Cooking outdoors is a must in the summertime. While I do enjoy barbecuing on our gas grill, I love the thought of cooking outside in a more natural way. Cooking with fire, hot coals, the sun, or the earth is really appealing to me in a primal way. I especially love the idea of a…
Homestead & DIY
We have our own little urban homestead and we are so excited to share our homesteading endeavors with you! This is where I will be talking about things like storing and preserving and dehydrating food, harvesting rainwater, and DIY projects like making a homemade apple press, an herb and flower drying screen, or even your own beeswax food wraps!
Backyard Garden Update
Well, I figured it was about time for me to give you a backyard garden update! As you may or may not know, we moved into a brand new little homestead this past March, and have been feverishly working on the garden ever since. We don’t have a huge amount of space to work with,…
How to Make Soap For Beginners + Calendula Soap Recipe
I’m going to say right now that I am no expert when it comes to making homemade soap. In fact, what you will see in this post is how to make soap for beginners. This is because I am also very much a beginner! The benefit from learning from a soap making newbie like me…
Do You Want to Live Off Grid?
My end goal in life is to live off grid. I don’t know if I will ever accomplish that, but I can dream. I know what it takes from my experience of living in a tent cabin without electricity and only a wood stove for heat during many summers in the high country of Yosemite…
5 Ways to Protect Potted Plants in Winter
I can’t even believe it’s almost winter already, but here we are. While it’s not technically winter yet, it has been quite cold in our neck of the woods, and it’s supposed to stay that way for a little while. Over the past several weeks we’ve cleaned up the garden, harvested what we could, and…
Herbal Diaper Rash Salve
It seems as though everyone I know either has a child in diapers or is pregnant, including my sister who is due to give birth any day! So, it seemed fitting for me to make something for babies from the Introductory Herbal Course that I’m taking from the The Herbal Academy. This course has been…
Willow Witt Ranch Farm Tour
Today I’m going to tell you all about a local farm. This is not just any farm, mind you. This is Willow Witt Ranch, a glorious 440 acre, off grid working farm in the outskirts of Ashland, OR, that literally screams paradise. Joel and I were lucky enough recently to get a behind the scenes…
How to Make Infused Herbal Oils
Learning how to make an infused herbal oil is the first step in making numerous all-natural body care recipes like herbal salves, body butters, and creams. Making an infused oil is easier than you might think, and the perfect first project for a beginner herbalist. Herbal Academy Courses Well hello there! As I’ve mentioned before,…
How to Dehydrate Peppers for Food Storage
We’re at the end of summer when the bounty of the season is in full swing. Time to start preserving the harvest in any and every way. Canning and freezing are the most common ways to do this, but don’t forget about dehydrating! Here’s how to dehydrate peppers for food storage. Why Dehydrate Vegetables? The…
How to Make an Herb and Flower Drying Screen
Hello my wonderful blog readers! I recently wrote an article for the The Herbal Academy about how to make an herb and flower drying screen, and I wanted to make sure to share it with you here as well so you don’t miss out! Growing your own medicinal, culinary, or otherwise useful herbs and flowers…
