One day I woke up and realized my kids had become teenagers before my very eyes, and we were long overdue for a family vacation. When I asked them where they wanted to go, they said "Yosemite", and since I hadn't been there in about 30 years, it seemed like I was long overdue for a trip there. We picked out a few other things we wanted to do between here and California, like visit a fire lookout ...
Just Peaches!
After all these years of homesteading, I finally grew a peach tree! And it finally grew some peaches! And I finally got to eat them! Everything is just peaches. ...
Homebrewing Sparkling Rose Petal Wine
I don't know what it was about this spring, but it was all about the flowers. A friend mentioned to me that she was wanting everything flowery and colorful in her culinary endeavors, and I was right there with her on that. From lavender syrups, to rose petal jelly, to lilac wine, to calendula petals in my salad every day, I just wanted to infuse my life with flowers. After trying out a rose petal ...
Homebrewing French Lilac Wine
In the continuing saga of my wild botanical homebrewing endeavors, I was enjoying the lilac flowers a while back, and decided to brew something with them. I looked through a few lilac cordial recipes before finding this French lilac wine recipe from Leslieland that was exactly what I was looking for: http://leslieland.com/2009/05/lilac-wine/ Her description was impressive, especially following ...
I’ve Got Them Summertime Applesauce Blues Again
Nothing says summer like the sound of mason jars popping on the counter while they're cooling from the canning bath. A friend kindly let us come over and pick her early transparent apples, and we ended up with some of our best applesauce yet. These vintage style blue canning jars give it a little pizzazz on the pantry shelves, and I'm looking forward to eating many lattke and applesauce dinners ...
A Re-purposed Brick Patio Memorial
There is just something about old clay bricks. I have long admired brick pathways and patios with little ground covers like Irish moss and creeping thyme growing in between the cracks. My Grandpa Jack also recognized the crafted quality and value of old bricks enough to dismantle a brick hearth in their home and clean the mortar off of every single one to re-use for a future project.Years later, ...
Indian Plum Harvest and Shrub Recipe
The Indian Plum (osoberry, bear berry) has ripened and gone in our woods, but I managed to pick some this year before the birds got them all! Normally, the birds and bears get to them before I realize they're ripe, so I was very pleased with myself. I wrote about the shrub a couple of years ago, Indian Plum: The Herald of Spring, while I was appreciating the flowers, but now I can say from ...
A Waldorf Graduation
You may have noticed things have been quite on this blog lately, and that is because we have been busy wrapping up 8 years at our Waldorf school with my kids graduation last week. A Waldorf education was something I just knew as a parent that I needed to make happen for my kids, and seeing it through 8th grade graduation was a big goal. It has taken a lot of hard work and perseverance all around, ...
Green House Got it Going On!
Times are still too busy to write much (Big Memorial Day weekend project in the works, and more to come on that soon), but I wanted to post a greenhouse update. The kale, arugula, lettuce and cilantro are all very happy and we are very happy with our salads. The starts are happy too. Basically, build a greenhouse and create all kinds of happiness. That's how it works. Happy planting! ...
The Garden is Planted!
The Garden is planted, let the growing begin! (More soon, it is a busy time on the homestead.) ...