with dinner. Hostas are a classic landscape filler, immediately recognizable …

Where fresh water meets land, the cattail stands tall, its cylindrical seedheads and upright sword-like leaves lightly swaying in the breeze. Cattails are so ubiquitous to water that it’s quite …

As fall moves into winter, chicken keepers face a seasonal shift — their hens are molting, and egg production slows or stops. Our chickens are molting so hard it looks …

Raising little critters on your homestead can take a lot out of you. Not only does it take money from your pockets to feed them, but you worry about their …

I wrote this post after many, many years of failing at making sourdough bread and maintaining a sourdough starter. It took me years, tons of research, and experimentation to find …