Harvest season is upon us, and it's time to preserve some food!

If you're anything like me, this time of year is a flurry of harvesting, watering, and working your way through piles of fresh vegetables before they manage to rot away on the kitchen counter.

This year, the garden has been especially bountiful, and we are feeling hard-pressed to use up all of the zucchini, green beans, and tomatoes we're picking on a daily basis! This weekend alone, I froze several bags of tomatoes and green beans, made zucchini muffins, and canned a batch of salsa.

I've also made several batches of my favorite fresh fermented salsa, and currently have ground cherries in the dehydrator, and hot peppers soon to follow.

That's why this month's freebie seems especially timely! It's a vegetable preservation chart that makes it simple to see which methods of preservation work best for each vegetable. You'll also find simple tips for success for each preservation method. Learn more below, or grab your free copy here! 

It may not feel like it quite yet, but spring is just around the corner! And, if you're a homesteader, that means the season of rest is almost over, and the busy season is about to begin...

That's why I wanted to share this quick little recipe with you today.

When the hectic pace of spring and summer arrives, it can be difficult to find the time to bake or plan meals. Having this handy muffin mix on hand makes it a snap to whip up a batch of muffins to eat on the go as a quick breakfast or snack. Its easy to tailor the recipe to your preferences, so feel free to substitute gluten-free flours, sugar alternatives, and different flavorings and mix-ins in the final recipe.

Just mix up a bunch of jars of this ahead of time and store them in the pantry or cupboard for whenever you need to bake up a quick batch of homemade muffins!

Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

We had a quiet but enjoyable holiday, with plenty of sunshine which made it relatively pleasant to work outdoors as long as I was bundled up against the chill. My efforts were somewhat limited by a bout of hip pain, but I managed to finish the rest of the garden cleanup and fall harvest (radishes, turnips, carrots, and the remaining tender greens), do some mulching, and start working on cleaning up the yard.

We made entirely too much food for two people - as usual - but it was all delicious and featured a good amount of our own homegrown food, including deviled eggs, collard greens and kale, mashed potatoes, and butternut squash (which I did not grow intentionally this year, but we had a volunteer by the chicken run that produced 3 good-sized and delicious squashes). I also made homemade cranberry sauce, giblet gravy, and homemade raw-milk vanilla ice cream, which we enjoyed with apple pie and sparkling rose. It was very enjoyable and not too stressful, as I prepped ahead of time and made the ice cream and cranberry sauce the night before.

Anyway, Thanksgiving means it's time for this year's gratitude list, and while I found great inspiration in re-reading last year's list about the homestead, this year's list is a bit more eclectic. Here are just a few of the many things I am grateful for as we wrap up 2023...

This post has been a long time coming, as it has taken me several months to be able to face the topic... But I feel it's important to write about, and hopefully even cathartic.

Every homesteader will eventually face the inevitability of death - it is, after all, an essential part of the life cycle. We all know this, but for those who raise livestock, it is more visible (and visceral) than for others. And although we homesteaders expect death, knowing it will happen and actually experiencing it are two different things.

Growing up on a farm, I was familiar with death from a young age. A favorite cat died of distemper (very painfully from the looks of it) before I was ten. Chickens and goats died regularly (often at the hand of my father), and were usually enjoyed as dinner "from nose-to-tail," as the current slogan goes. I distinctly remember my grief when I accidentally stepped on a baby chick at about 9 years old, and also my determination as I twisted its tiny neck to try and put it out of its misery as quickly as possible, tears streaming down my freckled cheeks.

Two of my sisters - and several friends - have also kept chickens in adulthood, and I knew from their experience (as well as lots of reading) that apparently humans aren't the only creatures with a taste for chicken! So, when I got my first batch of my own chickens, I knew death would come. And I thought I was prepared.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Thanksgiving is already here... Where did this year go?!? It seems like just a few days ago that I was marveling over how early I was able to clean up the fall garden this year, and how I had plenty of time to finish before winter... Now winter is here, and I've been mulching and moving hay bales in 19-degree windchill all weekend!

Fortunately, it looks like we'll have a little warmup for the week ahead, so maybe I can actually get things finished soon - fingers crossed!

Anyway, Thanksgiving means...

...it's time for this year's gratitude list!

This year, I'm specifically focusing on the things I'm grateful for on the homestead, so you can consider this a homestead update as well.  :-)  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful place to live, and I want to celebrate that in today's post. I hope it inspires you to think about the little things you're grateful for in your life as well!

I'm back today with a long-overdue homestead update, and today I thought I would address some of the challenges of homesteading in a changing climate.

While it's easy to see signs of the climate becoming more unstable and unpredictable over the past few decades, these past few years it has been especially obvious. (I like to say, if you garden, you can't not believe in climate change!) From the extremes in temperatures over the past few years, to the incredible variation in precipitation and severe weather events across the country, it's clear that things are trending in a more extreme direction.

This year so far in Ohio, we have been treated to an extra warm and early spring, ridiculous amounts of rain (we're only halfway through June and have already had nearly 7" this month, on top of the 4" we got the last week of May), and now, extremely unseasonal heat for two weeks in a row, with temperatures nearing 100 degrees for multiple days in a row (yes, in the first half of June!).

Needless to say, this is all extremely confusing and challenging to both the garden and the livestock.

My chickens (aka my Chickies, my Chicklets, my Buckaroos, my Chookers) are so much more fun, adorable, and amazing than I ever expected, and even though they're not tiny cute little fluff balls anymore, I have loved them through every stage of their lives thus far!

They have brought me so much entertainment, joy, laughter, and yes, some tears as well, and I literally look forward all day long to the end of the work day when I can see them again and tuck them in at night. (Yes, I might be a little bit obsessed...) :-) So it's no surprise that making my own chicken feed is important to me.

There is plenty of debate out there about what you should feed your chickens, and some of the chicken owner forums I often peruse feature hot arguments about whether or not you should ONLY feed commercial chicken feed.

Whatever you choose to feed your chickens is, of course, up to you, but I, for one, have opted for homemade whole grain feed instead. Below are some of the reasons why, as well as a great recipe and helpful resource that I use for mixing up my own nutritionally balanced chicken feed.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

As fitting for this year, our weekend didn't quite go as planned due to weather... I had hoped to finish cleaning up the garden and spread all (or most of) the wood chips, as we usually place our new hay bales out in the garden this time of year.

Alas, with rain and chilly, windy, snowy conditions, I didn't get to spend much time outside at all - although I did bundle up and move the chicken pasture to it's winter location. Next weekend looks better, and I will just have to try to get as much done as possible while I can! The snow has already flown a few times, so despite our long, warm, fall, winter is definitely upon us now.

However, I thought it would be a good time to do a quick update on the homestead activities for 2021, as well as a few notes about gratitude as I usually share this time of year...

 Apple cider vinegar - also commonly referred to as ACV in natural health circles - is often touted to have many health benefits, from digestive support to blood pressure modulation, weight loss aid, and more. Whether or not all this is true, the fact is that apple cider vinegar can be a very useful ingredient to have around the house for cooking, cleaning, pickling, and more.

It is also useful as a natural health support for chickens (ours get a tablespoon in their water once or twice a week during cooler weather) - they love it, and it is supposed to help keep them healthy and improve their digestion.

While it's not all that expensive, if you use a lot of it, it can definitely be more cost-effective (and fun!) to make your own apple cider vinegar at home. Plus, you'll be amazed at how easy it is - and it's a great way to put those peelings and other apple scraps to good use! (Now that I know apple trimmings tend to give our chickens the runs, I'll be using them in this recipe instead after making our annual batch of apple cider this fall...) See below for a super simple and easy recipe that anyone can make at home - no special equipment required.

I'm back, and I apologize for the delay in getting your July freebie posted! I had intended to post last weekend, but we arrived home from vacation much later than expected, so I wasn't able to get to it...

We had a lovely trip to Minnesota and it was wonderful to see and spend time with the family! We experienced many different types of weather, including heat and humidity, chilly blanket nights, a perfect day on the lake, and a fun day trip to Duluth and our favorite malt shop. We also ate way too much amazing food, as my Minnesota family are wonderful cooks and also enjoy growing lots of their own food. (It was amazing to see that their gardens are almost as advanced as ours here in Ohio, despite not being able to get them in until June!)

Unfortunately, I returned to find the scourge of gardeners everywhere (deer!) had gotten into my garden for the first time ever, and chowed down on my beans, tomatoes, and beet greens. :-(  Now that they have discovered the bounty within the fence, they have been visiting regularly, and the battle to save my precious garden begins... Scattering a bag of dog hair (which usually protects my raspberries and tulips in the spring) did not seem to help, so now I'm trying Liquid Fence, and plotting how to improve the actual fence for a more permanent solution.

It has been such a rough garden season so far (we also got nearly 6 MORE inches of rain while we were gone, plus 2" more since we've been back - for a total of 15" in the past 3 weeks), having to deal with the deer issue on top of everything else is very discouraging. :-(

Speaking of gardening, since we're in the heart of garden season, this month's freebie is all about growing your own amazingly nutritious "superfoods"!  Learn more and download your copy of this awesome resource below...