Walk outside today and listen to the sounds of your homestead/hobby farm/ranch/backyard. Besides the wind rustling through the trees or rumbling of motorized equipment, what else to you hear? Clucking? Bleating? Mooing? Now imagine your slice of heaven without those warm-blooded souls. Does it feel less substantial? Less satisfying? Eerily quiet? Unfortunately, that quiet can […]
Garlic: Demystifying Hardneck and Softneck
With the cooler temperatures, September heralds in one of my favorite planting seasons and within this planting season is one of my favorite items to plant. Some may refer to it as the Stinking Rose or Italian Perfume, but to me, garlic is heady. Garlic is quite easy to grow. It does best in well-drained […]
Custard-Style French Toast
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. In particular, I love a hot breakfast. Forget the cold cereal with milk, give me something where the aroma wafts through the kitchen and escapes into other parts of the house. I want something that will wake up friends and family and lead them to the table. […]
The Hidden Danger of Refinishing
Like some folks out there, I love vintage. It doesn’t matter if it is a hand-painted set of china, a wonderfully embroidered tablecloth, or a sturdy piece of wood furniture. There is something about the history and the work that went into creating it. The worn features tell us a bit about how well the […]
My Dehydrator Died: Now What?
For folks who have edible gardens or purchase a lot of fresh produce, dehydrators are a common kitchen appliance. They don’t take up that much countertop space and can be tucked away when the preserving season is done. During the summer, our dehydrator lives on the kitchen counter until we have used the last tomato […]
A New Delight: Tomato Basil Jam
Oh August, I have a love/hate relationship with you. You still throw out incredibly hot temperatures causing me to do outdoor projects only in the early morning and late afternoon. Yet on the other hand, you provide something that causes me to do my happy dance. Why am I happy? The simple answer is, the […]