Life skills and tips for living on a homestead
In my first post: How to press your own apples to make cider, I explained how to extract apple juice from apples through a press. Now this follow up post is how to make hot, delicious apple cider out of the apple juice extracted from the pressed apples. Here are things you are going to …
How to Make Apple Cider Out of Fresh Squeezed Apple Juice Read More »
I’m pretty sure Sean and I have to try everything at least once from scratch… This year it was apple cider. Actually, we were kinda forced into making our own cider this year. The orchard that we like to buy our cider at had a series of unfortunate events that did not allow them to …
Yogurt is so good for you. However, like most other dairy and health products at groceries stores yogurt has been adulterated to the point that most of the beneficial parts of yogurt is null and void. Pasteurization is the major killer of beneficial bacteria and enzymes which all yogurt sold at the store has been …
This week is going to be hot… Like, hot, hot. Up till a couple days ago we have had a really nice cool spring/early summer. This has been an extreme blessing to us since we ran out of irrigation water the first week of June, so our meadows have been slowly drying out, but due to some …
Being a parent is amazing. The beauty of watching your child grow from a helpless infant to a crazy toddler is a pretty dramatic event. Our daughter Cecilia is only 19 months old and astounds us everyday. I think the most amazing thing that we see is what a big help she is (and is …
Our chickens live in style. They enjoy movement and new ground, so we decided to take an old horse trailer and make it into our moveable chicken coop.Now I wracked my brain for a long time trying to figure out how to make a moveable chicken coop. We thought about buying an old camp trailer, …
Last week Sean, Cecilia and I went to St. Louis to visit my side of the family. After living on the ranch for three years I can safely consider myself a “country folk” and consequently I really don’t enjoy the suburbs, tv and small manicured lawns that could be grazed by animals. With that said, after being …
Are you confused with all the terminology about beef? Grain finished, grass fed, natural/organic beef and grass finished might be making your head spin as you go shop through the grocery store and your not sure which one is the best for you. Here’s a simple way of explaining the differences. Grain Finished-The Majority of …
I’ve mentioned in the last couple posts that buttermilk has some wonderful capabilities and now it’s time to look into what types of things you can do with buttermilk. Once again, this is buttermilk made from raw milk cream that is turned into buttermilk. I cannot guarantee and do not suggest that you try culturing buttermilk from …
Adventures with buttermilk: What to do with leftover buttermilk Read More »
Probably my most favorite thing about having a milk cow is being able to make my own butter. The taste and color are just not the same of store bought butter and it’s easy to see. Butter is one of the most vilified foods today and people are more than willing to replace it with …
How to Make Butter: Step-by-step guide with pictures (raw milk tips) Read More »