I love enjoying the bounty of fresh, seasonal vegetables and fruits New England has to offer. One of the best is fresh-from-the-garden asparagus! You'll never return to store-bought once you've tasted this delicacy. The fresh stuff melts in your mouth - none of the stringiness or sharp flavors of imported asparagus. Thankfully, asparagus is also pretty easy to grow if you give it a good start. It is a long lived perennial, so once you have your plot established, you'll be pic

My passion and purpose continues to be anchors for our farming practices. Today 3 new Scottish Highland calves were born. New life, greening pastures and warmer weather fuels the passion and purpose. I was recently interviewed about our farming practices and it’s effect on the environment and climate. My answer is always the same… healthy soils = healthy grasses = healthy animals = healthy humans = healthy environment = healthy climate. All part of our Holistic vision on how

We are energy collectors and consumers. This helps our body and immune system work properly. Yup, you heard it right, our bodies are batteries, and we are negatively charged. Just as a battery needs to be charged, so do we. When parts of our body touches the earth, free electrons (negative charge) enter our bodies. These enter the body and pair with positively charged free radicals, this neutralizes the body. Free radicals can damage cells causing illness and aging, as they a

Happy Earth Week! Friday, April 22nd is Earth Day, a day to celebrate, enjoy, and give back to our planet. Project Learning Tree is a great resource for outdoor and environmental education lesson plans and ideas, and they have excellent Earth Day activities to offer! Science experiments about pollution, info about planting trees, and nature walk ideas are all available on their excellent website. This site is geared toward students from K-12, so they have a wealth of informat

You Can Farm by Joel Salatin is packed with the most vital information about starting your own farm. We are living in a time now that learning to grow your own food is essential and honestly so important to our survival. Inflation and food shortages are a real thing and it's so important for us to learn to be self sufficient. Joel's systems are something I have implemented into my own homestead and so far they have worked incredibly well. I highly recommend this book if you a

One of the best things about spring in New England is the bounty of food, flowers, and sunshine coming soon....but not quite yet. But even before the spring veggies are ready, there are still lots of seasonal goodies to be had. Lilacs (the state flower of NH!) are a delicious seasonal delicacy. Harvest these purple and white blooms in May to make lilac simple syrup for delectable drink with a light floral taste. Or, try your hand at seasonal baking with this recipe for lilac

Did you know there's a great set of challenging trails right here in Warner? The little known about Mink Hills are a great hike. They are part of the Chandler Reservation Trail system. The trails ranges from easy to advanced and have 4 different trail heads. My favorite is the one at the end of Mink Hill Lane. where the old Warner Ski slope is. There's a small cul-de-sac with ample parking. From there you can do a 20-30 minute loo around Woods Walk, as well as head right int

Compost - the solution to many questions. Is your soil too acidic? Add compost. Is your soil too sandy? Add compost. Is your soil to clayey? Add compost. Lacking organic material? Add compost. Need a nitrogen boost? Add compost. This "black gold" is made from natural products that are recycled through decomposition into something valuable. It happens naturally, as when fall leaves decompose to add to the rich layer of hummus under trees in the forest, but you can learn to do

Apples are one of my favorite foods year-round. Dehydrating them is a great way to put up a lot of them for long term use. They are a great treat when rehydrated in oatmeal, pancakes, muffins etc. Children seem to love them all the time. They are also a great gateway to teach children how to make their own snacks. Check out Feral Forest Folk Homestead for full recipe.

They say there's a first time for everything. As I love testing and experimenting with different things, fat rendering seemed next on the docket. Tallow is simply cooked down fat from a ruminant. When fat is cooked It withstands higher heat and is shelf stable. And now that the Instant Pot is my new best friend, I had to give it a shot. Often you hear the term suet. That's simply the specific fat around the kidneys. Tallow is simply rendered (cooked down to a melted version