Vintage Home and Farm

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.

See eight rooms featuring knotty pine walls with white trim inside this unique home. In this e-book, you'll have the opportunity to peek inside a vintage Cape Cod house before, during and after renovation, as the family restored the home to its former glory. Only available on Amazon (for just a couple dollars),  click to download your copy  (for easily reading on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC using the  free Kindle app ).  See the book on Amazon .   Beautifully told story of a house coming to life by caring new owners. This House with Knotty Pine is so lucky to have a second chance at life, and to not have been painted over. When the family first began decorating this home that featured knotty pine walls with white trim, they searched and searched online to find photos of similar homes.  They weren't sure how to go about adding furniture, what fabric choices were best, and whether or not the house would look dark and gloomy with all their belongings in it....

Last year I tried and failed horribly at making sauerkraut. My beautiful homegrown cabbage that was fermenting in a salt brine on the counter turned into a terrifying science project with white mold growing on top of gray, smelly, soggy-looking cabbage.  The jar of yuck turned so horrible that I tossed it into the compost pile and figured I'd never give home fermentation a try again.  Then I started reading a book about fermentation that a friend gave me for my birthday last year, Fermented Vegetables: Creative Recipes for Fermenting 64 Vegetables & Herbs in Krauts, Kimchis, Brined Pickles, Chutneys, Relishes & Pastes  by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey.   After giving it significant consideration, I decided fermentation was worth another try.  After all, fermented foods (when properly prepared and not moldy science projects) have enormous health benefits from the probiotics they contain, which promotes healthy digestive and immune systems.  A ...

Homemade is better. Homemade foods are healthier, more economical and taste better than any processed grocery store food that you can buy. By making foods at home, we are consuming simple, natural ingredients while also reducing the sodium and fat in our diets.  One of my favorite books that helps with replacing processed pantry foods with homemade versions is  The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start Making ,  by Alana Chernila. Alana's book covers all the basic food categories, including: Dairy Cereals and snacks Canned fruits, vegetables and beans Condiments, spices and spreads Soups Baking mixes Frozen foods Pasta and sauce Breads and crackers Drinks Candy and sweets Enjoyable to thumb through, Alana's book is filled with engaging photos of her family as they prepare favorite recipes.  It's a lovely book that inspires the reader to get started making homemade versions of such staples as corn tortillas, hummus, sauerkraut, fish sticks, veggie...

Over the past few years we have begun to collect a number of homestead books that we refer to time and again. We'd like to share information about these books with you. This is the first in a regular series of blog articles where we will highlight a book that serves us well on our little farm. One of my favorite homestead books that has inspired me with tips and techniques on how to grow, store and use more vegetables is Barbara Pleasant's Home Grown Pantry: A Gardener's Guide to Selecting the Best Varieties & Planting the Perfect Amounts for What You Want to Eat Year-Round . We came across the book at the public library this past summer and liked it so much that we had to purchase our own copy. This book makes me feel like my mom or grandma are in the garden and the kitchen with me, showing me tried and true techniques for healthy eating inspired by back-to-our-roots living.  The book serves as a guide not only for gardening, but also for food preservation and c...