The Prairie Homestead

Homesteading | Self Sufficient Living | Living off the Land

Preservation

25 Comments | |    Last Updated: November 6, 2018

How to Braid Onions

There are some aspects of homesteading that make me feel extra pioneer-ish... And braiding onions definitely fits into that category. Last year I was robbed of my beautiful onion harvest because this guy---> After *someone* left the garden gate open, he proceeded to help himself to three beautiful rows of homegrown, heirloom onions, leaving me with nothing but a few papery skins blowing in the wind. Not gonna lie-- I ...Continue Reading

41 Comments | |    Last Updated: September 2, 2016

13 Root Cellar Alternatives

How is it that I always forget... ...just how much work it is to wrap up the garden at the end of the year? For some reason, once the garden is in full-swing mid-summer, I tend to have the attitude that I'm "home free." WRONG. Even though it's October and a lot my plants are past their prime, there is still an amazing amount of food out there. And I gotta get it out before a) the first frost comes, and b) before this baby ...Continue Reading

29 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 9, 2025

40+ Ways to Preserve Tomatoes

I realize for some of you, this post may trigger feelings of tomato jealousy. And for that, I'm genuinely sorry. However, if you happen to be having a bumper tomato crop this year, you might be peering over baskets and buckets of tomatoes to read this post. If that's the case, I would imagine the recipes here might just be a welcome sight. Throughout my years of gardening adventures, I've been on both sides of the ...Continue Reading

79 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 24, 2024

Homemade Fermented Pickle Recipe

I'm out of control, you guys... Since my foray into homemade sauerkraut earlier this year, I'm now on a kick to ferment everything... I have to admit, it helps that I'm no longer scared of the whole process, and have learned that fermented foods don't taste gross-- as long as they are done right. My homemade fermented ketchup boosted my confidence even further, so I hunted down some pickling cucumbers at the Farmer's Market (the ...Continue Reading

95 Comments | |    Last Updated: July 24, 2020

How to Freeze Green Beans

Here I go again, breaking the rules... First it was canning peaches with honey, and then my no-sugar canned pears, and now I'm becoming a green bean rebel. You see, I have an extreme aversion to two things when it comes to food preservation: Super intricate methods with seemingly unnecessary steps (Ain't nobody got time for that when you have 15 bazillion bushels of food to put up...) Using boatloads of sugar to preserve ...Continue Reading

Nice to Meet You

I’m Jill. I’ve never been very good at following prescribed paths.

For the last 15 years, that instinct has led me through homesteading, entrepreneurship, and creating a life my younger self could have only dreamed of.

These days, I’m less interested in living the perfect "old-fashioned life" and more interested in knowing which ideas are worth carrying forward. The first half of this story was about building a homestead. The next part is about building a life that actually fits.
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