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Canned Corn: What’s the Trick?

A fond childhood memory is sitting on the back porch with my brother as we pulled husks off the bushels of corn on the cob. Somehow, we would always end up falling to the floor in a pile of husks with corn silk stuck in our hair laughing our heads off. You’d think our mom would have been upset, but all she could do is laugh with us. Since then I have assumed my mother’s role, canned many a cob of corn, and want to share with you how to process ‘doing it yourself’ canning corn. If you have never […]

How to Make Delicious Homemade Butter

Imagine the smell of freshly made homemade bread. Now imagine spreading your own homemade butter on a slice of steaming hot bread. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is! One of the things about my mom that I miss the most is her homestead cooking and one of my favorites was that creamy homemade butter that melted on my tongue. Butter Basics Homemade butter does not have an oily taste like margarine. The cream and butter that comes from grass-fed cows are high in vitamin E, beta-carotene, and it can lower cholesterol. Even though butter has saturated fat, it […]

How to Ferment Vegetables

Fermenting vegetables grown in your garden accomplishes two things at once. First, it enhances the nutritional value of the vegetables by preserving them at their peak. Second, it preserves the vegetables, so you can enjoy them all winter long. The process used for fermenting vegetables is simple. You need the right equipment and the right ingredients – and before you know it, you’ll have a pantry full of delicious, fermented vegetables for your family to eat. Fermentation Equipment The equipment you need to ferment vegetables is minimal and inexpensive. Here are the basic things you’ll need to have on hand: […]

Do-It-Yourself Worm Casting Methods for Compost

If you’re a homesteader, you probably know all about composting. Composting kitchen scraps are one of the best ways to fertilize your garden without chemicals and pesticides. Some of the most effective composters use worms to break down food. If you have a worm composter, then you might not know that worm castings – the black waste that worms produce – is arguably the single best fertilizer known to man. The challenge is finding a way to harvest the worm castings – also known as black gold – without disturbing or harming your worms. You also want to make sure […]

5 Simple Methods to Preserve Food

As a homesteader, you know that it’s important to know how to preserve food. Very few of us live in a climate where we can grow food year-round. During the colder months, true self-sufficiency requires a working knowledge of food preservation methods. That’s why we’ve put together a list of methods you can use to preserve food. Whether you’re looking for methods to preserve fruits and vegetables from your garden, items you’ve foraged, or animals that you’ve caught while hunting or fishing, we’ve got you covered. Method #1: Canning Canning is probably the most popular form of preserving food. It’s […]

[DIY] Simple Venison Jerky Recipe

When you’re stockpiling for an emergency, some foods are easier to preserve than others. Vegetables and fruits can be canned or dried. But what do you do to preserve meat? Freezing is effective for regular use, but it won’t help you if there’s no power. One of the best and most effective ways to preserve meat is by making jerky. Jerky is easy to make, healthy to eat and has a long shelf life. Making it can extend the life of venison and provide you with a healthy, protein-packed snack to get you through hard times. Preparing to Make […]

Simple 5 Step Homemade Salsa Recipe

One of our favorite things about homesteading is that it has allowed us to reconnect with food in a new way. Let’s face it, a lot of the fruits and vegetables we buy at the supermarket are grown using chemicals and harsh fertilizers. They’re harvested before they’re ready, as a result, they don’t have the rich, delicious flavors as they do when fresh. By contrast, home-grown produce is bursting with flavor. Once you’ve tried growing vegetables and cooking with them, you’ll never want to go back to boring supermarket produce again. Are you looking for ways to use the vegetables […]

5 Ways Pigs Are Valuable Beyond Just Meat

When you are living off the land, owning animals that can provide you with food can be extremely beneficial. You may grow plenty of crops and fill your pantry with canned vegetables, but if you aren’t getting enough protein, you won’t have the energy to tend to your farm and home. While there are some homesteaders who don’t want to commit to raising a large farm or a herd of cattle, there are plenty of other animals such as chickens or turkeys that can ensure you have meat and eggs throughout the year. They are also low-maintenance so that […]

3 Keys to Choosing the Perfect Livestock

A farm or homestead without livestock seems unusual, to say the least. Whether you see yourself with a flock of cheerful chickens, a herd of graceful goats or a few calming cows, livestock are a valuable food source that should be planned for carefully, then cared for consistently. Are You Ready to Be Available Every Minute of Every Day? Are you prepared to be “on-call” for your animals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? When you enter the world of livestock, a few things to be aware of are: Newborns usually come in the […]

Healthy Sweet Tea (Video)

Well, Memorial Day has come and gone, and while it’s not officially summer until June 21st, the bar-b-ques have started, the pools are open, and you’ve probably already done some tanning in your front lawn. With summer often comes delicious sweet tea, which is a staple summer drink in the South (apparently, this is what “tea” means in the Southern states. There is no other kind of tea but sweet tea, so don’t ask, or at least this is what I’ve been told). The downside of many sweet teas, especially those purchased at the store as opposed to homemade, is they’ve got […]

How to Flavor Milk Kefir

A few months ago, we shared an article on how to make milk kefir, a cultured dairy product that’s packed with nutrition and beneficial probiotic bacteria. If you’ve ever bought kefir in the store and enjoyed it, that could be due to the fact that it tends to be flavored when packaged and sold. So, if you make your own milk kefir and dislike it compared to something you’ve bought from the store, this could easily be why. Flavored kefir is delicious and just as healthy, and relies entirely on the sweetness of the cultured dairy and the fruit added […]

How to Read Antique Cookbooks

Antique cookbooks are a wonderful relic of the past, and yet, if you’ve ever tried to make any of the recipes contained within, you might find yourself scratching your head. Just as lifestyles have changed drastically in the last half, even quarter century, so have the way we cook, talk about, and interact with food, and the cookbooks of yesteryear might be a bit cryptic to today’s modern cook. However, if you are a homesteader, these antique cookbooks might be very appealing to you. They are written for people who had access to the kinds of things homesteads produce, and […]

How They Feed a Family of 9 for $250 a Month (Video)

I’ve heard of low grocery bills, but this one takes the cake! One of my favorite homestead YouTubers, Big Family Homestead, share how they feed their family of 9 for a mere $250 a month. What I love about this is that so much of their diet is supplemented by their chickens. They don’t live somewhere that they can raise dairy or meat cows or pigs, but they’re able to eat lots of free chicken and eggs and it clearly has a great impact on their grocery bill! Also, they are smart with their meal planning. They plan out a […]

What Is The Roadkill List?

Have you ever thought about eating roadkill? Now, before you start to think the idea is crazy, we aren’t talking about stalking the roadways and searching for animals that have been hit. Instead, you can get on a road kill list. This type of list is often available through park departments and highway departments, and it works very simply. Animals in rural areas, along the highways, and even in the suburbs tend to cross roads during their travels. This applies to all animals, but the ones that can be most problematic tend to be deer, and in some areas in […]

Dandelion Jelly Recipe

Dandelions are so useful! You can use the leaves, flowers, and roots for all kinds of nutritional and medicinal benefits. However, it’s not all leafy greens and home remedies! You can make a deliciously sweet jelly with it, too, that’s great to use in place of jelly, jam, or honey to top toast or sweets. The first step is to collect your dandelions. You will need 4 cups of just the flowers, so it’s actually easiest to simply pick the flowers off the stems when gathering them, rather than just cutting the whole stem and having to go through […]

How to Cook With And Season Cast Iron (Video)

A good cast iron skillet is one of the most important–if not the most important kitchen tools you’ll ever own. You could probably have only a cast iron skillet and some basic utensils in your kitchen and go very far. Many people are intimidated by cast iron because it has a particular cleaning protocol, but it’s really not so complicated to care for, especially if you know what you’re doing. The YouTube channel Tasty, purveyor of those really awesome visually-appealing viral cooking videos, shares some important tips on how to care for and use the classic cast iron skillet. Enjoy! If you […]

6 Creative Ways to Use Bone Broth

You’ve probably heard of the growing popularity of bone broth lately, and if you haven’t, you should definitely know about it. It’s not really anything new, but recent trendy diets have emphasized the regular consumption of hearty, super-nutritious bone broth as a way to get essential vitamins, minerals, and, most importantly, gelatin. Gelatin is a wonderful addition to any healthy diet, but particularly beneficial for anyone concerned about bone or joint health. The great thing is it’s very cheap and easy to make, unfortunately, it’s not always so easy to find creative ways to consume it! Especially this time of year, […]

How to Use Up Extra Tomatoes

Too many tomatoes is a great problem to have! Whether you’ve found a killer deal at the grocery store or farmer’s market, or your garden is overflowing with juicy, ripe, tomatoes just begging to be used up, having too many tomatoes on your hand is awesome, but also poses a big challenge. How on earth can you use up all those delicious tomatoes? Well, we’ve got you covered. All it takes is a little creativity! Here are some great suggestions for how to make the most of a big bounty of tomatoes. Canning This is the classic way to preserve […]

Why You Should Know About Leeks

Many Americans have no idea what a leek is, but they should! Many other cultures know the depth of their health benefits, as well as delicious, savory flavor. Known scientifically as Allium porrum, leeks are closely related to other aromatic vegetables such as garlic, onions, shallots, and scallions. Like these relatives, they grow from bulbs, and have dark, green, tightly wrapped leaves. They resemble very large scallions, and usually grow about 12″ tall and a few inches in diameter. Leeks can be grown year-round, but are most commonly available fall through early spring. Their flavor is similar to that of onions and shallots, […]

Beef Cuts and How to Cook Them (Infographic)

I’ve often recommended on this blog finding local, farm-raised meat and dairy for the most sustainable, healthy lifestyle. The thing about finding local meat, however, is that you might find yourself with some cuts of meat that you’re not familiar with and not used to cooking. I don’t know about you, but when I started learning to cook, I mostly knew how to saute ground beef and braise chicken breasts. Getting familiar with the different cuts of beef and how to prepare them can vastly broaden your culinary knowledge and abilities, as well as introduce you to some great new […]