Farmstead Feed: Jill shares the latest from the Farmstead Desk
Spring and visions
It's Spring! April is an odd time, a transition time on the farm. We're still cleaning up winter, but summer's energy isn't quite there yet. No snow. No grass. So, what are we doing? Preparing. Entertaining visions of the possibilities of the summer. That includes:...
A Little Pig Tale: Lessons from the homestead
The homestead is a teacher. Some lessons are easy. Others, not so much.
Homestead Hog Harvest
Homestead Hog Harvest isn't just a class. It's an experience. "Never underestimate the power of a bloody handshake." --a former class member The class always starts with people wearing name tags standing in a circle around Mark, looking at each other a little...
Homestead Economics: more than money
The bottom line of your homestead farm's economics. Are you all about a good environment for the kids? Making some money? Having good food to eat? Helping your local community? All of the above are possible and important. The economics of a homestead is about the...
Teaching them the ropes: homeschool on the homestead
Farming on a small farm is a family affair, which makes a homestead a great homeschool tool. Everybody participates to the best of their ability. It's surprising, too, how much ability kids can have! One of the things that has kept us going all these years has been...
It’s CSA chicken season (Almost)!
The snow is melting. The sun is shining. The kids are shedding their snowpants and coats. Spring! That makes me think about Chickens. Also, my chicken corner in the freezer is almost empty, so that makes me think about spring and chickens, too. This week I've worked...
Reading Lists for the homestead
Books are a homestead farmer's best friend. Right up there with YouTube and Google. And older farmers. On our LIVE YOUTUBE Q&A programs, we've been asked what books we use as resources and reference. There's a whole list right here: Homestead Farm Books The...
The value of a life: Homestead Hog Harvest
This is our project this weekend: teaching a valuable homesteading skill. Appreciating your food and knowing that it was raised, harvested, and prepared with care from field to plate is part of a healthy lifestyle. Your food is your nourishment and an investment you...
Building fences
Setting good fence posts is the foundation of a good fence. https://youtu.be/xOoTeXsIgSk We've chased our share of pigs. And cows. And goats. And sheep. It's not an experience we look forward to. It makes for a good "Farmfit" exercise. And lots of...
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
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...
Anyone Can Farm with spring weeds!
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...
Farmers and Freedom: a Memorial Day reminder
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...
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
"Fences make great neighbors." Every heard that one? Ever chased your cow, pig, goat, or sheep out of your neighbor's yard? If you've kept animals (or lived next to them), you can appreciate that wisdom. We've built a lot of fences. We've chased a lot of animals. ...
Farm Wealth Story: for farmers only
Wealth can be measured by money in the bank. But a better measure may be abundance of life. By that accounting, homestead farmers are the richest folks on earth! We were at a lunch with a group of friends not too long ago, and the younger lady across from me with...
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...
