Farmstead Feed: Jill shares the latest from the Farmstead Desk
Summer scenes on the farm
Every year is a new adventure on the farm. Every summer brings it's own challenges and joys. What's up this summer? We're still raising our chickens out on pasture in mobile chicken tractor pens and giving them GMO free feed along with the grass and bugs. We're...
It’s all about who you know
"Do you like doing this job?" Someone asked me this once about chicken processing as I was loading her processed chickens into her car. That question often comes back as I'm heading into the shop on Friday morning. Friday is the day we process chickens for other...
Natural Pest Control
Every year is a new adventure on the farm. Every summer brings it's own challenges and joys. What's up this summer? We're still raising our chickens out on pasture in mobile chicken tractor pens and giving them GMO free feed along with the grass and bugs. We're...
Anyone Can Farm with spring weeds!
"Do you like doing this job?" Someone asked me this once about chicken processing as I was loading her processed chickens into her car. That question often comes back as I'm heading into the shop on Friday morning. Friday is the day we process chickens for other...
Farmers and Freedom: a Memorial Day reminder
We love to grow our garden.We love to eat from our garden. (Mark calls it "drive by eating" when you just eat lunch off the plant.)We even love to share our garden with other people.We do NOT like to share our plants with garden pests who eat the plant or produce...
Making butter a superfood: how to make ghee
Ghee is an ancient practice of clarifying butter to give it a longer shelf life and to increase the digestibility of the fats. It basically amounts to heating the butter and "rendering" it to separate the water, fat, and proteins. It stores well on the counter in...
Farm Fence Talk
Freedom. Liberty. These are important words in our human being. They are as important to the human spirit as life. As I write this it is Memorial Day weekend. For us in the U.S. it’s a time to pause and honor those who have paid the ultimate price for other...
Farm Wealth Story: for farmers only
Anyone Can Farm weeds! I’ll show you how today. Beyond a doubt you can procure something for yourself to eat. You are a natural farmer, you just don’t know it yet. And this farming probably won’t cost you anything. It’s the ultimate free lunch. Salad, at any...
Pickled Eggs: a tasty way to preserve the harvest
It's eggs season!Who knew eggs had a season? Hens are one of nature's signalers of spring. When the days start to lengthen and warm just a little, they go into egg production mode. They can lay one, and sometimes even two, eggs per day. After the chill of winter...
Tools of the Trade:
You've raised your animals with care and love. Now, however, it's time for the freezer. You want to harvest your animals yourself: what basic "tools of the trade" do you need? Being able to harvest your own animals is an important skill for a...
A community based education opportunity: the Homesteader’s Guild class
Guild: "an association of people for mutual aid or the pursuit of a common goal." There are many ways to learn: a book, YouTube videos, weekend seminars, conferences, mentorships, college classes. If you really want to know something there are two key components:...
Chicken Processing Demystified
Fun in the shop: meet the chicken processing team
FUN IN THE SHOP: MEET THE CHICKEN PROCESSING TEAM We have a day off in the shop today. The chicken processing shop is usually humming on Fridays, which is when we do custom chicken processing. The weekly routine is that people who have scheduled their birds...
Business changes, Passion doesn’t
"Do you like doing this job?" Someone asked me this once about chicken processing as I was loading her processed chickens into her car. That question often comes back as I'm heading into the shop on Friday morning. Friday is the day we process chickens for other...
Little’s Fate: even a used up boar is useful
What do you do with a mature boar pig? ("Boar" meaning an intact, fully functional male as opposed to the breed of pig.) We have met people who claim they taste good, but our experience has been that they have a smell and taste that...
You can farm! Order your custom raised chickens today!
Reserve Your Chickens Today!Michigan Farm Baker's Green Acres, Raises Pasture Raised Chickens for the Community, as their virtual farmer.Anyone can farm! You may not have enough space or the ability to raise your own chickens or Thanksgiving turkey, but you can be a...
Farming for Fun and Profit: a farmer’s winter thoughts
Guild: "an association of people for mutual aid or the pursuit of a common goal." There are many ways to learn: a book, YouTube videos, weekend seminars, conferences, mentorships, college classes. If you really want to know something there are two key components:...
Homestead Hog Harvest
Farming is a very seasonal operation. While that seems like an obvious statement, I wonder if that's so. Are fresh tomatoes or strawberries ever not available at the grocery store? Does the milk change flavors or creaminess as winter melts to summer? Is the meat...
