Blog

For Christmas in 2018 I received a cast iron pan for making corn bread. The bottom is shaped like 5 little ears of corn which come out of the pan like bread sticks. There are other styles of corn bread pans to make various shapes and you can just use a hot oven safe frying pan. During the Winter while our wood cooking stove is going is a perfect time to bake corn biscuits and now I can make corn bread sticks too. A hot oven around 400 degrees is... Read more →

I have a new video up demonstrating how to make a batch of sauerkraut at home. We have so many Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbages that we decided to make some sauerkraut. Take a look at the video and perhaps try your hand at making some! Read more →

Want a delicious, healthy, easy vegetable for dinner tonight? Try this. I take one of my early Jersey Wakefield cabbages and cut it in half. Any cabbage will work but Early Jersey Wakefield has a wonderful delicate flavor. With a sharp knife, slice the cabbage. In the meantime heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a cast iron frying pan and add 3 cloves of fresh minced garlic. Saute the garlic until slightly browned then add the cabbage and stir fry until crisp tender. This is such an easy... Read more →

I am very pleased with my garden this year. The weather has been cooperating nicely. Just enough rain to keep the plants thriving. As usual almost every corn and bean seed germinated. Last year I had hard luck with my cucumbers. I was invaded with cucumber beetles and could not get ahead of them. This year I am using Neem Oil to control them. So far it has done the trick. I plan to make many batches of Bread and Butter Pickles as I am down to my last jar.... Read more →

My family has been making succotash for generations. We make it the old-fashioned way, not by opening cans. This is our recipe: 1. 4 slices of thick bacon (diced) or a good sized piece of salt pork (diced) 2. 1 medium yellow onion (diced) Bring meat and onion to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer for about 20 minutes 3. Add 2 cups of beans (we use French horticulture in the green stage, before they dry) Simmer until beans are falling apart 4. Add 4 cups of fresh... Read more →

Last week I sowed 30 Beefsteak Tomato seeds and several pots of Basil. This morning I checked and the little seedling are peeking through the soilless mix. Such a happy sight. I will now remove the plastic film, which makes sort of a little temporary greenhouse, and place the seedlings very close to a grow light. My Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbages, Broccoli, and California Wonder Peppers plants are growing rapidly. The cabbage and broccoli seeds were sown about 5 weeks ago and will be set out in the garden as... Read more →

There are a wide range of fruits you may be able to produce at home. These are long term investments in your property which are able to round out your diet and improve your self reliance. I encourage everyone to grow as many different kinds of fruit as possible. You could be harvesting one or more every month from June through October or even later. Consider all the kinds of fruit suitable for your climate. Food you buy in the store will never taste as good as home grown. Growing... Read more →

Last week I finished shucking my last half bushel of beans. These are some of the beans that were harvested from last years garden. We are enjoying the canned vegetables and fruit that we put up last Summer. Next month I will be sowing cabbage, broccoli and pepper seeds. I start them in my kitchen under grow lights. By keeping them close by I can keep a watchful eye on them. Spring will be here before you know it but for now we sit by our wood cook stove well... Read more →

It is now mid Summer and we have been eating out of our garden for quite some time now. The first crop of spinach was a great success and I was able to freeze some for Winter months. I planted a second crop of beets about a month ago and they are growing well. The first crop are ready to eat and can. My family loves pickled beets.Yesterday I dug 4 hills of new potatoes. I cooked some for dinner last night and they were beyond delicious!! Read more →

Every morning I check my garden. What am I looking for? Bugs!! This growing season has been especially wet so bugs are multiplying rapidly. Some are beneficial like the sweet little lady bug but most are in competition for my food. I hand pick what I can and use an organic insecticide spray where I can not hand remove. Recently I made my own natural insecticide recipe. I added a half cup cooking oil, 1 level tsp. of cayenne pepper, and the rest of a quart spray bottle with slightly... Read more →