Homesteading

314 articles
Independence Days

Independence Days

This has been another busy week for me and all I want to do is play in the dirt!  Instead of, you know, working and getting close to finishing up my classes (research papers suck, by the way).  I have to give myself "garden breaks" from time to time so I don't hate school so much.  OK...I guess that's not…
April 21, 2012
New Counter Tops

New Counter Tops

I just realized that, a few months ago we put in new counter tops in our kitchen and I never posted about it!!!  I'm sure you've seen glimpses of them in my posts, but here's the official lowdown...Five years ago when we moved into our house, one of the first things we added to our To-Do list was to re-do…
April 14, 2012

Eggshells

Did you know you can use eggshells as a chicken and garden supplement?   Absolutely! Now, up until a couple of years ago, I had no idea that eggshells were good for anything except waiting for me to crack them open ;-) Whether you keep chickens and have an abundance of egg shells, or buy a carton or two each…
April 12, 2012
105 Square Feet

105 Square Feet

Yes, that is what is contained in our new raised beds in the backyard :-)  It took two days of nearly back-breaking bed building and soil shuffling, but we are officially in business and I am now trying to figure out what all should go in those beds!!!We have built a total of 8 beds, each completely separate from the…
April 10, 2012
Independence Days

Independence Days

Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope the week has treated you well and the coming weekend is divine!Diving right in...Plant something: Believe it or not, I have not planted a single seed since last week.  We hit a bit of a cold snap...rain, snow, grey grossness...for a few days and I was reminded that we still have a ways to go before…
April 6, 2012
Beef Jerky

Beef Jerky

Well, we've made our first ever batch of beef jerky and it is delicious!!! We pulled a 2.24 pound beef round steak from the chest freezer and let it thaw out about half way before beginning to cut it into about 1/4 inch slices (partially frozen meat is much easier to cut). Then we divvied up all our slices into three…
April 5, 2012