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.
So many flowers, so little time – blooms of all sizes, colors, and fragrances, and I’d like to capture them all. As I picked wild blackberries, I stopped to smell the flowers and enjoy their cheeriness. They’re hard to ignore, aren’t they?
Continue reading “Sunday Scenes: Flowers Abound”
The walnut trees are producing this year – hurrah!! Last year was, to my disappointment, a bust. With the last of the Nocino left from the 2019 batch looking forlorn in its mostly-empty bottles, I happily set about making another – and bigger – batch!
Continue reading “Wildcrafted: Finally Making Black Walnut Liqueur (Nocino) Again”
Just as the black raspberries are done for the season, big, bold blackberries appear. They may not be quite as sweet, but they still make delicious probiotic beverages, like water kefir!
Continue reading “Ferment This: Wild Blackberry Water Kefir”
Is your idea of the perfect jam one that tastes like biting into a sweet, juicy berry? Do you like the crunchy texture of seeds in your jam? Is a simple recipe, without pectin, a bonus? If you answered “yes” to these questions, you’ll love this easy, scalable jam!
Continue reading “Farm Foraging: Small Batch Black Raspberry Jam”
Beautiful red roses grow amok here in an area that clearly hints at having once been a well-tended terraced garden. I choose to let the vegetation grow wild – and have been rewarded with sumac berries, peonies, lemon balm, yucca, and other delightful flora. The roses, as with many of the other flowers here, aren’t just pretty faces – they’re edible. And wouldn’t they make a lovely wine?
Continue reading “Winecraft: Ruby Red Rose”
It was a hot and humid day. The honeysuckle perfumed the muggy air with its seductive fragrance. I ventured out, dressed from head to toe (for sun and tick protection), to harvest honeysuckle blooms, many of which seemed to be intertwined with brambles. Soon, my nitrile gloves were ripped to shreds – but, sometimes, sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of the land’s wild bounty.
Continue reading “Winecraft: Heavenly Honeysuckle…And Blotto Bees”