Our first year looked a little different.

After nearly four years of planning, researching, dreaming, and saving, my husband Brian and I finally made the move to our remote Northern Ontario homestead in mid-April. The property had actually been ours for almost a year, but arriving as permanent residents for the first time felt like crossing a finish line.

As we got closer to the property, somewhere around fifty miles out, snowflakes started falling.

Brian looked over at me. I looked at him. Then we both burst out laughing.

“Welcome to Canada.”

It seemed like nature was determined to make a memorable first impression.

The early-spring flurries quickly turned into teeming rain that didn’t stop for nearly three weeks. Apart from a slightly damp mattress and a few soggy boxes, most of our things couldn’t be unpacked. We sat in our small cabin, waiting anxiously to start any of the hundreds of projects we had carefully planned.

At the time, our small cabin was only dried in. We had no solar electricity, no running water, no refrigerator, and very few comforts. We were living in a construction project while staring out the windows at a landscape that refused to cooperate.

It was a rough introduction to homesteading.

Looking back now, though, it was probably the perfect one.

The first lesson arrived before we had even planted a seed.

We learned quickly that nature doesn’t care about your timeline. No matter how carefully you plan, how many books you read, or how many spreadsheets you create, the weather gets the final vote.

The Frost That Took Everything

Like most new homesteaders, we started our first garden with equal parts enthusiasm and optimism.

We lovingly started seedlings indoors. Tomatoes, peppers, corn, spinach, onions, lettuce—more than one hundred little plants that represented months of anticipation.

By the time planting season arrived, we had finally built our first garden bed. The seedlings were thriving. The weather was warm. Things were finally starting to come together.

Then the frost came. The truly frustrating part wasn’t that we ignored a forecast or took a risk. There was no warning.

When we went to bed around midnight, it was nearly 60 degrees outside. No frost warnings. No indication that anything unusual was about to happen.

The next morning, I stepped outside and saw it immediately: Heavy frost. Everywhere.

I took off running toward the garden, slipping and sliding through the frosty grass. By the time I reached the beds, most of the plants were already wilted. Some had started turning black.

Every single plant was gone. Not damaged, not struggling, just gone.

My first reaction felt more like grief than disappointment.

Anyone who has spent weeks nurturing seedlings understands that odd attachment that grows. You watch them emerge. You protect them. You celebrate every new leaf.

Then the panic set in.

We were already dealing with a short growing season. Starting over wasn’t part of the plan. Then again, neither was frost in what should have been safe planting weather. That was the moment I learned one of the most important lessons of homesteading: Always have a backup plan.

Today, we start a second batch of seedlings, two to three weeks after the first. If disaster strikes, we’re covered. If everything survives, we sell the extras.

Experience may be a tough teacher, but it tends to be effective.

The Six Sad Jars

By late August, we had clawed our way back from the frost disaster. Our garden wasn’t exactly thriving, but it was surviving.

When berry season arrived, we gathered wild berries from along our road and proudly spent the afternoon preserving them.

We had visions of homemade breakfasts in the middle of winter. Fresh berries spooned over yogurt on cold February mornings. The kind of harvest every homesteader dreams about.

Then we finished canning.

Six jars.

That was it.

After months of work, planning, gardening, and dreaming, our entire preserving season amounted to six somewhat pathetic jars sitting on an otherwise empty shelf.

Brian and I stood there staring at them. There was a long silence. Finally, I looked at him and said something along the lines of, “Well, that should keep us for a while.”

We laughed because there wasn’t much else to do.

While that half dozen jars of preserves could have easily been seen as a failure, they certainly taught us something valuable — Success on a homestead isn’t always measured in volume. Sometimes it’s measured in persistence.

Those jars weren’t impressive. But they represented a season where we kept going despite setbacks, disappointment, and plenty of failure.

The Tornado

Just when we thought we’d had our share of surprises, nature had one more lesson prepared for us.

This one arrived with a panic-inducing tornado warning.

Brian was away for work when the alerts started appearing on my phone. Thunderstorms had been forecast, but tornadoes weren’t something I expected to deal with that day, or any other day.

I grabbed the dog and cat, threw them into the truck, and headed for our neighbor’s house about a kilometer away.

Unlike our cabin, they had a basement. Within minutes, we were in it.

The storm itself was violent and fast. Then it was over.

The moment the danger passed, we stepped outside and began assessing the damage.

The road leading back to our property was blocked. Then another blockage. And another.

By the time we reached our land, it took three of us with chainsaws several hours to clear enough fallen trees to get through with a vehicle.

Hundreds of trees had come down. Many were twisted together in massive tangled piles.

As I got closer to our cabin, my stomach sank.

Our home sits in a relatively small clearing surrounded by forest. Looking at the destruction around us, I was convinced something had been hit.

More than forty trees had fallen throughout the clearing. Some missed the cabin by mere centimeters. Others narrowly avoided the solar array, the woodshed, the trucks, the backhoe, and our new garden structure.

Miraculously, nothing was damaged.

Not the house. Not the equipment. Not even the materials for the addition, which we had spent two years preparing.

The relief was overwhelming, and so were the cleanup efforts.

The tornado forced us to abandon plans for the residential addition we had intended to build that season. Lumber had been milled. Foundations had been started. The timeline was gone.

For a while, that felt like failure, but now we see it differently.

Sometimes success is surviving the storm and adapting to what comes next.

The Bear-Proof Fortress

No rookie-homesteading-season would be complete without a healthy dose of humility. Ours arrived in the form of a black bear.

Determined to protect our garbage, I spent two days building what I believed was a bear-proof garbage enclosure.

Using scrap limbs from trees we had cleared, I constructed a sturdy container around the garbage cans.

It looked fantastic, and I was shamelessly proud of it. At one point, I even climbed on top and jumped up and down to demonstrate its strength. There may have been some bragging.

Less than twelve hours later, the enclosure was shredded. Garbage was scattered throughout the clearing. The bear had essentially treated my masterpiece as if it were made of popsicle sticks.

It was one of those classic moments where you realize nature has been playing this game much longer than you have.

We were going to need a “bigger boat”. Or at least a stronger garbage container.

What We Learned

The strangest thing about our first year on the homestead was that nearly none of our plans worked out as we imagined, and yet we had the best time. Our garden failed, our construction plans had to be put off for another year, the weather ignored our expectations, and the local wildlife mocked my engineering skills — and yet, somehow, we survived. We just adjusted our plan and tried to go forward with enthusiasm and a good sense of humor.

Going forward, we adjusted our planting schedule by using backup seedlings and stopped planting anything permanently until after June 1st. We began covering vulnerable plants when temperatures looked even remotely questionable. And, most importantly, we learned to pivot quickly, accepting that certain things are beyond our control.

The Real Point of Homesteading

If I could go back and talk to the version of myself sitting inside that unfinished cabin during those first three weeks of rain, I’d tell her to relax.

The dream isn’t falling apart. It’s just beginning.

Many people imagine homesteading as a destination. They picture the finished house, the productive gardens, the stocked pantry, and the perfect social media photographs.

While those moments exist, they aren’t the lifestyle. They’re only small snapshots, and everything else that builds your homestead is found in between those moments. It could be the frost that kills your first garden, a tornado that changes your long-term plans, or a fat and sassy Black bear that humbles your confidence.

If there is one thing our Rookie year taught us, it’s this: The goal isn’t to create a perfect homestead — it’s to learn how to build a life that can weather imperfect days. And trust me, there will be plenty of those.

So, to every new homesteader standing on the edge of this adventure, my advice is simple: Buckle up. Something will go wrong.

But if you can learn to adapt, laugh, and keep going, you’ll discover that the journey itself is the best part of the whole experience.

Author Bio: Aly Nickling Riddle is a freelance writer, speaker, and full-time homesteader living on a 40-acre property in Northeastern Ontario. After spending years researching the move to a self-sufficient lifestyle, Aly and her husband traded convenience for adventure and now share honest, practical insights about the realities of homesteading. She is the author of Homesteading: Is It the Lifestyle for You?, a guide designed to help aspiring homesteaders evaluate whether the lifestyle is the right fit before making the leap.

The post The First Frost: Lessons from Our Rookie Year on the Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

More than ever, with the advent of newer, lightweight materials and smaller design scales, people everywhere are discovering the joy of working in a greenhouse. A greenhouse provides shelter from the weather for you and your plants.

For the traditionalist, however, the proverbial glass house is the greenhouse of choice. The keyword there is: house. Anytime you have a number of plants in an enclosed area, there is plenty of debris from falling leaves, soil spills, and other clutter that requires some cleanup. But in preparation for winter, many greenhouse growers designate fall as the perfect time of year for a thorough house cleaning and maintenance of the entire facility.

Greenhouse maintenance is essential to ensuring a clean working environment that keeps you and your plants healthy and safe. A few preventive measures today can save you money and headaches tomorrow.

Words of Wisdom

Most of us are familiar with the Chinese phrase “hung ho”. The words conjure up images of someone or some group over-the-top with boundless energy, all fired-up and working feverishly like robots or ants. That is a misperception of the true meaning of those words. In the Chinese language, gung means work while ho means harmony or together. So the translation essentially means, “To work in harmony.”

So let us get to work.

Growing Panes

Many greenhouse gardeners prefer to do their fall cleaning on a breezy, warm day before the temperature drops for the season. If you are able, set all your plants outside for the indoor cleaning process. Be sure not to place sun-sensitive plants in direct sunlight.

Remember Before You Start

• Be sure the electricity is turned off
• Unplug all cords and electrical appliances
• Cover the wall sockets

For the interior glass, use a garden hose with a jet-spray setting, or whatever works best for your house, to rinse all the windows down with water. The orange, coppers, and golds of autumn fall into the cool spectrum of light category and are less intense. Plants thrive on this late-season sunlight, so be sure to wash well any windows that are dirty or have film over them. Tougher dirt may require a soapy, wet sponge or cloth. Depending on your situation, you may need to use a damp mop to reach the higher panes if necessary. An extendable painter’s roller pole can also be useful in reaching those higher panes

Be sure to inspect each glass and replace any that are cracked or broken. A word of caution: when cleaning, do not stand directly beneath any glass windows. Stand a few panes back from the panel you are cleaning in case the glass should break. You don’t want to be under falling glass.

Additionally, check the window frames for any dirt that can harbor parasites. A toothbrush or those white plastic plant labels work really well for removing any grime that may have accumulated in the frames at the joints over the summer. You can blast out the loosened dirt with the hose water.

Look for signs of mold or mildew that can begin to grow wherever moisture and warmth are constantly present. If any mold is discovered, mix a solution of one part bleach to ten parts water and spray directly on the infected area. Aside from the mold, this bleaching rinse kills any eggs, parasites, and microorganisms that may be present. People have also reported having success against white mold using pure isopropyl alcohol from a spray bottle.

Next, you will also need to wipe down all work surfaces with a disinfectant.

If you have cement or tile floors, and even wood, rinse them down thoroughly as well. With a gravel floor, you can replace the old gravel with new.

When you have finished cleaning and disinfecting, it is important to rinse everything really well with plain water before bringing the plants back inside. But be careful; you don’t want them coming into contact with any type of dripping cleaning solution. Bleach especially. In fact, while you have them all gathered outside, this would be an excellent time to give your plants the once-over and cull any plants that appear sickly or have possible parasites, as well as removing the dead or dying leaves. You don’t want to bring back into your greenhouse what you just spent so much time eliminating.

Keeping the greenhouse doors open on a warm, breezy day will help it to dry faster while providing some fresh air as a bonus.

Inside Out

Outside cleaning is somewhat like inside cleaning, sans the disinfectant. Find an effective pressure setting with a hose, spray the outside glass in a back-and-forth motion starting at the top of the greenhouse and rinsing down.

Another reason for choosing a windy day to do this on is that the wind acts as a blow dryer and dries the windows faster, helping to eliminate some extra work and the streaking often left behind by paper towels or cloths.

The beauty of having a greenhouse is nearly self-explanatory. Aside from their simple, crystal beauty, greenhouses are an effective way to control your plants’ environment and protect them from a host of threats. The downside, however (if there is one), is that greenhouses are the perfect breeding ground for all manner of pests which are harmful to the very plants you are trying to protect. Warm and moist with often open doors and an eclectic salad bar, what plant predator could resist?

Your greenhouse can harbor mites, aphids, or any number of microorganisms, which is why a strong maintenance cleanup is required every fall and each spring.

According to the experts, however, just as important is keeping up with the task on a regular basis. That is to say, staying on top of the cleaning and culling on a regular basis is a proactive step we should take to not only provide a clean working environment, but to keep the plants healthier by reducing the risk of contamination by infected soil or a sickly plant.

When your greenhouse is clean, your plants are healthier, and you create a more pleasant and harmonious environment in which to work, contributing to your own peace of mind.

There is peace in order. When our house is in order—even a greenhouse—we are working in harmony with our environment and are truly gung ho.

The post Gung Ho! Greenhouse Maintenance to Keep Your Plants Thriving appeared first on Homestead.org.

My parents posed a good example of never allowing a lack of knowledge to prevent them from undertaking what they wanted to do, although they both approached new tasks from a different perspective.  This caused some unforgettable occasions.  While my mom put great importance on extensive research before actually beginning a project, my dad valued the skills, knowledge, and persistence gained by trial and error.  There are pros and cons to both ways.  At times, the research stage can become so overwhelming that the project never gets underway.  On the other hand, working by trial and error can sometimes be heavy on the errors, which is just as discouraging.  Specifically, one project comes to mind as a splendid example of a trial-and-error project that became stuck in the error stage for quite a while.  In the end, we did learn the hard way what we might have gained more easily through research, but the lesson was certainly a memorable one.
It all started with the need to put up a fence quickly so I could bring home the pony I’d just purchased.  Consequently, my dad strung a few rows of electric fence wire on metal T-posts, hung a couple of gates, put in wood corner posts, and attached a mini solar fence controller.  It actually outlasted my pony, which nearly injured me and had to be sold, but as time went on, I acquired a herd of miniature donkeys.  Ingeniously, they discovered the weakness of the battery in the solar fence controller and contrived an escape method.  The mother donkey would lift the sagging, loose bottom wire of the fence with her nose, allowing her baby to walk out untouched.  Scarcely feeling the weak electric pulses of the failing fence, she would then squeeze under the wire herself and feast on the tall grass.  Every afternoon, I had to go out and chase both donkeys back in before they strayed too far.  We tried everything short of replacing the fence to keep them in, but nothing worked for long.

One day, the entire herd of miniature donkeys escaped.  While we later discovered that they hadn’t gone through the fence but had unhinged a gate, the harrowing experience that followed inspired us to completely reconstruct the entire fence.  I don’t remember who discovered the escaped donkeys first, but before long my whole family was out to round them up.  Strangely, my normally languid and docile pets suddenly experienced a burst of unheard-of energy.  Galloping through the backyard like desperate criminals, the escapees ignored the treats I tried to entice them with and took off toward the highway.  My dad jumped on the little miniature motorcycle my brothers and I often rode around the yard and revved the engine to the max, speeding after the naughty donkeys.  There was a small stream crossing the field between us and the highway, and the donkeys headed straight for the bridge.  Taking a shortcut through our front yard, my dad hoped to reach the bridge before the donkeys.  It was our only hope of keeping them out of the road.  Scarcely ahead of the stampeding herd, he reached it just in time and the donkeys soon settled down after seeing that their escape route was blocked.

The next fence we tried was the woven wire cattle fencing that comes in rolls of a hundred feet.  If it kept cows in, we figured it would work for miniature donkeys.  After nailing one end of the roll to a wood post, we unrolled the rest and stretched the fence out with the tractor before nailing the other end to another wood post and attaching it to metal T-posts every ten feet.  It didn’t take long to stretch out a few rolls and finish the project, and it looked quite nice for a while.  No more loose donkeys!  But eventually, the donkeys learned how to stretch their necks over the fence and eat the grass on the other side, and in this way, they squashed it down sufficiently with their hooves to walk right over it.  We tried stringing barbed wire around the top to prevent them from putting their necks over the fence, but they surprised us by intentionally itching themselves on the barbs, as if we’d provided them especially for their destructive enjoyment.  Many years and failed fences later, we finally worked out all the kinks and built a beautiful white fence made of electric tape, which resembled a plastic fence but was powered with a complete solar power system that provided standard household current.

Finally, we learned what it takes to contain donkeys!  My only regret is that we had to move less than a year later.  Thankfully, the knowledge gained and character built from the project moved with me, even though the fence had to stay behind.    A common thrust at homeschooling is the claim that the students have to learn every single thing in life from just two people: their parents.  I’m sure thankful that’s not the case.  If I only had the knowledge I learned directly from my parents, I wouldn’t be who I am today.  However, my parents’ idea of homeschool was not merely school at home, but a chance to do school radically different.  Instead of simply passing down their own store of facts and information, they wanted to give me the ability to learn.  Knowledge is readily accessible, but the character required to search for it, apply it to life, and handle it considerately is a rare gem.  The homestead provided constant scenarios where I learned by experience, and my projects also taught me how to seek out information from the plentiful sources available today.  In refining my ability to learn, my parents opened up a whole new world of opportunity for me.  Nothing lingered out of reach.  Between the library, the internet, knowledgeable people, and practical experience, I felt confident in learning anything I wanted to know to accomplish whatever I set out to do.

One skill I developed as a child through both experimentation and study is woodworking.  As a six-year-old, I loved going dumpster diving with my dad and brothers in the housing developments springing up all over the place.  The discarded scraps of lumber tossed in with the trash were treasures to my brothers and me.  One day, we found four wooden doors in the dumpster in perfect condition.  Since my littlest brother was too small to play in the tree house we constructed with the other lumber scraps, my oldest brother and I made the doors into an outdoor playpen for him.  Most of our projects didn’t work out as planned.  The funniest and most elaborate started with a box we made big enough for the two of us to sit inside.  After securing this box to a wagon, we dubbed it our caboose, hauled it up the little mound in our backyard, squeezed inside, and rolled down the hill—but not on the wheels.  The entire “caboose” tumbled down the incline, tossing us on top of each other until it reached the bottom of the mound a few seconds later.  Thankfully, it wasn’t a big hill.  Trying to sled down it in the winter was pitiful, especially when we tried to ride our homemade wooden sleds.  They didn’t budge an inch, partially due to the hill (or lack thereof) but mainly because of our poor design.  Despite my many failed projects, I still enjoyed creating things out of wood.

While they weren’t experts in the subject themselves, my parents continually encouraged me to pursue my interest in woodworking.  Gradually, my wood-handling skills and attention to detail began to improve as I learned from trial-and-error experience, research, and helping a carpenter remodel our home.  At the age of 18, I completed my crowning achievement, a beautiful 34-string wooden harp that I built from just a paper blueprint and planks of wood straight from the lumberyard.  Other successful projects included outbuildings, children’s toys, and beehives that I made for my honeybees.  One of my favorite projects was designing and constructing a three-sided building for my goats on a budget of $115, complete with a feeder, hayloft, and milking stand that folded into the wall when not in use.  Even as a homeschooler, my learning was never limited to my parents’ store of knowledge, and my strides in woodworking are just one example of the many areas in which I far surpassed their level.

The intriguing projects provided by the homestead proved to be a great source of both learning and character-building for my siblings and me.  Through the animals alone, I learned invaluable lessons in patience, responsibility, consistency, sacrifice, and persistence, and also found the inspiration to study things like biology and nutrition before it was ever assigned.  It took a lot of determination to trudge out in the dead of winter to haul water to the animals or labor in the hot sun in the summer stacking hay on swaying haywagons out in the field, but that determination stuck with me when life brought other challenges.  Along with everything else, my entrepreneurial skills also grew.  Pursuing information in books and from acquaintances, I learned the basics of horse training with much experimentation and successfully trained a few horses for profit as well as a hobby.  Additionally, I delved into gardening, cooking, and sewing, and also made lip balm and lotion bars from my own beeswax to sell along with honey from my own beehives.  Gaining numerous useful skills as well as knowledge and character from my real-life projects, I quickly finished my minimal textbook work each day and spent most of my time pursuing my interests rather than calling it a day and watching TV after filling in the answers for the day’s lessons in a daunting pile of textbooks.  I can’t imagine what a home education would be like without the opportunities created by the homestead.

To my surprise, I have heard it said that homeschoolers lack the discipline afforded to other children by their timely attendance at school required five mornings a week.  While that may be true for some homeschoolers, my animals kindly provided me with a discipline far stricter than the average school student.  From the very first day, I milked my goat at 7 o’clock every single morning and evening, including weekends, vacations, holidays, and even when I was sick.  The weight of responsibility never fully left my shoulders as long as I had animals, and I learned what it means to be dependable and follow through with commitments.  The only break I had every year was during the winter when I stopped milking to allow my pregnant goat to nurture her growing fetuses.  Even then, I still had to feed and water her twice a day.  A dairy goat requires care on a rigid schedule every single day of the year, and my alarm went off far more regularly than that of even the most disciplined public school student.  I smother a laugh at the idea of me sleeping in all week simply because I didn’t have to be at school.  That couldn’t be more wrong.

While some people might see the homestead as just a lot of hard work, I value the experience for what it taught me indirectly.  The knowledge and skills I gained in homestead activities undoubtedly continue to contribute to my life, but more significant to me are the experiences that prepared me to be a lifelong learner by planting the desire in my heart and teaching me both how to discover information and what it takes to face discouragement or failure and still push on.  Education does not consist merely of facts and figures, but of a strong character comprised of honesty, motivation, willingness to work, determination in the face of hardship, and the ability to stand alone and do the right thing.  A deficiency of knowledge and skill, though unfortunate, can be repaired, but no amount of learning can make up for a lack of character.  In both aspects, the homestead simply reinforces the efforts of homeschooling parents.

Laws of Attraction and the Importance of a Good Sense of Humor on the Homestead

The post From the Horse’s Mouth: Anecdotes from a Homeschooled Homesteader appeared first on Homestead.org.

You can dry or freeze your favorite herbs to use in cooking, brew tasty and refreshing herbal teas, and make herb-flavored seasonings and dressings for your meals.

No matter what herbs grow in your garden, if you know how to store herbs in winter, you can go on using them in your cooking during the cold months ahead. Many people store traditional kitchen herbs, like thyme, oregano, cilantro, dill, parsley, sage, lavender, rosemary, and basil, but you can also gather and store medicinal herbs, like calendula, chamomile, coneflower (echinacea), and nettle. Fresh herbs can be prepared for winter use in the form of tinctures or infusions that you can store in the fridge (or on the shelf, if you use alcohol). Coneflower, for instance, is an amazing herb to have in your kitchen in winter. Tea and tinctures from its flowers, stems, and roots are used to support and strengthen the immune system during the flu season. Calendula, on the other hand, can be used for salves and creams.

Before you begin gathering your herbs for winter storage, decide on several varieties you want to save for winter and what you’ll do with them. Don’t try to store everything, since some herbs that yield less harvest or those you don’t use often may be better enjoyed during the summer. Prepare a place where you’ll dry the herbs, as well as all the utensils and accessories you’ll need. I gather herbs into paper bags. Never store gathered herbs in plastic bags. If they’re not dry yet, this can cause the plants to rot, and it’s definitely the worst choice for keeping the herbs’ flavor. Then I use flat trays to lay out the herbs for drying. Other options include using drying racks or a food dehydrator (I’ve never tried this method, so carefully check your device’s settings to prevent burning your herbs). After experimenting with various drying methods, I can also recommend laying the herbs out on paper towels, as this helps absorb any extra moisture. Prevent mold when drying by spreading the herbs flatly, in a single layer. Stacking herbs one on top of the other will interfere with the drying and can cause mold or decay.

Harvesting your herbs is a process that continues throughout the summer months and until the first frost. Freezing and drying herbs in small quantities throughout the summer is a perfect way to prepare larger quantities, while spending less time per week. I find that snipping your herbs in small portions also prolongs the harvest, since most herbs regrow and will yield more produce if regularly cut. A sunny midday or afternoon is the best time to pick your herbs. This gives time for the morning dew to evaporate and ensures that the herbs are dry and aromatic. Ideally, gather before the herbs bloom, but if they’ve already started blooming, you can often fix the situation by cutting the flowers and pruning out the leggy stems.

Drying is the main, traditional method for storing herbs, used by generations of our ancestors. It also allows for a number of versatile uses – brewing herbal teas, mixing with salt and pepper to create seasonings for meat (barbeque rubs, for instance), vegetables, and other food, or simply drying the herbs to add as spices during cooking.
The best herbs for drying are the hardier types, like rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, and marjoram. Choose a dark place with good airflow and low humidity, and once dry, use glass or tin containers for storage. I always recommend labeling the herbs immediately, since they can be hard to tell apart, especially when crushed. I place small paper cards with the herb’s name on the drying tray, since I’ve had a few cases when I wasn’t entirely sure what herb I was storing. Most herbs will last for a few years when dried, but they are at their best in their first year, both in flavor and aroma. You can also make a small store of medicinal herbs, like calendula, chamomile, nettle, or plantain, to use in teas, cough syrups, or poultices.

Freezing is a great way to save herbs like cilantro and parsley. You can chop them, so they’re ready to use immediately. When cooking, you can simply add as much as is called for in your recipe. If you love basil, like me, you may have been pondering how to keep fresh basil leaves available throughout winter. Basil is difficult to freeze because it goes black and mushy when frozen. However, if you freeze it in olive oil, it retains its flavor and appearance. I use ice cube forms, fill them with olive oil, store in the freezer until needed, and then simply add a few ice cubes into a sauce – perfect for Mediterranean recipes. Remember to use freezer-safe containers or bags.

Canning is another way to make use of your herb harvest. Add herbs to tomato sauces or drinks, can your own pesto, or add herbs to make flavored olive oil or vinegar. Olive oil infused with thyme or rosemary makes a tangy seasoning for salads.

Some canned food recipes I’ve loved making so far include sunflower seed pesto and canned pear and rosemary summer syrup.

Recipe for Sunflower Pesto

To make a small to medium jar of pesto, you’ll need:

• A few small bundles of basil (you can mix it with parsley)
• 1 cup fresh (unroasted) sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• Lemon juice (ca. 2 tbsp)
• Olive oil
• Salt (start with a small pinch and add more later if needed)
• Black pepper (optional)

Follow these steps to prepare this creamy and delicious pesto sauce:

1. Blend all the ingredients in a blender until the consistency is just right
2. Add lemon juice or salt (and pepper) according to flavor and mix
3. Pour your pesto into glass jars, leaving a little space at the top
4. Pour an even layer of extra virgin olive oil on top of the pesto sauce
5. Refrigerated, it lasts for several weeks, but you can also freeze it for several months in freezer-safe containers

Recipe for Pear & Rosemary Summer Syrup

You’ll need:

• 1-2 large pears
• 3-4 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 cups sugar

This is how to make this sweet and pleasantly herbal drink. You can enjoy it cold or warm:

1. Cut the pears in half
2. Bring water to a boil
3. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves
4. Then add the pears and rosemary
5. Let the fruit and herbs simmer on the stove for about 30 – 40 mins.
6. Pour into a bottle and store in the fridge for a week, or first filter the drink (so that only the liquid remains) and can it to last for several months

Recipe for ice cubes with olive oil for Mediterranean dishes

1. Take a few sprigs each of basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme (you can also include marjoram or sage, or exclude a herb you don’t like)
2. Chop finely and mix
3. Take an ice cube tray and place a little of the herb mix in each section
4. Pour olive oil to cover the herbs
5. Freeze and use as needed when making pizza, tomato sauce for spaghetti, or other Mediterranean dishes

Apart from using them in food preparation, there are numerous other ways to enjoy and use your herbs. You can dry lavender flowers to use as natural décor for ice cream and other desserts. Add herbs frozen in ice cubes to cocktails or drinks (you can also use edible flowers, like pansies or violets). Dried lavender is often used in sachets to keep laundry and stored clothes fragrant, and some herbs, like mint, rosemary, and lemongrass, can be used to make natural insect repellents or air-freshening sprays for your home.

Growing herbs can be very rewarding, as even a little amount can last through the winter months. Make sure you choose herbs you actually like to eat. Once you experiment for yourself and learn how to store fresh herbs long-term, you’ll probably keep doing it every winter because of the amazing flavor they give to your meals.

The post How to Save Herbs for Winter Storage: Practical Methods for the Homestead Garden appeared first on Homestead.org.

My first attempt at making pizza dough didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.  I tried a mix of white and whole wheat flour, and while it was tasty, it was too thick and bready for me.  I like a thinner, chewier crust so my first attempt wasn’t my favorite, but after doing a little research, I found that semolina flour adds a stretch to the dough and a chewiness to the crust.  I tried that and was much happier with the result.  So I’ve decided to give you both recipes, which I made in my bread machine, so you can choose your favorite.

I also experimented with both stretching and rolling the doughs.  I had the most success with rolling, but do what works best for you.  Sprinkling cornmeal under the dough will help keep it from sticking, and greatly improve your chances of getting it to the pan in one piece.

The recipe will make at least one large pizza, or, as I did, several 6-8-inch pizzas.  Cooking temps and times will vary, but my 6-8 inch pizzas cooked about 15 minutes at 425 for the thicker crust, and about the same for the semolina crust.  Depending on your desired doneness, and size of your pizza, it could be 10-20 minutes, so just check it every 5 minutes or so after the first 10.

Here’s what you’ll need for the thicker, breadier, crust:

• 1 1/2 c. lukewarm water
• 2 t. olive oil
• 2 t. salt
• 2 t. sugar
• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole-wheat flour
• 1 T. Italian seasoning (optional)
• 1 t. garlic powder (optional)
• 4 t. fast-rise yeast
• cornmeal for dusting

Add all ingredients except cornmeal into bread pan in order listed; Select dough setting and start the machine.

After the machine stops, move the dough to a lightly floured surface and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it continue to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle cornmeal on your pizza pan, or working surface and press dough into pizza shape; Cover with a towel and let rise for another 30 minutes.

Here’s what you’ll need for the chewier crust:

• 1 1/4 c. luke-warm water
• 2 t. olive oil
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. semolina flour
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. garlic powder (optional)
• 1/2 t. white sugar
• 2 t. fast-rise yeast
• cornmeal for dusting

Add all ingredients except cornmeal into bread pan in order listed; Select dough setting and start the machine.

After the machine stops, move the dough to a lightly floured surface and cover with a light cloth.  Let it continue to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Here’s what you’ll need for the toppings

• 2 T. extra-virgin olive oil, and a little extra for drizzling
• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 T. fresh thyme
• 1 T. fresh oregano
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole, peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed (we recommend San Marzano tomatoes)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
• 1 (8 oz.) ball of fresh mozzarella, water drained if necessary

The sauce is extremely simple.  Simply sauté the garlic for a couple of minutes over medium heat, until it’s slightly golden.  Add the oregano and thyme and sauté another couple of minutes until fragrant.  Be careful not to burn the garlic—burned garlic tastes bitter.  Next, add your crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper to taste, and turn the heat to low.  Simmer for 8-10 minutes.  That’s it.  The sauce is done.

The next part is moldable to your situation and equipment, so I’ll explain what I did, and you can adapt to best suit you and your kitchen.  But first off, preheat your oven (and pizza stone, if you have one) to 425.

I used a flexible, plastic cutting board as my pizza-making station so that I could easily slide it onto my hot stone in the oven.  If you aren’t using a stone, you could just build the pizza on your pan.

I dusted the plastic board with cornmeal for the bready crust and semolina flour for the chewy crust.  I pulled off a ball of dough about the size of my fist and formed it into a smooth ball and placed it on the dusted surface.  I stretched and/or rolled out my dough the thinnest I could (because I like a thinner crust) and docked the bottom pretty heavily with a fork.  If you aren’t using a stone, you can now transfer the crust to your pan.

Once you have your dough the way you like it, spread on a nice layer of the freshly-made sauce.  It ends up nice and chunky, so spread it out as evenly as you can.  Place your basil leaves, whole, or torn into 1-2 inch pieces, evenly over the sauce.  Lastly, another variable.  You can either slice your mozzarella into 1/4-inch slices, or simply tear off gumball-sized chunks from the whole ball and put them evenly over the basil and sauce.  I did the tearing method because, with smaller pies, the slices would’ve been too big.

Drizzle the whole thing with a little bit of olive oil, stand back and admire this thing of beauty you just created, and slide it onto your baking pan/stone (if it isn’t there already).  The cornmeal/semolina will really help in this process if you’ve used enough.  Give it a gentle jiggle to see that it’s loose and then slide it on to the pan.  Easy peasy.

Now, all that’s left is to wait.  Check it after about 10 minutes and go an additional 3-5 minutes until it’s to your liking.  Let it sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

Buon appetito!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Baked French Toast

The post Pizza Margherita appeared first on Homestead.org.

Sadly, this simple remedy composed of four herbs made into a tea, which should have been available to all, was virtually shut down by the Canadian government. Popular belief says it was because cancer is a disease that makes millions of dollars for health institutes whose desire is to control cancer, not to cure it.

Always interested in herbal medicine, Rene Caisse began collecting herbs and making herbal remedies in her own kitchen while working as a nurse in a Canadian hospital. But the remedy she became best known for was Essiac, which is her last name spelled backwards. Born in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada, Rene’s use of Essiac over the years earned her the title of Canada’s cancer nurse.

She stumbled upon the formula for the tea quite by accident through a patient at the hospital in which she was working. This patient told her the story of how she had been cured of cancer using a mixture of herbs from an Ojibway Indian herbalist. Rene learned about the herbs in the formula and began growing them herself.

Rene continued working as a nurse, but eventually gave up her career and devoted her time completely to administering the Essiac cure to people suffering from cancer. She freely administered the special Essiac tea to anyone who requested it for over 40 years. Beginning in 1922, she ran a clinic and gave Essiac to people into the late 1970’s.

The news of Essiac cancer-cures spread far and wide as grateful patients and their families got the word out. It was at this point that the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Parliament got involved and tried to stop her activities. Petitions were circulated in an effort to legalize Essiac so that Rene could administer it without interference from authorities. Rene ultimately lost the battle, and when she died in 1978, the Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare burned all the information and documents pertaining to Essiac that recorded and certified cure rates. Thus this valuable information was lost to us forever.

Her record of lives saved was astounding for the time she lived in, the 1920’s, when cures for cancer were almost unheard of. Many of the people she treated had been told by their doctors that their cancer was incurable; and they came to Rene with letters from their doctors stating as much. The herbs that went into the tea were given both orally and by injection, and for many of her patients, the tea was their last hope.

Not all of her patients lived, especially those whose cancer had progressed so far that their internal organs were damaged. But even these people lived longer than expected, and they lived without pain. Of the patients whose cancer was not so far advanced, they were cured and lived long, full lives.

Essiac was said to be a natural cure for cancer, but the Canadian government didn’t want that information to get out. Though there are no extensive clinical studies that would give us conclusive evidence that Rene Caisse’s herbal formula alleviates, cures or prevents any disease, there are many people who either drank the tea or took it by injection who swore to its effectiveness. It also has been said to cure the common cold because it elevates the immune system.

The four herbs used to make the original Essiac are burdock root, sheep sorrel, slippery elm bark, and Indian rhubarb root, sometimes substituted by Turkey rhubarb. The tea is sold in the United States, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Though widely available, beware of substitutions in the formula; using anything but the original herbs will greatly reduce the formula’s effectiveness.

Burdock Root: This herb is a blood purifier and the key ingredient in the tea. Burdock root neutralizes toxins in the blood and stimulates liver secretions thus helping the liver eliminate toxic build-up. It’s high in chromium, iron, magnesium, silicon, and thiamine. Niacin, riboflavin, vitamin A and vitamin C are also found in this herb. It was also used traditionally to help maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract and stimulate a healthy immune response. The herb yellow dock has been used as a substitute but is not as effective.

Sheep Sorrel: Sheep sorrel is the herb that destroys cancer cells. It looks like a common weed, but has been in use as an herbal medicine for centuries; every part of this superstar herb can be used medicinally. High in vitamins C, E, beta-carotene, and other carotenoids, it’s known as one of the most potent antioxidant herbs on the planet. Traditionally, it was used to cool the body through sweating and detoxification through the skin. It’s a powerful diuretic herb and supports healthy kidney and urinary functions.

Slippery Elm Bark: The inner bark is rich in calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, B, C, and K. It has large amounts of tannins and mucilages that are thought to help dissolve mucus deposits in tissue glands and nerve channels. It nourishes and soothes organs, tissues, and mucous membranes, and supports lung health. It also helps normalize digestion and is a blood purifier.

Indian Rhubarb Root: (sometimes substituted by Turkey Rhubarb) Used traditionally in small amounts, this herb helps purge the liver of toxic build-up and waste; it’s also a blood purifier. This herb purges the wide array of toxins that we take in from our air, water, and food.

Even people without cancer can use it for its overall health benefits. The tea is safe for long-term use; it can also be used for those on chemotherapy and is safe for children and pets. Pregnant or nursing women should not use Essiac in any of its forms; liquid, capsule, or powder.

Essiac tea is good for more than just cancer; it can be used for a number of ailments as well as for overall health. In known use since 1922, this non-toxic formula has blood purifying, liver cleansing properties and can also soothe irritations and inflammations. Mainstream medications for the treatment of cancer many times fail to provide the body the nutrients it needs to help its own immune system fight back. Essiac tea does provide these nutrients to the body, and this is a big part of the reason for its success.

If you want to brew a batch of Essiac tea, you’ll need a scale to weigh out the proper amounts of each herb as follows:

• 1.7 oz Burdock Root
• 1.3 oz Sheep Sorrell
• 0.2 oz Turkey Rhubarb
• 0.4 oz Slippery Elm

Get the above-listed herbs in powder form. Follow the procedure for brewing the tea as outlined below. The recipe will make 2 gallons, and it can last for up to 2 weeks. You need to drink 2-4 cups of the tea a day for general health maintenance, 3-4 times a day for more serious conditions. Simply mix 2 ounces of the tea with 2 ounces of fresh water; you can drink it either hot or cold. If you have any of the tea left after 2 weeks you can reheat your mixture one more time and continue drinking it for another 2 weeks. If there is any left after that, throw it out and make a fresh batch.

Here’s all you’ll need to make a batch of your own:

• A large stainless steel or enamel canning pot with a lid; never use aluminum because of the various health risks associated with it, such as it having been linked to Alzheimer’s disease. This link has not been officially established, but there are other health concerns with aluminum. Some believe it may produce hydroxide poison which neutralizes digestive juices, thus causing stomach and gastrointestinal trouble like stomach ulcers and colitis. Aluminum is a toxic metal that can build up over time, so it makes sense to avoid it.
• A second large pot with a lid to pour hot liquid into while you strain the tea. Use Pyrex or stainless steel for both of the pots.
• Mesh strainer made of stainless steel
• Long handled spoon
• Spatula
• Funnel or glass measuring cup
• Tongs
• 32-ounce amber-glass bottles. You’ll need six bottles for a full batch, 3 bottles for a half batch. Amber bottles will help keep light out, but if you only have clear bottles to use, wrap them in foil or brown paper to keep as much light out as possible.
• Lids and rings for the jars
• Jar labels

Procedure to Make Your Tea:

Your first step should be to sterilize your glass jars by either boiling them in water or putting them in a 200-degree oven for ten minutes. Carefully remove the jars and lids with the tongs and put them out on the counter upside down and on a clean towel.

For a two-gallon recipe, mix all four of the herbs together. If you want to cut the recipe in half to make just one gallon, halve each of the herbs first and then mix them together.

To make the full two-gallon recipe, first, bring two gallons of distilled or spring water to a boil; or one gallon if making only half the recipe. As soon as the water begins to boil, stir in your herbs, cover the pot and continue boiling for ten minutes.

After ten minutes, turn off the stove, scrape down the sides with your spatula, mix well and let the pot sit with the lid on for twelve hours. This time is necessary for the steeping and extraction process.

When twelve hours are up, reheat your mixture to almost boiling; this should take about ten minutes. Then let it cool for a few minutes and start your straining process to separate the sludge from the tea. You can strain the tea as many times as you like, but a little herb left in the liquid won’t hurt you in any way. The straining process is where you’ll need your second pot to catch the hot tea as you strain it.

Once you’ve got it strained into the second pot, reheat your tea once again, this time for 2-3 minutes only. This reheating will kill any bacteria that may have gotten into the mixture and help keep the tea from spoiling too soon.

Next, using your funnel or glass measuring cup, pour the hot tea into your sterilized glass jars. Put the lids on, let the tea cool for a while and place the jars in the refrigerator.

The tea is good for two weeks, so be sure to label the jars the day you make the tea and the day it expires. If you have any left after two weeks, it can be reheated and used for another two weeks, but after that you have to discard it.

If you boil the tea too long or leave it sitting for more than twelve hours, it’s still good. Just be sure to boil it for an extra 10-15 minutes to make sure there are no bacteria in it. Use this formula for your own personal use and experimentation; most people have found it to be safe and non-toxic, even with long-term use.

Directions for Use:

Mix 2 oz. of the tea with 2 oz. of hot water. Don’t heat the water in a microwave as this will destroy the tea’s health-giving properties. The tea should be drunk on an empty stomach 10-20 minutes before a meal, if possible. This will allow for better absorption of all its goodness, but you’ll still get the benefits even if you don’t drink it on an empty stomach. The herbs in the tea will stimulate your body to throw off toxins, so be sure to drink plenty of water and have regular bowel movements.

For cancer and other serious ailments, drink the tea 3-4 times a day. For chronic ailments drink it twice a day, and for general maintenance and gentle detoxification drink it once a day. Chronic conditions include such things as asthma, hypertension, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, etc.

Don’t substitute tinctured formula for the original recipe; it’s not as effective. Some people add alcohol to the formula to preserve it, but this will interfere with the potency of the formula.

When you make up the tea, it may seem like it’s very thick; this thickness comes from the slippery elm bark. This herb is a demulcent, and creates a slimy consistency, but is very effective in healing inflamed tissue and stomach ulcers.

After filtering your tea, there will be a significant amount of sludge left over; don’t throw it away. It can be used as a poultice on cancer-type wounds. There are also some folks who drink the tea while taking chemotherapy and have not suffered the side effects that go along with the chemo, but there are no studies to back up these claims.

There have been very few negative side effects from using the tea. Just be sure you drink plenty of water to flush the toxins that the tea will pull out of your organs. Some people have given the tea to pets and children as well; if you do this scale the dose down by weight.

Use this formula for your own personal use and experimentation; most people have found it to be safe and non-toxic, even with long-term use. The tea has a mild, pleasant taste; you can sweeten it with honey to further enjoy its health benefits.

The post Essiac Tea: Hope in a Cup appeared first on Homestead.org.

After gardening, soap making was the first homesteading skill I learned. At the time, I was living in a Sacramento suburb, still dreaming of a place in the country. But I decided that learning how to make milk soap was a homesteading skill I could pursue even in the middle of the city.

My very first batch of DIY milk soap was, objectively, ugly. I semi-burnt the milk, blended until the mixture was too thick, and had to glop the soap batter into the mold, leaving the finished bars lumpy and uneven.

Even with these shortcomings, I was proud of that soap and became enamored with milk soap making.

If you have a dairy animal on your homestead, DIY milk soap is a good way to use up extra milk, and the resulting soap is wonderful for your skin.

But you don’t need to have your own dairy animal. You can make milk soap from scratch with simple ingredients from the grocery store. Soap making is a wonderful self-sufficiency skill that anyone can learn to do, even if your homestead is a small lot in town.

Over the years, my soap making vastly improved, leading to a small business selling goat milk soap and teaching soap making workshops.

Today I’m sharing with you my tried-and-true tips for making milk soap so that you can avoid all my newbie mistakes and make milk soap from scratch successfully from your first batch on.

Let’s get soaping!

Benefits of Milk Soap

So, what makes milk soap so special? Three words: fats, sugars, and acids.

It’s the milk fats that give milk soap its extra moisturizing oomph. These fats are left as “free oil” in the finished soap bar, making milk soap supremely gentle and nourishing to the skin.

The characteristic rich, creamy lather of milk soap can be attributed, mainly, to the sugars found in milk. Lactose, the chief sugar in milk, increases soap lather because it reduces the surface tension of water allowing bigger and longer-lasting bubbles to form.

Remember being a kid and blowing bubbles with a straw into a glass of milk versus a glass of water? Milk produced big bubbles that overflowed the glass and lasted a long time; water bubbles burst quickly. The same effect happens with milk soap versus non-milk soap—bigger bubbles that last longer.

Milk also contains naturally occurring hydroxy acids, specifically lactic acid. Lactic acid is a gentle exfoliant, and leaves the skin feeling softer and looking brighter. Milk soap isn’t at the same level as an exfoliation treatment like a scrub or peel, but it does give a little extra benefit for your skin.

What Kind of Milk Can I Use for DIY Milk Soap?

While goat milk makes the quintessential milk soap, any type of milk can be used including cow, donkey, coconut, and more. The soap making instructions below can be used with any type of milk you desire.

Fresh Milk

If you have a dairy cow or dairy goat, obviously you have plenty of fresh milk to create soap. Either pasteurized or raw milk can be used for soap making.

Store-bought fresh milk can be used if you don’t have a dairy animal. The milk you have in your fridge right now will do, although whole milk will give a creamier soap lather compared to low-fat varieties. Larger grocery stores will also have fresh goat milk in the refrigerated section.

If there is a local creamery or dairy nearby, consider purchasing your milk from them. Your support of small farmstead businesses is vital and incredibly appreciated.

Canned Milk

You can also use canned milk to make soap. If you use this option, dilute the milk first with equal parts water since canned milk is concentrated.

Vegan Milks

Are you vegan? There are milk soap options for you too!

You can use the instructions below to make soap with coconut milk, almond milk, or soy milk. The steps are the same. The finished soap bars will have a slightly different color and consistency than soap made from cow or goat milk but will be a lovely soap, nonetheless.

The Key to Beautiful Milk Soap Making

Here’s the secret to making lovely milk soap: freeze your milk prior to soap making.

This is the step I skipped in my first few batches, and why my milk soaps turned a funky shade of brown and had an off smell (old tires came to mind).

It doesn’t matter if you’re using farm-fresh, store-bought, or canned. Or cow milk, goat milk, or plant-based. Use only frozen milk when making soap.

Soap is made using a blend of oils, liquid (milk, in this instance), and lye.

Yes, my friend, lye is needed to make milk soap from scratch. Nothing can be substituted for lye in handmade milk soap recipes. We’ll talk more about lye and its use in just a bit.

When oil, liquid, and lye are blended together it triggers a chemical reaction called saponification. When saponification is finished, you no longer have oils, milk, and lye; you have soap.

First, the lye is dissolved in the liquid. As lye dissolves it generates heat, and fast. It can heat a liquid to above 200 degrees Fahrenheit in just a few seconds.

In water, that isn’t a problem (except, of course, you must be careful to not burn yourself). Bringing milk up to a high temperature so quickly will scorch and curdle, making it smelly, off-colored, and unusable.

Freezing the milk counteracts this, preventing it from becoming too hot too fast.

The most convenient way to freeze (and use) milk for soap making is to freeze it in ice cube trays. When you’re ready to make soap, simply pop the cubes out and place them into your container.

Don’t freeze the milk in its entirety as one solid mass. It’s nearly impossible to properly dissolve your lye granules in a big block of frozen milk.

Soap Making Safety Rules

If you’ve never made soap before, there are some lye handling safety rules you must know before you whip up your first batch.

But truly, there is no need to fear lye. If you have ever used a drain opener in your home, you’ve already used a form of lye.

Following these simple tips will help you craft your milk soap safely.

• Use only 100% lye. Although you can find 100% lye at the local hardware store, it’s often safest for beginning soap makers to buy lye online from soap making suppliers. This way you’ll be certain to get the right lye for soap making.
• Wear rubber or exam-type gloves and eye protection goggles. Lye granules, lye/milk solution, and soap batter are all caustic. To protect yourself, put gloves and safety glasses on at the beginning of your soap making and don’t remove them until after clean-up.
• Weigh out all ingredients. Soap ingredients must be measured by weight, not by volume. Weighing ingredients gives a more precise measurement to ensure your finished soap is not lye heavy.
• Clean up lye spills with copious amounts of water and mild soap. If you get lye granules, lye/milk solution, or soap batter on your skin, immediately rinse with cold water, wash with a mild soap, and rinse some more. For spills on countertops and floors, wipe up as much as possible with paper towels and discard (or sweep up lye granules with a broom). Wash the entire spill area with a damp rag and mild soap, such as dish soap.
• Do not substitute oils in any soap recipe. Soap recipes are formulated with very specific lye-to-oil ratios. There needs to be just enough lye in the recipe to turn oil into soap, but not so much to leave lye in the finished batch. If you swap out one oil for another, you run the risk of creating a lye-heavy soap. Only experienced soap makers who know how to recalculate lye amounts should substitute oils.

Soap Making Supplies

You will need to gather a few supplies to get started making homemade milk soap.

Important note: Due to the caustic nature of lye, all the supplies must be used exclusively for soap making (so don’t use them again for food). You can, however, use these tools for creating other types of DIY bath and body products.

• 8-quart stainless steel pot (must be stainless steel, NOT aluminum, cast iron, or non-stick coated as these will react with the lye)
• Heat-safe plastic pitcher
• 2 (4-cup size) plastic measuring cups with spouts
• 2 silicone spatulas or plastic spoons, one for the oils and one for the lye/milk mixture
• Digital cooking thermometer
• Kitchen scale
• Immersion blender (AKA stick blender)
• Safety glasses
• Nitrile exam gloves or rubber cleaning gloves
• 42 oz. soap mold or shoebox, lined with freezer paper, shiny side up
• Soap cutter (optional) or large non-serrated knife

Easy Milk Soap Recipe

This recipe makes approximately 2 pounds of finished soap with 7% superfat. (Superfat is a measure of the amount of free oil, or oil that is not
turned into soap, left in the finished bars. Superfatted soap is
especially moisturizing thanks to this extra oil.)

• 14 oz. frozen milk of your choice (goat milk, cow milk, etc.)
• 13 oz. olive oil
• 9.5 oz. coconut oil
• 9.5 oz. palm oil
• 4.5 oz. 100% lye

Prep step: Gather all supplies and ingredients needed and have them easily accessible. Put on your gloves and goggles (remember, keep these on the entire time you’re soaping until after you’ve finished cleaning up.)

Step 1: In a measuring cup, weigh out each oil individually and add to the stainless steel pot. Place the pot on the stovetop and warm oils over low heat until melted. Remove from heat.

Step 2: Weigh out frozen milk cubes into the plastic pitcher. No need to cut or sh­­ave cubes to get a precise measurement for the milk. If adding an extra cube brings the measurement slightly over 14 oz., that’s okay.

Step 3: In the second measuring cup, weigh out lye granules. Do be precise with this measurement.

Step 4: Slowly pour the lye into the frozen milk cubes, stopping frequently to stir. The milk will immediately begin to melt. It will also change in color.

After you’ve added about half the lye granules, check the temperature of the lye/milk mixture. You want the lye/milk mixture to come up to above 85 degrees Fahrenheit but stay below 100 degrees. Higher than 100 degrees and your milk will scald and curdle; lower than 85 degrees and the lye granules may not dissolve fully.

Continue to slowly add lye to the milk, testing the temperature periodically. If the mixture is nearing 100 degrees, let it cool for several minutes before adding more lye.

Step 5: Once you have added all the lye to the milk, let the mixture sit for 20 minutes. This step is important as it gives the lye granules ample time to fully dissolve.

Step 6: Carefully pour the lye/milk mixture into the pot of oils. The lye/milk will have thickened considerably, so don’t fret if you come back to a pudding-like mixture. Use a silicone spatula to scrape as much of the lye/milk mixture from the pitcher as possible.

Step 7: Place the stick blender into the pot, making sure the bell is fully submerged. Blend in 30-second spurts until the mixture is fully incorporated and has thickened to a cake batter-like consistency (what soap makers call trace).

Step 8: Ladle or pour the soap batter into your prepared mold. The batter will continue to thicken, so be prepared. No need to rush, but don’t let it set in the pot any longer than needed. Use your silicone spatula to spread the soap batter evenly throughout, making sure it reaches the corners of the mold.

As a finishing touch, use your spatula or wooden dowel to make a pretty decorative texture on the surface of your soap.

Step 9: Set the soap mold in an out-of-the-way spot for 72 hours. This allows the soap to finish saponifying and firm up. I prefer to cover my mold, to prevent pets or accidental fingers from getting into the soap batter. If your soap mold doesn’t have a lid, you can improvise with a piece of cardboard. Don’t allow the lid to touch the surface of the soap. If your soap mold is so full that a lid will contact the soap’s surface, just leave the lid off.

Step 10: Clean up! Keep those gloves and goggles on, the soap batter on your tools is still caustic. Wipe any excess soap batter off your tools with paper towels or crumpled newspaper and discard. Wash everything well with dish soap and rinse. Wipe down your work area with a damp cloth. Once everything is completely cleaned up, it’s safe to remove your gloves and goggles.

Step 11: After 72 hours, your homemade milk soap is ready to unmold. Turn the soap out onto freezer paper or brown paper and cut it into bars. The soap will be soft and sticky, like soft cheese. It will harden during cure. Cut the soap into bars using a soap cutter or large non-serrated knife.

Step 12: Cure your soap for 30 days. Simply set your soap bars out on brown paper or freezer paper in a dry, out-of-the-way spot like a cabinet or closet. Make sure the bars are not touching each other to allow air to circulate around all sides. Turn soap bars once every week or so to expose all sides to air.

Curing is important, so don’t skip this step. During curing, any excess liquid evaporates out, creating a hard, long-lasting bar of soap.

After 30 days of patiently waiting, your soap is ready to use.

To store your milk soap: Wrap bars in paper or keep them in a paper bag or small box. Air circulation is important for long-term storage. When properly stored, your milk soap has a shelf life of 5 years.

Enjoy your homemade milk soap!

The post How to Make Milk Soap from Scratch appeared first on Homestead.org.

It sure didn’t take too long for me to move from cooking meals from scratch to making ingredients from scratch.  Things like vegetable and bone broth, baking extracts, flavored sugars, yogurt, butter, and lard can be made from home.  They taste better and are free from the chemicals and unnecessary ingredients found in the store-bought version.  Remember, the closer you can stay to the natural state of real, whole food, the better.  Not only better for your physical and financial health, but for the environment as a whole.  The more you can DIY from leftover products or scraps, the less food has to travel, the less packaging has to be used, and the more self-sufficient you will become.  Zero-waste cooking costs less and makes more. It helps you become a more creative cook and it fights food insecurity at the basic level.

If your family eats meat, it makes good sense to learn how to render your own lard and make your own bone broth.  Lard has gone out of fashion, but it is a completely natural food, unlike cottonseed and canola oil.  Lard has a very high smoke point which makes it perfect for frying and a high melting point which makes it ideal for making flaky crusts and pastries.  It is also very simple to make and, if you use pasture-raised animals, much healthier than the lard you buy at the grocery store.

You can make lard with any animal fat.  Simply trim the fat from the meat as cleanly as possible.  Store in a large freezer bag until you have filled the bag.  When you are ready to render the lard, remove from the freezer and dice as small as possible.

1. Place the fat in a slow cooker on low.  Leave the lid off.  The cracklings will eventually sink to the bottom and rise back to the top.  When they rise back to the top, your lard is ready.
2. Strain the contents of the slow cooker through a colander to remove the cracklings.  Strain the liquid through a double layer of cheesecloth to remove any bits of meat and sediment.  The liquid will be pale yellow and will turn white as it solidifies.
3. Place in a glass jar or non-reactive metal container.  Let it set up at room temperature until cool.  Lard has been used long before refrigeration so it is shelf-stable, but it will last longer if you store it in the refrigerator.

If you overcooked the lard or burnt it around the edges, it will still be fine to use for frying.  It will have a stronger flavor and will not be suitable for crusts and pastries.

Bone broth is equally easy to make.  Save chicken bones in the freezer until you have a large bag of bones.  When you are ready to make the broth, take the bones from the freezer and let thaw.

1. If you are using vegetable scraps in your broth, place them at the bottom of your slow cooker.  Place the bones on top and cover with water.  Add a splash of apple cider vinegar.  Cover with the lid and cook on low for 24 hours.
2. Place a colander over a large bowl and strain the contents of the slow cooker through the colander.  Strain the broth through a double layer of cheesecloth into a clean jar.  Store in the refrigerator and use within a week.

If you do not eat meat, you can make a vegetable broth by saving vegetable scraps in the freezer and processing the same way.

Dairy products are another group of mysterious products that seem impossible to make at home.   Items such as butter and yogurt are becoming increasingly expensive, so I was happy to discover how easy they are to make at home.  If you have your own cows or dairy goats, you can make these products for next to nothing.

There are several different types of butter, all easy to make at home.  Sweet butter, clarified butter, and cultured butter.  Cultured butter is made from cultured cream, or cream that contains live bacterial cultures.  Live cultures are good for your gut health and cultured butter is much more flavorful than sweet butter.

Making Cultured Butter from Scratch

• 1 qt. heavy cream – do not use ultra-pasteurized cream
• 3 T. cultured buttermilk, plain unsweetened yogurt, or cultured sour cream

1. Combine the heavy cream and cultured buttermilk in a lidded container.  Let the container sit at room temperature 24-48 hours.  The mixture will thicken and develop a tangy flavor.  Transfer the container to the refrigerator for at least one hour.
2. Place the chilled mixture in a lidded glass jar and shake until it becomes the consistency of soft-peak whipped cream.
3. Once thickened, place a sieve over a clean glass jar.  Strain the liquid from your butter mixture into the jar.  Place the butter in the sieve and press gently to release any more liquid into the jar. This is true buttermilk and will keep in your refrigerator for up to two weeks.
4. Transfer the butter to a mixing bowl.  Wash with very cold water, pressing liquid out through a sieve.  Repeat this washing process several times.  Once the water pressed from the butter runs clear, repeat once more.
5. Divide the butter in half and shape as desired.  Wrap in waxed paper and store in the refrigerator.

Homemade yogurt is even easier to make than butter.

• 1/2 gallon milk
• 1/2 c. plain, unsweetened yogurt

1. To make yogurt, heat ½ gallon of milk in a large Dutch oven.  Stir while heating, as you do not want to scorch the milk.  Allow the milk to heat until just before it begins to boil.  Turn off the heat and allow the milk to cool to a temperature of 112-115 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Remove one cup of the slightly cooled milk and pour it into a deep mixing bowl.  Gradually add ½ cup plain, unsweetened yogurt, whisking constantly until the yogurt is dissolved.
3. Pour the thinned yogurt into the large pot of warm milk.  Whisk to combine.
4. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and place the pot in a warm area overnight.
5. Strain yogurt through a double layer of cheesecloth.  Once most of the liquid has drained from the yogurt, gather the corners of the cheesecloth and squeeze out excess liquid.  This liquid is whey and will keep in your refrigerator.  It is a nutritional boost to baked goods and smoothies.
6. Transfer yogurt to storage containers and store in the refrigerator.  Remember to save back ½ cup of your homemade yogurt to use as a starter for your next batch.

Lard, bone broth, butter, and yogurt are fun cooking projects but there are a lot of ways to reduce kitchen waste that don’t take any time at all.  We all have food scraps, and the more you cook from scratch, the more scraps you collect.  They don’t all have to hit the compost pile.  When you are saving food scraps, the best practice is to keep them in the freezer until you have enough to use.

Vegetable scraps can include peelings and the ugly tops and bottoms that usually get tossed out.  Broccoli “trunks” can be saved and used to make cream of broccoli soup or broccoli rice casserole.  Wilting carrots and zucchini are perfect to grate up and add to pancakes and quick breads.  An assortment of vegetable scraps can be added to winter soups or used to make a vegetarian stock.  Potato skins lose something in the freezer, but they are delicious fried in a little oil.  Top your mashed potatoes with those crispy treats.

Fruit scraps can make a delicious fruit vinegar that is really tasty on fruit salads or pilafs.  Simply fill a jar with fruit scraps, add one tablespoon sugar, and cover with water.  Cap tightly and shake daily.  It will go from a fruity water to a slightly alcoholic drink to a fruit vinegar.

Citrus peels can be candied, made into marmalade, dried and turned into zest, or added to a container of granulated sugar.  The lightly citrus sugar is terrific in hot teas or used in sugar cookies. Spent vanilla beans can be placed in a canister of sugar as well, or use them to make your own vanilla extract.

Old bread can be turned into croutons or breadcrumbs.  Past-its-prime bread is also perfect for bread puddings or French toast.

The more time you spend learning these lost kitchen skills and cooking from scratch, the more ways you will find to use everything you have, and the closer you will be in your quest for self-sufficiency.

The post Lost Kitchen Skills: Zero-waste Cooking with Fats, Scraps, and Dairy appeared first on Homestead.org.

Homegrown food is transforming the vision of home farming. These small-scale growers are not about size, but efficiency, creativity, and sustainability. The result is a new generation of homesteaders yielding surprisingly large amounts of produce in surprisingly small spaces.

Micro-farming started for Jessica Martinez, a suburban Austin, Texas homeowner, with some tomatoes she grew in containers during the pandemic. Now, her backyard features raised beds, vertical trellises, a small greenhouse, and six laying hens. “Some folks think they can’t grow as much food upward as they can out,” she says. Though she has a small area, during the summer season, Martinez grows enough produce to cut her family’s grocery costs more than in half.

Micro-farms don’t necessarily have to be in suburban backyards. Portland, Oregon apartment dweller Marcus Lee has created a highly productive growing space in his 80 square foot balcony with hanging baskets, shelving and vertical planters. From herbs to a microfood production system. Lee picked over 100 pounds of cherry tomatoes from a few plants last year. “You don’t have to have acres and acres,” he says, “Homesteading is not about acreage.” “It is about intentional living, creating what you can, and removing the need for systems that you are not responsible for.”

What Is a Backyard Micro-Farm?

A micro-farm backyard is a very productive growing system that maximises food production in a limited space. The micro-farming approach thinks of each square foot as valuable real estate, unlike traditional gardening.

A micro farm can consist of:

• Raised garden beds
• Vertical growing systems
• Container gardens
• Composting stations
• Rainwater collection
• Small animals (as appropriate: chickens or rabbits)
• Aquaponics or hydroponics systems
• Educational and rewarding fruit trees and edible landscaping

Some micro-farms are found on a quarter-acre tract of land. Some have a small suburban backyard or apartment balcony that they use and run successfully.

It’s not always a matter of being entirely self-sufficient. Rather, it is producing food and value that is as much as possible with the space available.

Why More People Are Turning to Micro-Farming

There are several reasons for the interest in small-scale homesteading.

Food prices remain volatile, and home-grown food is becoming more appealing. There’s also a strong desire for more control over diet and food production among many people. Some people are drawn to it because of the environment and wish to lessen their reliance on industrial food systems.

To some, micro-farming is even more precious, a feeling of resilience.

Educating about food gives hands-on skills and makes a connection to the natural world. Picking just a few tomatoes from a container on your patio can be a satisfying accomplishment that you don’t get anywhere else.

Maximizing Every Square Foot

Successful micro-farmers understand that space is often less important than design.

Grow Up, Not Out

One of the easiest methods of production increase is vertical gardening.

Trellises, wall planters, hanging baskets, and stacking containers are methods for growing plants that do not use up valuable growing room. Vertical gardening is suitable for cucumbers, peas, beans, squash, and many herbs.

Many times, a six-foot trellis will yield more food than several square feet of traditional garden bed.

Use Containers Strategically

Food can be grown in just about any place with containers.

Even tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, herbs, and even potatoes can grow in containers of the right size. Grow bags are also popular among urban homesteaders as they are easily portable and cheap to store.

It’s all about choosing plants compatible with the container and watering them regularly.

Practice Succession Planting

Many beginning gardeners harvest a crop and leave the space empty. Micro-farmers rarely waste that opportunity.

Succession planting involves replacing harvested crops immediately with new ones. For example, spring lettuce can be followed by summer beans, which can be followed by fall greens.

This approach dramatically increases annual production from a single garden bed.

Small Livestock, Big Benefits

Small ruminants can be a valuable part of the micro-farm, where appropriate, by local ordinance.

The backyard chicken continues to be one of the most popular choices. A small flock can supply fresh eggs, control of insect pests, and manure for composting.

Being quite small, quail are becoming a growing favorite among urban homesteaders and are usually able to be raised in areas where chickens can’t.

However, it’s important to check local ordinances and neighborhood regulations before introducing animals.

The Power of Compost

One common characteristic of productive micro-farms is healthy soil.

Composting transforms kitchen scraps, leaves, and yard waste into valuable organic matter that improves soil structure and fertility.

Even small-space gardeners can compost using compact bins, tumblers, or worm composting systems.

By recycling nutrients on-site, homesteaders reduce waste while building healthier gardens.

Water Smarter

Water conservation is becoming increasingly important for gardeners everywhere.

Many micro-farmers install rain barrels to capture runoff from roofs and sheds. Others use drip irrigation systems that deliver water directly to plant roots, reducing waste and improving efficiency.

Mulching around plants also helps retain soil moisture while suppressing weeds.

Small adjustments can significantly reduce water consumption throughout the growing season.

Lessons from Successful Micro-Farmers

Experienced micro-farmers often share similar advice for beginners.

Start small.

Many newcomers attempt to do too much in their first year and become overwhelmed. A few raised beds or containers provide plenty of opportunities to learn without creating unnecessary stress.

Focus on crops your household actually enjoys eating.

Growing exotic vegetables may sound exciting, but the most productive gardens are often built around everyday favorites like tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, herbs, and beans.

Finally, expect mistakes.

Every gardener loses plants. Every homesteader encounters challenges. The most successful growers view setbacks as opportunities to learn rather than reasons to quit.

Think Small, Harvest Big

The modern homesteading movement is proving that meaningful food production doesn’t require a large farm or extensive acreage.

With thoughtful planning, efficient use of space, and a willingness to experiment, even the smallest property can become a productive source of fresh food and practical skills.

The backyard micro-farm isn’t simply about growing vegetables. It’s about reclaiming a measure of independence, building resilience, and discovering that abundance can thrive in places many people overlook.

In a world where land is increasingly expensive and space is often limited, that may be one of the most valuable lessons of all.

The post The Backyard Micro-Farm: Small Spaces, Big Harvests appeared first on Homestead.org.

Although myotonic goats are more docile than other breeds, Romeo also can be a bit testy this time of year and will butt away any of the younger bucklings who try to compete for food or females.  He wouldn’t try to hurt me, but I do have to watch out and not get in his way when he’s on a mission.

Love Stinks!

Romeo has completed his “mission” this year, and all the female goats have been bred.  The does preferred him, rebuffing the advances of the younger bucks.  I guess the still sweet-smelling bucklings were no match for Romeo’s rank ripeness.  To make sure he hasn’t missed anyone, Romeo blubbers, curls his lip (the flehmen response), and sniffs the air.  This is the yucky part that I don’t like about breeding goats—putting up with a stinking, blubbering, 150- to 200-pound buck in rut.  One of this winter’s projects will be to move the buck pen to pasture even further from the house.

Something I do like about Romeo’s rut season is that it coincides with the campaign season for our local politicians.  They love opening my gate and driving up to ask for my vote.  Letting Romeo out of his paddock is very effective in keeping them at bay.  My drive winds along the pasture where I keep the does, and Romeo will camp out in the drive all day mooning over the girls on the other side of the fence.  All but one campaigner has declined to get out of the car to greet all that stinky badness.

That campaigner visited us in August.  Romeo was in the driveway nose-to-nose at the fence with Reba, a pretty reddish brown doe.  She had come into a standing heat and was bawling her lungs out on her side of the fence.  I had decided it was time to let her in the drive with Romeo.  I’d forgotten about the two young bucklings that I’d also let out with Romeo earlier that morning so that they could browse along the overgrown drive.  Just about the time I let Reba out, here comes the next would-be county school board member.  He got out of his car and handed me his literature, smiling and talking, and all the while ignoring what was happening under his nose.

Romeo was fast.  Reba didn’t even have time to say hello before the deed was done.  At climax, Romeo did what he always does in that situation—he fainted.  Fell right out in the drive at the feet of the still-talking-not-saying-anything politician.  The campaigner soon got in his car to head back down the drive.

Before he could get away, the two bucklings appeared and tried to get in on the action.  Reba, preferring the riper aroma of Romeo, headed off down the driveway in front of his car to escape them.  The two little bucks followed her, unsuccessfully trying to mount her and humping their way down the driveway in pursuit.  Meanwhile, Romeo had recovered from his brief muscular lockup, saw what they were trying to do, and was having none of it.  He headed off after the bucklings, which were after Reba—the whole X-rated parade now in front of the politician’s car as he crept along, still smiling between beads of sweat.  Fortunately, the herd veered off before the politician reached the gate.  He was able to flee, and I was able to go rescue Reba from her walk of shame.

Romeo and the small herd of his buckling sons are just some of the bad boys on my homestead.  I also have a gang of maturing roosters and, believe it or not, mobs of drone honeybees.  Way too much testosterone for one small homestead!  What happens with all the extra males involved in keeping livestock?  Let’s start with the bucklings.  They will go to a local market for slaughter later this month.

Yes, I said “slaughter.”  No, it doesn’t fit the storybook image that many have of homesteading, but I agree with and love quoting homesteader Gene Logsdon on this subject.  In Gene Everlasting, he says, “We raise our farm animals with loving care, grow quite fond of them, put our lives at risk to save theirs if necessary, and then we kill and eat them.”

Keeping male animals is important and sometimes necessary on the homestead.  Romeo’s genetics are half of my herd right now.  He’s important and he’s done an excellent job.  To care for him and the rest of my herd, I have to be willing to manage my bucks responsibly, and that means culling to prevent injury to both males and females from too many aggressive males fighting for herd dominance.

Domesticated livestock descended from wild animals.  Males fight for dominance, maiming and sometimes killing one another to prove they are the strongest and most fit for mating.  Offspring from these males have the best chance of survival.  Even though they’ve been domesticated, all the girls still want the biggest, baddest dude on the homestead, and all the boys are all out to be that guy. Even the cocky little birds want to be that guy, and roosters can be the most brutal.

Nice Guys Are “Finished” Last on the Homestead

I try to keep one rooster so that I can maintain a flock of layers and hatch out new chicks when needed.  Hatching out your own chicks is fun, saves money on replacement chickens, but always produces more roosters than needed.  When they are about five or six months old, the roosters mature, start crowing, worry the hens sometimes to the point they quit laying, and fight one another for dominance.  One mature rooster can sometimes be too many, but a whole barnyard gang of cocky adolescents can be a nightmare.  Humane slaughter of a rooster is much kinder than the slow, painful maiming that these little birds can inflict on one another!  When the roosters get to be about five months old, it’s time to plan a processing day.

One good rooster usually survives processing day.  A good rooster will guard his hens against harm, call them to eat during the day and to the roost at sunset, let them eat first, and will not injure them—and will not flog humans!  A rooster that does not meet this description—even if he is the last man standing—goes into the freezer.  (Just ask my sister-in-law who was flogged by the “late” and latest Mr. Nasty.)

You must be willing to cull a bird if you’re going to keep roosters.  You can’t have a rooster around who will flog you or your guests.  He won’t get better.  His spurs will just get longer and more deadly.  I once worked with a woman whose grandfather was killed by a rooster!  He died of blood poisoning after being spurred by one of his own roosters.  Like me, she’s learned not to give her roosters a second chance when it comes to flogging humans.  When a bird puts a bead on you, drags one wing downward as he circles around to attack you from behind, it’s time to put him in the crockpot.

You must be willing to cowboy or cowgirl up and not try to give the problem away to someone else to deal with.  If you find someone who does want a problem rooster, that person is either naive to roosters, plans to eat it him or herself (the only good reason to give it away), or worst of all, plans to capitalize on its natural aggression and use it in a cockfight.  I’ve even heard that roosters and chickens are ending up in animal shelters after people experiment with backyard flocks and then find it isn’t for them.  An animal shelter?  Is that how removed we have become from nature and the source of our food?  You can learn to harvest your own birds humanely.

The most humane way to harvest a rooster is to take him from his roost at night and put him in a small cage until morning.  Take him from the cage, and hold him firmly in your arms to keep him calm while placing him upside-down in a killing cone.  Being upside-down and held firmly by the cone will calm him.  Cut the jugular vein on one or both sides and let him bleed out into a bucket.  If you do this correctly, the most stressful part for the bird will be in catching him.  Joel Salatin has a great video on Youtube that shows you how to humanely and respectfully process a chicken: “How to Butcher a Chicken.” (Homestead.org also has this helpful article: Put Your Poultry in Your Pantry: City Folk Learn to Dispatch and Dress Chickens)

The rest of your flock will reward you with contented clucking, scratching, and more prolific egg-laying when you get rid of these domestic abusers.

Not Only the Birds, but the Bees, Too!

The nice thing about keeping honeybees is that they take care of their own bad boys.  The males, the drones, have one purpose in life—to mate with a virgin queen.  Until they do, the worker bees, which are all female, will care for them and feed them.  The drones do no other work for the hive.  After being fed and groomed by their sisters, they fly out to what’s called drone congregating areas, the equivalent of their local bar, to wait for a queen to fly by.  If they “get lucky,” they die in midair after having their boy parts pulled from their bodies during mating.  If they fail to find a queen, they return to the hive to be fed and coddled until they can try again the next day.

But now as fall approaches, the bees are also preparing for winter.  The drones that haven’t mated have no purpose for the hive and are using up valuable resources, which must be stored and rationed until the spring bloom.  The worker bees unceremoniously drag the drones from the hive and prevent their re-entry.  Left on their own, these lazy, ne’er-do-wells will starve and freeze to death.

Not Such Bad Boys After All

I’m calling these animals “bad boys” and “ne’er-do-wells” with tongue firmly in cheek.  I don’t want to anthropomorphize.  They are behaving as they are designed to behave.  These males are as necessary as their female counterparts in the web of life.  In the wild, nature takes care of excess numbers practically and matter-of-factly.  Animals may fight to the death for food and reproductive rights.  If they live, weaker males are often ostracized.  Animals hunt, inflict pain, kill, and reproduce.  It isn’t pretty by our sensibilities.  It is what it is.

Just as we shouldn’t anthropomorphize animals, we don’t want to animalize humans.  Although we are animals and interwoven with all of nature, we have a consciousness that makes us human.  Unlike the other animals, we have morals, empathy and compassion, and love for one another.  It is precisely because we are human animals that the suffering of other animals bothers us.  On a homestead, we have taken responsibility for the animals we manage and we bring our humanness to the task.

Keeping Livestock is a Sacred Responsibility

I call keeping livestock and their harvest a sacred responsibility because one definition of sacred is “worthy of respect, venerable.”  To sacrifice an animal means we are harvesting something that we highly value for a greater good.

Many of the meals on our plates come from the excess males from our herds and flocks, sacrificed to become our sustenance.  We can honor these animals by being responsible shepherds: treating them well, keeping them healthy, and harvesting them humanely.  Doing so is much kinder by human sensibilities than the cold-blooded manner in which they deal with one another.

The post Bad Boys on the Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.