They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Monday was a bit of an off day. Mommy and Daddy both had to work, but Auntie Mate was here to shepherd the kids through school. They did a great job being good for her. On Tuesday, we tried to get the house back into the normal swing of things, and to push ahead on… Continue reading Elderberry Elixir
Well folks, as expected, last Saturday was Crazy! We had more than twenty families come over, from Church, homeschool, work, 4H and neighbors. We processed more than a ton of apples into who knows how much cider! We canned 100+ gallons the day of, and parceled out another 20-ish gallons for people to can at… Continue reading Cider Fest 2025!
Tuesday, 9/30/2025 We pulled the sauerkraut that has been fermenting in the basement for the last 19 days. The temperature in the basement is cooling down as the weather outside cools. It is now about 64 degrees ambient temperature. The jar on the right is a special case. This was a jar of red cabbage… Continue reading Green Sauerkraut Taste Test
Sometimes people may wonder why so much of our time is spent in making food. Don't we know that we can just go to the store and buy the same stuff, cheaper and faster? No mess, no prep, just pop it in the oven. Or the microwave. Then you don't even have to wash dishes.… Continue reading Farm Food. Bread, Mama Mac, Elderberry Cordial
September 5th. The tomatoes are pretty much done for the year, it seems. We have very few new blossoms, and while we have a few ripe ones coming in, it is not enough to be worth saving, and we need to clear freezer space so we can start collecting apples for cidering in a month… Continue reading Tomato Sauce
It isn't quite fall yet, but don't let that stop us. The winter garden crops are coming in strong. With the issues we had this summer with rodents chewing the sprinkler hoses, we are experimenting with getting most of the hoses off the ground. It seems to be working well so far, but it requires… Continue reading Fall Gardening
Last Saturday, (that is last Saturday but one by the time you read this, a.ka. the 16th) we processed most of the tomatoes that we had harvested the previous Thursday, ahead of the rain storm. On the right are the ripest ones, mostly Heirloom Marriage and on the left are the less ripe, mainly Cuore… Continue reading Canning Tomatoes
This was the first year we have gotten a decent crop of elderberries from the farm. So far we have only been harvesting from the black elder shrub, and have already gotten a huge haul. These are the elderberries we pruned back to the stump in early 2024. They grew out shoots in 2024, and… Continue reading Elderberries.
This has been a very busy week and a lot has gone on, so buckle up. It's time for a catch-up post. Literally. Mommy took Evie and Ellie to the fair last Wednesday. No, the other last Wednesday, the 6th of August. That's how far behind we are. They immediately started winning prizes. Ellie got… Continue reading Catch up post
Our Hollywood plum tree produced like crazy this year, unlike the past two years (the tree is only three years old). It is the earliest blooming plum we have, and as such, is subject to late frosts, while the other two plums have a tendency to miss the late frosts. This year, however, we had… Continue reading Plum Juice
Little Farm in the Big City 