Each jar costs me about $3.85; that's including the fancy wild blueberries we had too. Storebought comparatives (that are somewhat "natural") are $15 or more! This blueberry syrup has no food dyes, no thickeners, no artificial nothing. It's just blueberries, lemons, sugar, and water. It's very easy to make at home, and this recipe is … Continue reading Blueberry & Lemon Syrup | Water Bath Canning
Bagels from Scratch (using Yeast)
This recipe is 5 basic pantry ingredients and about 2 hours' time total (from mixing to boiling to baking), and if you can make a cake, you can make bread. Here I go into tools you need, ingredients, and instructions on how to make bagels from scratch right at home, using yeast and not sourdough! … Continue reading Bagels from Scratch (using Yeast)
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Herbed Potatoes with Onions | Pressure Canning, Raw Pack, Potatoes in Water
Canned potatoes can be baked, fried, boiled, and even turned into soup. And for some reason, potatoes are more delicious after canning than in some fresh potato recipes turn out! And adding herbs and onions to the potatoes makes them even better. This is an easy raw pack method to get 7 pounds of potatoes … Continue reading Herbed Potatoes with Onions | Pressure Canning, Raw Pack, Potatoes in Water
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February: Time to get up and go! | Earache Herbal Remedy, Canning Season Starts, Don’t be fooled by this early spring!
Around here, our season of rest is done. The weather is breaking, the holidays are long gone, and it's time to move onto the next part of the year. And if you garden or homestead like we do, you know spring, summer, and fall are the best times of the year, so this is an … Continue reading February: Time to get up and go! | Earache Herbal Remedy, Canning Season Starts, Don’t be fooled by this early spring!
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Pork n’ Beans | Pressure Canning Red Kidney Beans with Bacon & Tomato Sauce | 7 Quarts
Pork n' beans come with many names and can be made several different ways, but around here we tend to treat them like BBQ beans and keep things simple. This recipe avoids excessive sugar, no molasses, uses basic pantry items like your favorite bacon, red beans, diced tomatoes, and some spices to make that sweet … Continue reading Pork n’ Beans | Pressure Canning Red Kidney Beans with Bacon & Tomato Sauce | 7 Quarts
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Free Ranging Ducks on a Pond
Yes, you can free range ducks on a pond, year-round. In fact, ducks are incredibly easy to let free range, even if you have neighbors. They are creatures of habit, generally love their owners, stay close to their water, and don't venture far (especially ducks who can't fly). In this article I go into tips … Continue reading Free Ranging Ducks on a Pond
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Canning Strawberry Jam | Low Sugar, Pectin, Fresh or Frozen Berries | Water Bath Canning
Strawberry jam is a pantry staple for our house, and canning your own is thankfully easy enough. In fact, I haven't bought storebought jam in years because all you need are 3 basic ingredients, some pectin, and a couple hours slotted away to make a batch. That said, I have learned that we prefer a … Continue reading Canning Strawberry Jam | Low Sugar, Pectin, Fresh or Frozen Berries | Water Bath Canning
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Creating a Cottage Styled Garden that is still Productive | 5 tips
Cottage gardening (some call it chaos gardening now) is my favorite way to garden, and over the years I have come across my favorite ways to make it as productive as possible. Even though on the outside many cottage gardens look full of flowers and color, you can still get plenty of medicinal herbs or … Continue reading Creating a Cottage Styled Garden that is still Productive | 5 tips
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Canning Cranberry Juice | Water Bath Canning, Raw Pack Method
Cranberry juice is one of those fruit juices that holds a punch in health benefits: it contains plenty of antioxidants, vitamins, and polyphenols that help the heart and body. It's easy enough to find cranberry juice in the stores, but it's even easier to make it at home with fresh, frozen or even homegrown cranberries … Continue reading Canning Cranberry Juice | Water Bath Canning, Raw Pack Method
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Freezing Cinnamon French Toast | Vacuum Sealing | High Egg Count Recipe [Video]
My favorite way to preserve extra eggs is to make them into "non-egg" recipes: waffles, muffins, pancakes, and in this case delicious cinnamon French Toast. Duck eggs in particular, are great for baking due to their higher fat and protein content and are my preferred egg to use in recipes like this. Here I will … Continue reading Freezing Cinnamon French Toast | Vacuum Sealing | High Egg Count Recipe [Video]
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Basic Seed Starting Supplies
You do not need some extravagant and expensive set up to get seeds started early indoors, if you don't want to; no matter how big or small you want to go everyone uses the same 5 (plus your seeds) basic tools. Let's go into what those basic seed starting supplies are and how to choose … Continue reading Basic Seed Starting Supplies
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January: Polar Vortex, Prepping, Ducks & Chickens in the cold
January eggs Winter came in swinging for us: some major snowstorms and then some subzero temps to top it off. Then after that some freezing rain, but then about 3 days of solid rain that melted it all away like it never happened. Then more snow. It's definitely winter around here! But we made it! … Continue reading January: Polar Vortex, Prepping, Ducks & Chickens in the cold
The Cottage Vegetable 