Did you know that Luffa is not a sea sponge? Until last year neither did we. Luffa (loofah, loofa, etc) are a gourd that grows in warm climates. We ran across some seeds and gave it a try. With the crazy weather this spring and early summer it was cooler than it normally is so

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Before the weather changed – we managed to get our first phase of the Summer Kitchen / Pantry completed. Just a reminder – here is where we left off – the pantry was framed in – but nothing else really done. We finished the insulation for the ceiling and walls and electrical. After making sure

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A quick post about favorite comfort food in the winter months. I’m a big fan of slow cooking in a crockpot. I work from home and lose track of time during the day. It’s pretty simple to throw everything in a crockpot and let it simmer all day. This one – you do need to

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Amante is a fun little guy – or should I say not quite so little anymore. He is still young so has some bad behaviors but he is integrating into our heard of grumpy old horses well. He spent the summer at both our barn and his previous barn (Julies). But since October he has

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One of our best crops this year was the sunflowers. We had some behemoths! I think the largest one was a good solid 2 feet across and super heavy. We had two patches – one next to the greenhouse that we were hoping would provide some shade when it got hotter and another out by

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Our home isn’t small but it has a serious lack of pantry space for anyone who tries to stockpile food. We also don’t have gas to the house and have a glass top stove. Those two things have been challenging for food preservation to a certain degree. It can be done in small spaces and

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Not much honey this year, even the bee’s are avoiding 2020. The hives were doing pretty well for most of the summer. one of our three new colonies had a huge population and has been packing away the honey. We might be able to get a few frames for our own personal use – but

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I had an experience this week that made an indelible mark on my psyche. I can honestly say that I never want to be hit with pepper spray. It goes a bit like this. I had some cayenne peppers that I had picked up from a local farmers market and didn’t really know what to

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