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Showing posts from November, 2021

Now Available: More Farm Journals!

Exciting news!  For those of you who enjoy keeping a journal for writing your thoughts, taking notes, doodling, dreaming and goal setting, I'm excited to share that the remainder of our journals have been published.  There are 5 total designs, each with its own unique theme.  These soft-bound farm journals are available for purchase on Amazon.  Find more information about them here: Farm-Themed Journals  by Vintage Home and Farm These would make great gifts and stocking stuffers for the holidays, too!  We hope you enjoy them, and please let us know your thoughts - these are journals we are using and we're planning to keep updating them every year.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie with Walnut Crust

Rich and decadent but a lot less sweet than other versions, this Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie will soon become one of your favorites to serve to family and friends for dessert! It's a quick, easy, and failproof pie that comes together so nicely.  How did we come up with this recipe?  Well, the original version of the recipe came from the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummand. However, her recipe calls for twice the amount of sugar, as well as a chocolate cookie crust, and it has no cocoa powder in it.  We tried her recipe but found it way too sweet for our liking.  We were also concerned about how many carbs it contained. It definitely wasn't glycemic index friendly.  I began to play around with her recipe, adjusting the sugar, adding in cocoa powder, replacing the cookie pie crust with a walnut version, and viola!  We've made this pie several times over the past year, and it now occurs to me that it is worth sharing our version with everyone. We hope you like it! Chocolate Peanut But

Chicken Keeping Journal and Egg Production Log Book

Just released! We have been looking for a chicken keeping log book that would serve our farm's needs, and not finding exactly what we wanted, we decided to make our own, and then share it with others! It's now available on Amazon in paperback format.  Use our  Chicken Keeping Journal for 2022  to keep a daily tally of your farm's eggs, including eggs gathered, sold, and associated expenses. The full-sized, 8.5x11-inch soft-covered journal is a handy way to keep up with your year.  Place it on your kitchen counter, and it'll be within reach when you need to record farm-related activities. Additional space is provided for tracking special care of your flock, including treatments and supplements you've provided to them. Order today on Amazon ! The journal features notes sections throughout for jotting down other details about your year. Keep your memories of the year in this combination journal and log book! The design of the journal is based on our own record keeping

A Harvest Preserved

One of the questions that I get asked from time to time is how we preserve our harvest.  When we first started preserving food, even before putting things in the freezer, we chose to can as much as possible.  We started off pressure canning, and then later on, I learned how to water bath can as well.  Today, our food preservation includes not only canning and freezing but also dehydrating and curing food. Above, you'll see some of our home-canned food and most of our teas and herbs stored in this hutch that was built by my father-in-law, Richard. We've got both herbs we foraged and those we've grown, dehydrated, and stored in glass jars in the upper part of the hutch. On the countertop, tomatoes are  ripening from our summer harvest. We've also got a tub of quinoa that we harvested and winnowed a while ago. And, of course, in the ceramic jar are bones for our dog, Mojo.  Finally, the wooden chicken holds medicines and supplements for the chickens, ducks, cats and dog. T

Testing the Cold Tolerance of Summer Plants

What if we could grow our own tomatoes and summer squash outdoors year round?  Most people use a greenhouse or grow indoors under lights, but we've found that there are tomato plants that will keep producing outdoors all the way into January, if planted in just the right spot.  Last year, we had Matt's Wild Cherry tomato growing in the corner of our south-facing brick flowerbed, right next to the front door.  The silly thing had gotten tall and gangly, and was reaching inside the door every time we opened it. I can't tell you how many times I had to tell it, "You stay outside," and tuck it's vines back out the door.  The poor thing got pinched a few times in the door in its eagerness to get inside our house. The amazing plant was producing new flowers and tomatoes, too, all the way into January, even after many days of hard frosts and snow.  Matt's Wild Cherry had appeared there as a donor plant after I'd put compost in the flower bed in the late summe