Tag Archives: homesteading
Bartering with jam
“I can’t feel my lips,” said The Mister. He was sitting across from me at the small kitchen work table, indulging in a midmorning break from farm chores and enjoying a slice of toast. Although toasted homemade bread is just fine by itself, it had occurred to him to up the ante when he remembered […]
The most challenging thing about growing your own–it’s not what you might think!
The idea of growing and preserving your own food is intoxicating. Instead of buying packaged foods shipped from halfway around the globe, you can just stick some seeds in the ground, watch the plants come up, and there they are—the beautiful fruits of your labor. And then later in the season, it’s so exciting to […]
Glad for a change of scenery–but only for a while.
This is the time of year for wrapping up the harvest, putting the period at the end of the six-week-long sentence during which we sustainable-living types in Maine put up an entire year’s worth of food. That’s pretty astounding, when you think about it. Fifty-two weeks’ worth in just over a month. It crams a […]
Who’s braver, young chicks or old hens?
I was in the barn doing morning chores when a commotion erupted from the vicinity of the chicken houses. That’s right, houses, with an S at the end. Our chickens are segregated. Bird segregation is not our doing. Backyard chickens are extremely territorial, and often exercise a strong us-versus-them world view. They know who belongs […]
Embracing the end of summer
Late blight in central Maine
What’s in YOUR freezer?
A Tale of Two Crucifers–or, how I wish I had fed my kids better food!
How to Spot a Prepsteader
“So what are these for, again…exactly?” asked The Farm Girl, her voice trailing off in what might have been an effort to conceal her amusement. “They’re for, uh, you know.” Her face told me she didn’t know. We were looking at two big square containers, each about three feet across and four feet tall, made […]