We homesteaders sure do love our baking soda, don't we? I think it's really only second to vinegar when it comes to being one of my favorite all-purpose ingredients. From carpet cleaning and deodorizing, to de-skunking dogs, to scouring and cooking, you won't be sorry if you keep a big ol' bag in your pantry. And I've found another use for it: feeding it to my goats! I've actually found that many goat breeders offer free-choice ...Continue Reading
How to Milk a Cow
Today I'm inviting ya'll to put on your muck boots and come down to the barn with me! I'll introduce you to Miss Mabel and walk you through my basic cow milking routine. Are ya ready? Let's go! How to Milk a Cow What You Can Expect to See in this Milking Video: Me getting whacked in the face with Mabel's tail multiple times. My super high-tech milking stool. Mabel perfectly illustrating how fidgety cows can be... ...Continue Reading
20+ Homemade Insect Repellent Recipes
Poop. It's a fact of life on a homestead. And poop brings flies. Lots of 'em. Back in the days before I got all crunchy, I used to use loads of chemical fly sprays on my horses... And even though I hadn't fully "awakened" to the world of chemical-free living at that point, I remember it would still bother me when I could taste the fly spray in my mouth after dousing the horses... I've seen questions about homemade insect ...Continue Reading
Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe
Breakfast sausage is definitely something that is on my list of "Never Buy Again Foods": Most store-bought sausage rolls contain all sorts of icky things like MSG or corn syrup. Homemade breakfast sausage is super simple to mix up at home, so there is really no reason to buy the store-bought versions with all the added junk... We acquired a large meat grinder a couple years ago, which has definitely been worth the ...Continue Reading
Homeless Chickens: An Old-Fashioned Solution
Everyone has a chicken coop in their backyard these days, and like I've said before, I think it's a good thing. Sure, it might be considered a "fad" by some, but hey- you can bet I'll be the last one to complain about more people waking up to the issues with our current food system. And if that awakening means that folks are bringing home chickens in their mini-van, then good on them! But, I recently came across an article that ...Continue Reading