So I tried something that I've never even considered until this year. I mean, who pickles peas? Not me. Until now that is. Because they're really good. The sweetness of the sugar snap peas combines with the tangy bite of the vinegar brine to create a unique culinary experience. And similar to a pickled cucumber,... Continue Reading →
I think the best part of gardening is knowing that at the end the season we will (usually) end up with an abundance of food that can be preserved and put on the shelves or in the freezer for later use. The work is rewarding in and of itself. The mystery of placing seed in... Continue Reading →
There is a rhythm to life. Birth. Growth. Production. Decay. It's the pattern that every living thing must go through. We were formed from the earth and to the earth we will return. Decay is essential for new life to begin. When it comes to healthy soil, it is the spent life of decaying things... Continue Reading →
Chickens are weird. When we first started raising egglayers, I remember just sitting in the yard watching how they interacted with each other. They would walk around in little social groups, merrily plucking grubs from the soil and gossiping away like old ladies in a hair salon. The first time I saw one snatch a... Continue Reading →
I'm serious when I ask this. Where did the year go? It's beginning to sound like a cliche, I know. But I'm still scratching my head over how fast it seemed this year went by. Maybe that's why I'm clinging to this time between Christmas and the New Year. This season of rest. Because I... Continue Reading →
Some people think of them as pets. Others think of them as a nuisance. But on our farm, our barn cats are simply a necessary part of the ecosystem. Are you a cat person? Because I wasn't. Not until we moved to the farm. But I've changed in a lot of ways since we started... Continue Reading →
Homesteading is all about the experience. We all come to homesteading for different reasons. But in the end, what we really crave is a different approach to life. An experience that transcends the meaningless grind that has become the norm in modern day living. For our family, it was a hunger for a simpler, more... Continue Reading →
Winter is coming. No matter how hard I fight it. That's just the way it is. So begins the annual chore of preparing our animals for what will inevitably come. Iowa can be brutal during the winter months. But with the right preparation and care our animals will thrive even in the heart of our... Continue Reading →
I'm thinking about what kind of people my children will be when they grow up. I think about this often. Mostly because I wonder if I'm doing enough to equip them for their future. Are we preparing our children to take care of themselves after we're gone? In our house, we try to balance technology... Continue Reading →
I can remember when our neighbor asked us to watch their chickens while they were out of town. This was about five years ago. About a week into scraping poop off the board they used underneath the roosting area, wrangling the ones who always escaped and chugging through mud to fill buckets of water I... Continue Reading →