I love to cook with cast iron. If you don’t yet, I highly recommend it! Cast iron pans last forever and are comparable to the cost of other pans. They cook evenly, give a great crust to anything breaded, and are a cinch to clean. I think folks get scared off because they don’t know…
Tag: Homestead
The Foxfire Series of Books
A student of mine gave me a copy of the first Foxfire book years ago. What a gift! I ended up ordering the whole series because that type of wisdom and writing could be gone in a generation. The Foxfire books were started by a teacher and his high school students in the late sixties…
Encanto Sanctuary
Last January, we had an idea. An amazing, wonderful idea! We would start an animal sanctuary. Within two weeks, Encanto Sanctuary; Farm Animal Sanctuary and Learning Homestead had its 501(c)(3) charitable status, a donated logo, and a passion behind it that would push it forward. It started out strong, lots of support and a fair…
Trading Skills
My husband and I started a non-profit animal sanctuary, Encanto Sanctuary, almost a year ago. We got our 501(c)(3) status and I went to work full out with website, social media, brochures, fund raising sites, and started taking in more animals that needed a safe place to live their lives. “Farm Animal Sanctuary and Learning…
Homeschool on the Homestead
I loved being a homeschooling mama and love being a homeschooling grammie even more! There are so many benefits to homeschooling. It may not be for everyone, but for many, it is the best and most positive way to learn. My beautiful granddaughter’s confidence was all but shattered by the time I asked her mom…
View of a Simple Homestead Life
This was the moment that I felt a rush of nostalgia, clarity, and peace come over me. A remembrance of why I fell in love with the homesteading lifestyle in the first place all those years ago. This snippet sums up the sweetness of a simple life. Entering my little art studio, the bluegrass playing…
Canning Cranberry Sauce
I love cranberry sauce and I do wonder why we only partake at Thanksgiving! We always end up wasting the rest of the can or what I make fresh. Can one preserve cranberry sauce, I wondered? A peek into my old canning book confirmed that I can indeed can can cranberries! Cranberries are in season…
Why We Homestead (10th anniversary)
How fitting on my tenth blogging anniversary, that I would sit down with my cup of coffee to write why I am returning to homesteading with a fervency and peace I haven’t had in awhile. I entered a space of wondering why I do the things I do. I grew weary and older and wondered…
The Busy, Busy Summer
It has been an incredibly busy summer and here autumn is in full swing. Homesteading here is a pleasure and our first farming season was wonderful. In June, I was terribly discouraged, even considering giving up. I had started gardens six times bigger than any of our previous homesteads and was upset that I wasn’t…
A Greenhouse Raising
We have been here a year. I can hardly believe how time flies! My granddaughter and I found an earth worm in the potato patch, a sure sign that our sand and shale desert soil farmed in a sustainable, no-till fashion- in just one season- is becoming an oasis. Now this land needs a greenhouse….
Farmgirl School 