I bet you didn't know this, but... I didn't exactly grow up in an "organic" household. In fact, my dad has worked in the farm chemical industry for years, both selling and applying herbicides and pesticides. I grew up surrounded by every form of herbicide and insecticide you could imagine. All of our childhood coffee cups and kitchen utensils were emblazoned with the names of various chemicals and seed treatments. I remember the ...Continue Reading
Archives for July 2015
Homemade Fermented Ketchup Recipe
Confession time: I used to be completely scared of fermenting stuff. I wanted nothing to do with it. I'm not sure if it was some of the rather unappetizing photos of fermented foods floating around online, or my secret fear that anything I would ferment would taste like dirty socks, but I avoided fermentation for quite a while. Pretty sad, eh? A natural-food-loving-homesteader-person who didn't ferment... Lame. So what ...Continue Reading
How to Take a Vacation When You Have a Homestead
"I'd like to homestead like you, but then I could neeeeeever go anywhere..." It's a phrase I hear quite a bit, and yeah, I totally get it. In a day and age where the extent of most folks' home responsibilities end at keeping the goldfish fed, the mere thought of being responsible for a milk cow, and a garden, and a flock of chickens sounds daunting. And crazy. And it kinda is. I'll be honest: I don't love traveling. I'm ...Continue Reading
10 Things Your Non-Homesteading Friends Just Don’t Understand
Have you ever noticed kind of a gap? Sometimes it feels like there's a bit of a disconnect between me and my non-homesteading friends. Ever been there? Thankfully, considering I've been chasing this homesteading dream for about 7 years now, most of my friends/family now understand that Jill is just weird. And they're used to it. No one even raises their eyebrows anymore when we bring home a new farm animal or start building a new ...Continue Reading