Self Sustaining Living on our farm means I try to reduce the amount of waste that the farm sends to the landfill. It's not always easy and I try to think creatively in order to reduce the waste. Every week our chicken coop residents eat through two fifty pound bags of feed. Every week that is two poly bags that end up in the refuse pile waiting for trash pickup. The longer we farm, the more conscious I am of how much waste we produce. I doubt I will ever get it down to zero, but … [Read more...]
Needle Felt Easter Eggs – Simple and Quick
Needle felt Easter eggs are quick and easy additions to your spring decorations. The materials for needle felt Easter eggs are few and the results are quick! Soon you will have a full basket of colorful needle felt Easter eggs to bring out year after year. Here are the materials you will need Wool felting needle. These often look like the ones pictured below. A felting needle is very sharp so take care when handling it. Also, the shaft of a needle felt tool has barbs on the shaft to further … [Read more...]
Make a Chicken Dust Bath for the Run
The flock missed their chicken dust bath and it was all my fault. As soon as the weather cleared and the chickens could go out to free range, they headed right for their favorite chicken dust bath spot. Apparently, I had forgotten this past fall to bring a chicken dust bath into the run or coop. Our fall was warm and the chickens had plenty of opportunity to dust bath their cares away while they free ranged and I did chores. Recently the weather took a turn and we had snow and ice for a few … [Read more...]
DIY S’Mores Gift Basket is Perfect for Families
How can S'mores be the perfect gift idea for the the active family on your gift list? I had this idea a few years back, and have gifted a few of these since. I am sure you have families on your gift list and spend time thinking of just the right thing that they can enjoy as a family. If your friends are like mine, they have plenty of stuff already. Trying to find a gift that the whole family can enjoy is difficult. Different ages like different types of activities. But one activity that almost … [Read more...]
5 Easy Extracts for Flavoring Baking and Cooking
Simple to make at home, easy extracts are a welcome gift during the holidays. The extracts take time to steep and deepen with flavor. Even though easy extracts take minutes to pull together, start them at least eight weeks before you need them for gifting or cooking. This will give you the best result and flavor in your flavorings! Vanilla Bean Extract How to Make Most culinary extracts are simple to make. Gather the needed ingredients and jars. The jars should be clean, not … [Read more...]
