Backyard Sugaring Time!
After a rather jiggy start, I’m out straight with backyard sugaring time! The snow finally melted enough to afford me access to a few more of my maple trees so those were tapped. I’ve been collecting as much as I boil every day and the other day I actually collected 9 gallons but only boiled [...]
Spring? Maybe?
It was like elixir for my soul. The smell of smoke, the first wisps of steam off my evaporation pan, the sound of sap boiling down, birds singing in the trees and the warm sun on my face. It’s maple sugaring season and I so desperately needed to be outside. This winter’s harsh and continuous [...]
Our snowed in garden
I miss my garden. As I’ve looked through my photos, I have almost forgotten what my homestead looks like without snow. Here is my garden now: My world is white, like a blank canvas and we’re all waiting for God to begin His spring painting. My five foot high vertical fences are almost gone from [...]
God’s Winter Artwork
It’s been a long winter here in Connecticut. We’ve been in a very bad pattern which has brought storm after storm, week after week to us. We had record snowfall for January and we could easily surpass the all time snowfall record of 115″ that was set during the 95/96 winter season. I remember that [...]
Cold Frame Construction
Posted in: Homesteading Tags: cold frame construction, growing plants in cold frames, winter gardening
Last year, I experimented with cold frame construction. My first cold frame was VERY simple with straw bales and two recycled slider doors (from a friend’s house remodel). It was a big success, giving me lettuce, spinach and radishes well into winter! In the early spring, the apparently dormant spinach and lettuce began to take [...]
Prepping the homestead for winter
Posted in: Homesteading Tags: gardening, maple sugaring, mulching, prepping the homestead
Well, tonight’s forecast has a four-letter word in it! SNOW!!!!! You know it’s coming, sooner or later but the first time you hear it for the season, you cringe, just a bit. Then your head begins to race through the “to-do” list. I know I ran through mine this morning and got an early start [...]
Tomatoes, Tomatoes Tomatoes!
I haven’t posted in a bit but it’s not because I’ve been sitting on my laurels. I have been so busy with canning! Granted, I’m pretty new to canning as I’ve only been doing it for about three years but I have never put up as much as I did this year. I know that [...]
There is a chill in the homestead air
Posted in: Homesteading Tags: canning, Ecclesiastes 3:1, fall in New England, homestead, seasons
It seems to happen each fall. I have this desire, this deep seated need to stock pile and stash food and goods. I’m like one of those squirrels that chatter at me from the trees, running around grabbing nuts and stashing them for winter. It must be a gene I have. The cool weather activates [...]
Finding Contentment
The Bible says we should find contentment where ever we are in life. Phillipians 4:12 (NIV) says, ” 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether [...]
Quiet Summer Days
Posted in: General, Homesteading Tags: chickens, eggs, gardening, Homesteading, modern homesteading
It’s quiet around our small suburban homestead….