Category Archives: Homesteading

Hen vs. lizard

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Sandy

One of our New Hampshire hens found an interesting snack today, a little lizard. She ran around for about 10 minutes trying to eat it herself, but the other hens kept trying to steal it from her. Eventually, she tired … Continue reading →

Posted in Homesteading, Livestock | Tagged , | 2 Comments

I just impulse purchased turkeys – oh boy!

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Sandy

Going to the feed store in early spring the same day the latest batch of new poultry arrived led to an “impulse purchase” that had me thinking “What did I just do?!?” on the drive home. Yes, I impulse purchased … Continue reading →

Posted in Homesteading, Livestock | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Dear Big Leaf Maple

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Sandy

Dear Big Leaf Maple, Although I’ve tried for a number of years to be friends, it’s just not working out. Not to be rude or anything, but you are in the way. You see, I have plans. Big plans. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Homesteading | Tagged | 8 Comments

The Mother Earth News Fair is this weekend!

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Sandy

The Mother Earth News Fair will be in Puyallup this weekend. Be there or be square! Derek and I will be taking the kids on Sunday and we’re really looking forward to it. Get all the details on the Mother … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Green Building, Homesteading, Livestock | Tagged | 1 Comment

A day in the slow life

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Sandy

 Over at Backyard Feast, Toni put together a “A day in the slow life” meme and asked me to participate. In a follow up post, she wrote about The Paradox of Slow, which is equally as interesting. I pondered this topic earlier in the year … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Energy usage, Gardening, Homesteading | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

What to do with 200 pounds of plums?

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Sandy

The kids and I picked a medium-sized basket of plums yesterday. Out of curiosity, I weighed the basket. We had 18.5 pounds of plums and you could hardly tell the tree had been picked at all. Based on a quick … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Homesteading | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Jam season and the ladies’ new home

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Sandy

Although the weather remains more clouds than sun, the temperature has been inching up week after week and the garden is progressing. Yesterday, I picked 3 pounds of strawberries from the strawberry patch. This was from the old patch that … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Homesteading, Livestock | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

New coop and a visit from a long lost friend

Posted on May 31, 2010 by Sandy

We recently decided to add a second coop, this one in the goat pasture. We plan to use the new coop as the primary one and the existing coop as the home for chicks/pullets or any sick hens we might … Continue reading →

Posted in Homesteading, Livestock | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Photo album: Greenhouse in February, 2010

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Sandy

I love my greenhouse.  This will be the second full year we’ve had the structure and I continue to be thankful that we have it. Although we don’t use it exactly as originally planned (we were never able to get the heat … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Homesteading | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Everything is better with butter

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Sandy

 Sometimes I’m both flabbergasted and humbled by all the things I don’t know how to do.  Today, I made butter for the first time.  I had never even thought about making butter before.  In our convenience world of ready-made everything, we’ve really lost … Continue reading →

Posted in Homesteading | Tagged | 2 Comments