For a gardener, Winter is both a season of rest as well as one of anticipation. The approach of the new year seems to invite a necessary pause to reflect back on the prior year. 2023 was one of the busiest years I can recall and yet somehow it felt notably restful and fulfilling. The …
Life Isn’t All Roses, But It’s Good
You know, it surprises me to realize that some people think we’ve got life easy somehow. That we just plant daisies, chase butterflies, and stop to smell the roses all the live long day. That life must be just perfect. That’s a nice thought. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. Although, we do …
Where Are We Heading?
Where Are We Heading? What a change a year can bring. This past year we’ve seen more movement in our lives than in the previous ten altogether. Not just with all the Covid stuff, although that has admittedly been a big catalyst. But our family is now moving in a completely different trajectory than we …
Beekeeping 101: Starting a Smoker
Beekeeping 101: Starting Your Smoker I spent at least the first 2 years of beekeeping fussing with my smoker. Don’t laugh, but I did not know for 2 full years that my smoker was set up wrong. I actually probably would never have known if I hadn’t started attending a beekeeping group. I can see …
Weird Stuff Nobody Tells You About Raising Chickens
Weird Stuff Nobody Tells You About Raising Chickens You Don’t Need a Rooster to Get Eggs You don’t need a rooster for egg production. You probably don’t even want one. They can be mean. As in, come after your kids with their spurs, scare the living daylights out of them, kind of mean. Hens lay …
Completely Off Topic: Norwex is Amazing
Completely Off Topic: Norwex ***Update: Okay, NOW I’m having my own Norwex party. It wasn’t my intention at the time that I originally wrote this article, but now that I’ve bought so many of their products, I’m just going to go ahead and throw my own Norwex party and get a discount. I adore this …
Getting Started with Chickens
Getting Started with Chickens To get started with chickens, you don’t need a lot, but I have a couple of recommendations for you, depending on how you want to manage your flock. So here are the basic needs for starting chickens: Brooder (optional) First let me say that if you’re buying baby chicks, you don’t …
Beekeeping 101: Getting Started with Bees
Getting Started with Bees Becoming a beekeeper is an investment. If you keep at it, you will be able to recoup the money that you put into it, but you have to be very patient. Bees don’t make honey overnight. And they need quite a lot of the honey to feed themselves. Do not expect …
Pasture-Raised Chickens – What’s the Difference?
Pasture-Raised Chickens As if the jargon on the top of an egg carton wasn’t already over the top, lately you may be seeing cartons advertising pasture-raised eggs. Pasture-raised eggs are eggs laid by chickens who are allowed to freely roam most of the day outdoors, either in the wide-open or within a large designated chicken yard …
How to Make Creamed Honey in a Stand Mixer
Hey folks! After extracting some leftover goldenrod honey from my beehive a few weeks ago, what I found was that I had some honey that was beginning to crystallize. Crystallization is a natural process that happens to honey as it dries. If you wait long enough, any jar or bottle of honey will eventually begin …