As many of my readers may know by now, I am in love with old homesteads. There is something captivating about coming across the remnants of someone's hard work and dreams from days long gone by. I always wonder who they were and what their life must have been like. Did they sit on these front steps at the end of a long, hard day's work and dream about all the possibilities of their land? I ...
A Canner’s Inheritance
My Grandmother recently gifted me a box of my Great Grandmother's canning jars. Many of them are the old blue glass with rubber sealing rings or glass with metal clasps over the top. They were so beautiful that I couldn't resist sharing them here. "Ideal" "Improved Gem: Made in Canada" These jars must have travelled with my great grandmother from the old family farm in Alberta. Just ...
An Interview With Taryn Kae Wilson, Modern Homesteader of the Siuslaw River
Taryn Wilson, and her husband Jeff are some folks you ought to know. They are artists, modern homesteaders, masters of simple living, a well of joy and inspiration, and two people I feel very lucky to call friends. I am happy to introduce you to them with this interview. I met Taryn at their Eugene Saturday Market booth, Mystic Orb, and was drawn in by all of Jeff's amazing bone and wood carvings ...
Going to the Country Faire
For many of us, the term, "country fair" likely evokes images of livestock shows, prize pumpkins, canned goods, pies and barn dances. While these are all wonderful things, here in Oregon, we have a whole different kind of country fair. Started in 1969, the Oregon Country Fair was created by a group of artists, musicians and visionaries, and is still going strong today right here in our ...
With a Little Help From my Friends
Faced with the daunting task of weeding our vegetable garden and field, we decided to call in the chickens for support! My husband built a mini chicken tractor, just the right size for a bantam or two, that fits in between the garden rows. They get a meal of some nice tender green grass and weeds, and we get weed removal. It's good for everyone!. We put one chicken out there at a time for a ...
Vegan Pesto
The time has come again to start filling the freezer for the coming year. The basil is up, and it's time to make pesto! We eat a lot of pesto around here, since my children continue to express strong feelings against tomato sauces. They say it stings around their mouths, and although picky eating isn't really allowed in our household, I make compromises for things that cause a rash. To make ...
Urban Chicken Revolution! A Mountain Hearth Tour De Coops
Have you always wanted chickens? Do you live in town and pine away for country life so you can get a few hens and produce your own farm fresh eggs? It may come as a surprise to some of you to hear that YOU CAN! An urban chicken revolution is sweeping across the nation, and city folks all over the place are gathering farm fresh eggs right in their own backyard. Chicken lovers tend to flock ...
The Taste of Independence: A Down-Home Soulfood Chicken Dinner
In the spirit of Independence Day, we butchered our meat birds this morning (my gentle, vegetarian readers may want to stop reading here). It was a feeling of great self-sufficiency and independence to raise these birds on our own land, and fill our freezer with some good food. Our four meat birds were old enough to eat, plus two stew hens, so we butchered and froze ...
Backpacking With Children
I meet a lot of parents who want to take their children backpacking, but aren't quite sure where to begin. Many used to backpack in their pre-parenting days, and decided it would be too complicated with kids along. There's the matter of gear, and then the matter of complaining or unwillingness on the children's part. I always tell them to go for it anyway! I grew up backpacking. When I was six, ...
Backpacking With Babies
I'm sure that many of you outdoor enthusiasts and backpackers can remember the moment you knew you were having a child, or were snuggling with your sweet little baby and had the thought, " What about backpacking?" Personally, I was snuggling with two sweet little babies, so that question was a big one. How will we go backpacking with babies? How will we go with TWO of them? Are my backpacking days ...