So, you start a lot of seeds and you’re running out of money for seed starting mix. Right-o. Story of my life. That’s what prompted me to investigate DIY bulk seed starting options, and I’m so glad I did. This is a huge money saver if you are a big seed-starter! The cost of seed…
DIY Lacto-Fermentation Weight for Mason Jars
There are three things to manage if you want the most successful lacto-fermented vegetables: Salt levels Fermentation temperature Oxygen exposure When it comes to that third thing – oxygen exposure – the goal is none. The Lactic Acid Bacteria that ferment veggies into tangy deliciousness are anaerobic. They do their best work far away from…
Aggressive Duck Sex (Or, Why I Drink Whiskey.)
Starting about a month ago our drake (that’s the boy duck), regrew his penis in expectation of spectacular spring-time twitterpation. Oh, you didn’t know ducks lose their penis every year and regrow them? Yeah, duck-keeping is an education like that. Go ahead and watch this. I’ll wait. Okay, are you back? Holy crap, am I…
DIY Herbal Teas (The Giant Tutorial)
I’m a Seattle-girl to the core, so I’m not giving up my coffee any time soon. But I also have a big, soft place in my heart for a steaming mug of herbal tea, especially when I can grow and dry the herbs myself. The Basics Herbal tea isn’t technically tea, since it doesn’t contain…
Unexpected Parenting Benefits of Seed Starting Mix
Recently I had occasion to make a new batch of the seed starting mix I’ve been experimenting with. I’ll do a whole post on this very soon. But to be super brief, you basically just dump stuff together and mix, and I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to just lay a tarp out in…
To Do In The Northwest Edible Garden: February 2015
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s February. You know what that means? It’s time to get going. I can feel it, and I’ll bet you can too – that little twitch in your hand that says, “alright, baby, let’s start some tomatoes!” February typically marks the beginning of the big seed starting effort around here. Not just…
Chicken Rotation: Optimizing For Year-Round Laying From The Backyard Flock
Disclaimer: if you think of your chickens as pets, if you let them live out their full, natural lives regardless of economics of laying productivity vs. feed, then this may not be the post for you. While there is nothing graphic in this post, it assumes the reader is comfortable with the concept of slaughtering livestock. This…
Better Homemade Vanilla Extract
With all that holiday baking and homemade gift giving I’ll bet you ran through a fair bit of vanilla extract. Good news! If you start a new batch now it will be absolutely perfect for the 2015 holiday season. Homemade vanilla extract is about as simple a DIY as you could hope for, and the…
The Jasmine Tea-tini
Oscar Wilde is credited with perhaps the world’s best quip about manners: “A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.” Yeah, just take a minute and let it sink in. I feel the same way about cocktails: “A good cocktail will never get you drunk unintentionally.” My preference is for drinks that leave no room…
{Reader Question} Can You Homestead with Kids?
I received a question the other day from reader Andrea about how to keep up with a “homesteader” type lifestyle when you have kids. I would love to know where you were in this journey when you had babies and how you were able to keep up with it. We currently live a similar life (gardens, chickens,…
Sand Litter Bed In The Chicken Coop: An Experiment
We’ve been managing our chicken coop through a hybrid sand and deep litter system. This hybrid system has worked extremely well in our particular coop. Briefly, how that system works is, the chickens roost over the sand, which acts like kitty litter to dry out their overnight poop, and in the morning the poop is raked to the…
The Rosemary Gin Gimlet
On New Year’s Eve I went to one of my favorite restaurants with my favorite people and drank a Gin Gimlet. (Okay, okay, three Gin Gimlets. You know me so well.) It was nice to get reacquainted with the Gimlet – it’s an old friend I haven’t quaffed in a long while. The Gimlet is…