Self-taught farmers confidently raising chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Our focus is on practices that are environmentally harmonious and respectful to our livestock. We appreciate the beauty around us, clean eating, fermenting, and responsibly utilizing the bounty of the land. If you like thinking for yourself, continuous learning, and connecting with the homesteader lifestyle, check us out.
The vernal equinox has officially occurred, and it’s a sunny, warm, and exquisitely pleasant day. The daffodils knew – they suddenly burst from the sullen ground, their smiling faces beaming from the still-austere brown vegetation surrounding them. Trust the daffodils.
When you find a 3.5 pound bag of Bok Choy leaves on clearance for $.99, you snatch it up, right? Right. And then you decide whether to sauté it (delicious!!) or ferment it. This time, I opted for the latter.
Recently, we processed a group of roosters and while it’s not something I look forward to, I am filled with gratitude for the delicious meat from our pastured, non-GMO fed birds. As an occasional meat eater, I believe that it behooves me to use as much of the bird as I reasonably can, especially the bits that are edible but deemed “weird” or “exotic” (maybe adjectives that could describe me, too). This time, I was determined to make something tasty and enjoyable from rooster testicles…in the air fryer!
These fragrant spices make the wine truly remarkable
Spring is in the air and in a few months, I’ll have the bounty of the land available to forage and create wildcrafted wines. Huzzah! Until then, though, there are delightful wines to be made from other ingredients, like chai tea.
Just because someone dies, their presence doesn’t simply disappear – sometimes, loved ones may visit in dreams or appear in daydreams. I often “see” one particular soul, missed dearly, in manifestations of nature…I think of her daily, though she has not been here now for years. And I will think of her until I am no longer here.
Life is a dichotomy of joy and sorrow, each (unfortunately) seemingly in fairly equal measure, and not subject to our will. I will not avoid sorrow because doing so means I also avoid joy. I’ll hold fast to the joy and hope the sorrow simply crashes over me like waves at the shore: they may batter me, but I’ll get back up, shake the sand out of my suit, and be glad that I had the chance to swim in the glorious sea.
The calendar may say that there’s still another week and a half until spring arrives, but the poultry say otherwise: the first goose eggs of the season were in the coop this morning. Along with those enormous beauties, the ducks left five of theirs, and I also collected two early-morning chicken eggs. Hooray for spring’s bounty!