How To Render Lard

Over the years, we have learned that with every season comes the harvesting of home grown farm products.  Living near several large groups of Amish, one begins to really appreciate the 'old' way of living.  One thing we have learned is that it isn't really the 'old' way of living as much as it is a smart way of living.  Now mind you, I'm not ready to get rid of electricity or running water, but I enjoy knowing how to live without them if necessary.

Returning.....

It has been many months since adding a new post.  With the passing of my Father, family needed to come before blogging.  It still does, however, with time comes healing and an ability to not only get back into life again, but to also take the time for the little things that take quiet concentration like this blog.  

Much has happened on our homestead since my last post and God has truly walked beside us every step of the way, picking us up when we stumble, dusting us off and pointing us in the right direction again and again as often as we need it.

This Week on the Homestead

Last week, finally, we were pleased to find a calf in the barn!  We had a feeling about one of our cows calving first due to the signs, but sometimes you just don’t know for sure.  By the time we saw the calf, Mama already had it dried off and it was nursing like there was no tomorrow.  Its legs didn’t even seem wobbly, so we figure it was at least twenty four hours old already.  It is a beautiful chocolate brown with a fuzzy coat that makes it look like a little teddy bear. 

A Variety of Chicken Eggs and Colors

Aren't these beautiful?

We have been getting such a wonderful variety of colors when gathering eggs lately, that I couldn't resist putting them all in a row for comparison.  The darkest ones are from my favorite hen that is actually a

Lavender Orpington Chickens

This is an update for all of you who fell in love with the little silver chicks we brought home last spring.

The top picture is of two of these baby chicks that are now

This Week on the Homestead

So how many of you have had their fingers just itching to get into the dirt with this January thaw?  

I know I have!  I did not give in to it, but instead have been gathering eggs to incubate.

Hatching eggs is a bit more rewarding when starting this early in the season compared to planting.  I have learned that from experience and have had a greenhouse over run with so many plants that

This Week on the Homestead

What a beautiful, crisp, fluffy snow we’ve gotten!  We didn’t get enough ice to bother us much, which is a wonderful blessing.  Watching the snow fall here in the woods was quite a sight to behold though.  With all of the impending winter storm warnings we received, we had plenty of time to replenish the wood pile, add some much needed insulation to the chicken coop, bed the bunnies down with extra hay, and fill the bird feeders all the way to the top.  The only thing left to do was

This Week on the Homestead

Life has been so busy with preserving the abundance of apples and pears we have been blessed with this year.  We still have some that we will be making apple pie filling with and jar up some simple Apples for Apple Cobbler.  We've made several batches of Apple Butter too, but I did it a bit different this year.  Instead of using regular sugar,

Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

Barn Home Project ~ Part 1

Let's see, where did I leave off?  We picked a beautiful spot, cleared the trees, leveled the ground, anxiously awaited getting the well drilled, brought in too many loads of gravel to count, and got everything ready for the concrete.

The top picture is of the trees being cleared for the electricity to be put in.  Believe me when I say that we fretted something awful about this part.  This location is heavily wooded and they were telling us that they would cut a 40' swath of trees.  It may not look that bad in the picture, however, nothing could have prepared us for what looked like a

Canning Over An Open Fire

Yesterday I thought I'd try this little video to give you a little more than just pictures and words on a page to share with you what I was doing.  I get so nervous during any form of recording, I didn't explain too well the steps that led me up to this point.

Barn Home Project ~ Part One

Barn Home Project ~ Part 2

To begin with, I apologize for being so absent on this blog.  I realize some of you are not on Facebook and do not get those updates.  Last fall we began a journey of building a new homestead.  We knew before we started that is was not for the faint of heart, but still, we had no idea how trying it would be.

Time to Fire Up the Grill

Apple-Butter Barbecue Chicken

One morning last week, we woke up to some glorious weather (about two days before the strange May snow storm).  The air was warm, the breeze adding just the right amount of coolness and it was suddenly spring.

Pumpkin Bread

For those of you who don't live around these parts, we have had an ice storm and snow the past few weeks.  The ice is pretty, but usually unwelcome because of the fear of a power outage.  The snow around here is pretty too, while it lasts, but usually it will melt off the next day.  That is not the case this time and it feels like we have been living in a snow globe for the past five days.  It is pretty, and we so seldom get any snow that I sure don't want to complain, but I haven't had the heart to romp around in it either.  

Needless to say, if you follow our Facebook Page, you can tell that I have had a little more time on my hands than usual!

Easy Apple Cobbler

One of our greatest blessings, is our beloved daughter.  She has such a teachable heart and she is one who lives life whole-heartedly.  Her heart is committed to learning all that she can, to be first, a Godly woman, second a Godly wife and third, a Godly mother.  As any of you know, that is quite an undertaking and a daily struggle for all of us.  She is a joy and truly always has been one.    

Crockpot Beef Stew with Sweet Potatoes

Another Christmas has come and gone.  The cold air of winter has settled in and nothing warms your bones better than a hearty winter stew!

There is something magnificent about the timing of God's creation and especially the rhythm of eating with the seasons.  I can't seem to get my fill of root vegetables and it got me to wondering about how we just had a heavy harvest of root vegetables, the weather turns cold, the sun is scarce and how healthy those root vegetables are.  They are obviously what our Creator has provided for our health through the bleak months of winter.  It makes SO much sense!

A Simple Christmas

Source

It is that peaceful time of year again.

Yes, Christmas ... peaceful.

Time to enjoy the peaceful rest of the winter season as nature does.

Time to enjoy and treasure family and friends.

Homemaker's Organizer Giveaway

I just had to share with you, who may not have seen this yet, that there is a giveaway going on for this incredible Homemaker's Organizer!

It could also be called a Homesteader's or Gardener's Organizer too because it contains some extremely helpful pages on garden layout, canning inventory, freezer inventory, harvest and preservation records etc.  

Healing our Highland

It is finally time to share with you our journey in healing our Scottish Highland calf.  The struggles and sadness have been great, and on most days we have fought to continue, but hard work is never a waste of time.  We decided that if nothing else, if the end result was terrible, we would at least have learned from it.  Little did we know we faced pneumonia, dehydration, paralysis and a lot of rehabilitation for this little calf.  

Warning:  picture below may be disturbing.

Fixing Crooked Toes on Poultry

Before I tell you how to fix crooked toes, I have to tell you our egg story.

We have one guinea.  We have had only one guinea for a few years and she is the ugly duckling of the chicken coop, but she is the BEST when it comes to eating bugs and not destroying our garden.

Because of that fact, I decided to get some more guineas.  The first place I looked was on the ever famous Craigslist.  There were several for sale, but too far away to be worth making the drive.  I then began to search for guinea eggs.  We have hatched out many chickens and a few geese, so how hard could it be to hatch out guineas?  My conclusion of this was my first mistake.

Sweet Pepper Salsa Relish

One of my dear friends introduced this basic recipe to me a few years back.  She moved to the Ozarks from the great state of Texas and brought this recipe with her.  From what I hear ... there is a nice restaurant down there that people rave about called the Blue Mesa Grill.  They specialize in Southwestern cuisine.  I'm not exactly sure how my friend got her hands on their Blue Mesa Jalapeno Relish recipe, but I'm telling you, it's absolutely scrumptious!  You can eat it by itself, slather it on hamburgers or any sandwich you please.  We eat it over meatloaf and roast too.  If you sliced everything small enough, it would be great on crackers.