We are playing the long-term game here on the homestead. In a year and a half we’ve only planted 4 trees because well, the soil sucks and why stick sticks in the ground just to have them suffer? It takes time to build soil and that is what we are focusing on. Meanwhile, we expandedContinue reading “Whack-A-Mole! Butternut the Cat Steps Up.”
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Hot sauce three ways
Let’s do a little free association. When you think about the Pacific Northwest, what do you think of? Rain, yes, point for you. Mountains, mmhm, good. Salmon! Definitely. You in the back–wet, you say? Well that’s redundant with “rain,” but yes… You know what no one says? Chili peppers. Chili peppers are not associated withContinue reading “Hot sauce three ways”
Making bacon
People who raise pigs out on pasture all have anecdotes with a similar theme: the day you look at a pig’s paddock and think “they’re almost out of forage, I should move them tomorrow” is the day the pigs will move themselves. Or, if you notice a weak spot in the fence and think “aContinue reading “Making bacon”
It’s just muddening (and a few words about “farm plans”)
After 90 days without rain, and one of the driest summers on record, it’s finally started raining in NW Washington. I’m not sad about it. The garden has been very productive, and I’m tired of canning pickles and tomato sauce. I’m looking forward to evenings spent in my living room, the woodstove blazing, watching episodesContinue reading “It’s just muddening (and a few words about “farm plans”)”
The Books That Make Us
At the urging of a homesteader friend, I recently reread Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I hadn’t read it since second or third grade when I read the rest of the Little House series, but I was surprised to discover how many of the stories were still vivid in my memory as I reread themContinue reading “The Books That Make Us”
Caught Blue-Beaked
We’ve wasted a lot of time and effort trying to outsmart our farm pests and farm livestock. For example: We’ve lined the base of field fencing surrounding a pig paddock with heavy driftwood in a feeble attempt to keep our pigs from rooting underneath the fence, only for them to toss those logs aside andContinue reading “Caught Blue-Beaked”
In the old days: how to store pork
I have a farm mentor, and for this I am blessed. Her family farmed “in the old days” for generations, and they’ve passed down stories about the ways they used to do things, before modern technologies like refrigeration. She’s a treasure trove of tidbits of wisdom, and now and then she dispenses them to me.Continue reading “In the old days: how to store pork”
Some homesteading skills are more fun than others
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”
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”
Handmade Hay
Right now (in late May) we have a dozen (small) bales of hay in the barn. And we did it all by hand. Every step, from scything to stacking, with no tractor power. Now, one might ask, “why?” And, “is it worth it? And, isn’t it a TON of work?” As for the why, the reasons are many.Continue reading “Handmade Hay”
Bellfern Homestead 