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Preserving Your Favorite Soft Fruits. There is nothing quite like opening a jar of bright, sweet jam in the middle of winter and smelling the sunshine of a summer afternoon. If you’ve ever been intimidated by the idea of making your own preserves, take a deep breath! Preserving berries and other soft fruits is one…
Transforming Cucumbers and Beans into Quick Pickles. Pickling is one of the easiest and most flavorful ways to preserve your harvest, and you don’t need a pantry full of specialized equipment to get started. Quick pickles, also known as refrigerator pickles, are the perfect entry point. Unlike traditional canning, there is no boiling water bath…
Preserving Your Spring Harvest. Spring has officially sprung, and if your countertop is currently buried under a mountain of strawberries, blueberries, asparagus and peas, you’ve probably thought: “I wish I could keep this flavor forever.” Good news! You can. Water bath canning is the perfect entry point for preserving your hard-won harvest. It’s essentially a…
Working WITH nature, not against it. Starting a homestead is a whirlwind of planting, building, and inevitably, battling pests. While it might be tempting to grab a chemical spray when you see your kale being devoured, those toxins disrupt the delicate ecosystem you’re trying to build. Incorporating natural pest control into your homesteading system isn’t…
Every suburban homestead would do well to consider adding an orchard. Fruit trees take time to establish and produce, so put this at the top of your priority list (if you can afford it). Once established, the only thing you need to do is yearly pruning and pest control. When the tree is ready, it’ll…
Food as herbal medicine is a concept as old as humanity. By replacing that knowledge with man-made chemicals that our bodies don’t even recognize, we’ve created a system that makes us sicker with each passing generation. It’s time to re-learn how our bodies function; which nutrients cause which actions and reactions, and how to regain…
Composting is more than just a pretty way to say “I’m letting stuff rot in the back corner.” The process of allowing nature to break down organic matter is vital for planetary health. Ecosystems need to feed off and into each other: We eat the food. We create waste. We feed the waste to insects…
TL;DR: The Tiny Powerhouse in Your Backyard If you’re looking for a suburban-friendly superfood, look no further than the quail egg. While small, these speckled gems are nutritionally denser than chicken eggs when compared weight-for-weight. The Highlights: Hey everyone, and welcome back to the homestead! If you’ve been following our journey, you know we’re big…
Like most of us out here, trying to be more self-sufficient, I’m re-learning what real scratch cooking actually looks like. That includes remembering that condiments are recipes, not ingredients. Making mayonnaise is one of those recipes we’ve somehow become convinced is too complicated. It’s not, and it’s quick. I live less than a half mile…
Part V – The Myth of Self-Reliance Eventually I had to burst the bubble, right? While a person can do a lot of things for themselves,, true self-reliance isn’t real … or, at least, it is very, very rare. Individually, we are amazing creatures capable of so much. But it is when we connect with…