I had already planted a bed of red storage onions, but how could I NOT get a bundle of these with such a name? I planted the Red Zeppelin onions in their very own raised bed, and look forward to some rockin' recipes this summer! In honor of these onions, all the rain we've been getting lately, and a band I have enjoyed listening to many a time, here are the words to one of my ...
Homesteading
I’ve Got it Covered: Confessions of Mulch Madness
What's missing from this picture? The front lawn. When we bought this house, it was just a little beige island in a sea of lawn. An acre and a half of lawn to be more accurate. I was really not interested in mowing or watering all that lawn. I knew that beneath it lay some great farming soil, and I was out to grow a lot of food, so I decided the lawn had to die. I ...
Old-Time Fun at the Frontier Fair
This weekend I took the kids to our local Frontier Heritage Fair. It has become a much anticipated annual event for our family, with demonstrations of traditional skills and all sorts of practical, useful things you can find there that they just don't make anymore. It's kind of like a trip to the shopping mall for homesteaders. My daughter talks all year about picking out a new ...
Seeds are Here!
Time to get busy! ...
Rhubarb, Strawberries and Asparagus: Planting Foods of the Frontier
This weekend we planted two of our 12" x 4" raised beds with Strawberries and Asparagus. The rhubarb will be in at the feed store in early March to fill the third. Many pioneers and settlers brought dormant asparagus and rhubarb crowns and seeds with them to plant on their homesteads because they transported well and produced food in varied climates. I once found rhubarb ...
“Made From Scratch”: A Homesteaders Must-Have
With all the things to do around this homestead, reading has definitely taken a back burner this past year. However, I am proud to say, that after a handful of stolen moments here and there, I finally finished Jenna Woginrich's inspiring do-it-yourself memoir called "Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life." I have to say that not only do I wish this book had been around ...
Winter Weekends on the Homestead
Since one of my driving forces in life is always to spend more time outside, living out in the country makes a lot of sense. On these Winter weekends, with camping slowed down and the garden slumbering away, our family spends the days outside working on projects around our place. Sometimes it rains on us, sometimes it's chilly, but the past couple of weekends have been ...
Dormancy
This dormant time of year can be a challenging one. There aren't many sunny days, the rain falls for days and days, working outside can be very cold and wet, the trees and shrubs are bare, you can see all the neighbor's trash piles and junked vehicles usually hidden by foliage, kids get cooped up and turn wild on you, and it's hard to see much going on around a homestead. Most things are dormant. ...
Looking Back at a Year on the Farm
Looking out my window at the beginning of this new year, I see a big garden slumbering under a blanket of leaves that was bountiful and beautiful this summer. Beyond that, I see a large plowed field growing a winter cover crop and an enormous pile of wood chips waiting to become more pathways and mulch. In this still time of winter, when I look back over the past year, I see a lot of ...
A Full Farm Pantry
Winter is here, my farm pantry is full, and I am appreciating all the hard work of the growing season and harvest. I spend a lot of time popping in and out of my pantry for this and that throughout the day, and I always take a minute to stand there and revel in the baskets of onions, the braids of garlic, the rows of canning jars holding bright treasures of fruit and vegetables....It's really my ...