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...

"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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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:...

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...

The more things change, the more things stay the same. So the saying goes.  Did 2017 bring change for you?  Maybe 2018 is the year those changes are really felt. This year is our year of change.  Our business model is changing.  But our passion is still...

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...