Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land
WHAAAAT...? That's my response every time I get an email from someone who wants to know why I talk about essential oils on a homesteading blog. Okay, okay... to be fair, there was a time when I didn't get the connection either. I thought essential oils were just expensive little brown bottles surrounded by a bunch of hype. I still use herbs too, but I've found essential oils to be much easier to use as they are more "grab and ...Continue Reading
It's a blessing and a curse... Ok, so maybe "curse" is a strong word, but when you raise your own animals for meat, you have to get really creative, really fast about cooking meat. LOTS of meat. Because after about the tenth roast tasting exactly the same, the family tends to get a little whiney about supper. We have two freezers down in our barn jam-packed full of homegrown pork and beef. (A whole steer takes up a ...Continue Reading
I was so thrilled when Craig Fear from Fearless Eating said he'd write a post on making pork broth. I feel like I've pretty much mastered making poultry and beef broth, but have yet to venture into homemade pork broth. I'm ready to give it a try after reading Craig's advice, though! With the resurgence of interest in making real homemade bone broth from actual bones, pork broth is an option few people consider. In fact, I ...Continue Reading
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
"Keep your mouth shut..." That used to be my routine bit of advice for anyone entering my chicken coop during the summer months. Fly control in the chicken coop used to feel like a losing battle for me, and the results were... gross. The cloud of black, buzzing flies used to be so thick when you'd open the door, you almost needed a welding helmet to keep them out of your eyes and mouth. If you think I've been talking about bugs a ...Continue Reading
