Before we even started homesteading, I had a handwoven basketful of homesteader skills already under my hand-tooled leather belt. Not only did I make soap, but I made it out of tallow and lard that I rendered myself, and I made jams, sauces, and marinades out of the fruits and vegetables I grew myself. LongContinue reading “Some homesteading skills are more fun than others”
Author Archives: Gwen.
8 weeks to chicken dinner
I often joke that you can grow a chicken to table-ready faster than you can grow a cabbage. The modern variety of meat bird, Cornish Cross, is bred to grow very fast, from hatched to 4-5 lb roaster in just 8 weeks. Some homesteaders think this is terrible and unnatural, and opt instead for slowerContinue reading “8 weeks to chicken dinner”
Underestimating the determination of a bored pig
We came home from work last Thursday to find our two gilts (girl pigs) missing from their paddock. This was not completely unexpected. The wire fence surrounding their paddock is old and loose in places, and they had pushed under it twice the week before. Once they made it as far as our junk pile, and once intoContinue reading “Underestimating the determination of a bored pig”
The cost of novice homesteading mistakes
I really admire people who carefully research their ideas and plans of action before they go ahead. I bet they experience little waste and a high rate of success. Josh and I are not those people. We’re the people who jump in and then learn how to swim. It’s a useful strategy for us, becauseContinue reading “The cost of novice homesteading mistakes”
Spring on the farm
It’s spring, so of course there’s so much going on at Bellfern Homestead, and I’m too tired to organize it all into an interesting and themed narrative. This is going to be a casserole-style blog post: take what you have, mix it all together, add cheese, and hope it holds together. We’ve got over a hundred chickensContinue reading “Spring on the farm”
Makin’ Bacon
Josh and I grew up in the Midwest–me in Illinois, him in Ohio and Iowa. At some point in our childhoods, we both came across the game “Pig Mania,” and it’s not because it was a virally popular game at any point in history, not even in the Midwest. It’s a dice rolling game, except that the diceContinue reading “Makin’ Bacon”
The fruits of winter, part 2: cider
This winter sucked. Ask anyone from the PNW. It was colder, snowier, and blowier than most of the old timers ever remember for this region. We’re finally getting some glimpses of spring. Our grass is growing, nights are staying above freezing. You know what I liked about winter? I liked that I left for workContinue reading “The fruits of winter, part 2: cider”
Oh my scrapple, we’re homesteading now
My friend John used to live on a blueberry farm. He loves to tell the story of the day his truck got stuck in the infamous mud of the Pacific Northwest, and his neighbor, who lived on a hill that looked down on John’s property, watched the scene with amusement for a good 20 minutes beforeContinue reading “Oh my scrapple, we’re homesteading now”
The day pig becomes pork
People who know me describe me as practical, no-nonsense, tough. (I’m sure there are other adjectives, but those are the ones relevant to this story. Hush.) While the pigs were growing, people frequently asked me whether I’d be able to butcher the them when the time came, since I frequently told stories about the pigsContinue reading “The day pig becomes pork”
The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Homestead
“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton Many people start homesteading because they want to increase self-sufficiency, and decrease dependence on systems that seem fragile or likely to fail. Should The Big One strike (referring to the devastating and periodic earthquake along the Cascade Fault ofContinue reading “The Myth of the Self-Sufficient Homestead”
Bellfern Homestead 