Ten Acre Homestead

Homesteading & Technology: 5 free apps for today's homesteader

2015-01-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

First off, let me wish you all a very happy New Year, filled with all things bright and beautiful!
Welcome back from the holiday festivities and into a new year of homesteading activities.

Now, let's get on with the homesteading show (so to speak)...

Today's homesteader has a world of resources at their fingertips: blogs, digital libraries, print libraries, county extension offices, aunt Gertrude and many more. If you're semi-techie (like me) you probably have a smartphone or a tablet lying around, so now you can keep a pocket resource in the form of apps as well. I personally like the iPad so the following list of apps is iOS based (sorry android users but I hope you can find them in your app store too).

So here we go, the 5 FREE apps I've found useful in our homesteading venture are:

1. Flipboard - This app is like a personal magazine/newspaper. You can customize it to follow a broad range of topics and interests - including homesteading! It's visually appealing, easy to setup and very pleasant to read.

2. Vegetable Garden Calculator - A very handy little app for helping calculate how many plants you will need to feed a given number of people. Old pros may not find this one quite as thrilling but for newbies like me this is a great little tool to have.

3. GardenMinder - Nifty app for helping to plan raised-bed gardens. It will allow you to layout the garden beds and keep a journal with notes and pictures of each garden right in the app. It also features automatic weekly reminders that are based on the frost dates for your area and the specific crops you are growing.

4. Grow Your Own Organic Herbs - easy to use quick-reference tool that provides tips and advice for growing organic herbs.

5. Newsify - This is similar to Flipboard but also works as an RSS reader allowing you to keep up with all of your favourite homesteading bloggers from around the country and the world. Laid out in a lovely, easy to read format - imagine all that homesteading goodness right there at your fingertips.

So there you have it, my choices for 5 free homesteading apps! I hope you find these useful and if you have some other apps that you use often in your homesteading endeavors feel free to let us know in the comments area!

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Homestead Christmas Greetings

2014-12-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Silent Night

by Newbie Steader

A hush descends

No sigh is heard -

Upon the hill

The crimson bird

Is tucked within

His feathered bed

While moonbeam flakes

Fall round his head.

And down below

The forest glade

In sylvan gleam

To sleep is swayed.

Far off the homes

With amber glow

Are bathing gold

The winter's snow

And snug within

Their timbered walls

The children dream

Of reindeer calls.

So then the Yule

Has come and gone

With splendid hopes

For all and one.

Merry Christmas to you all!

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Homestead Christmas: Gluhwein: traditional & non-alcoholic

2014-12-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

image source: duden.de

Another fond memory I have of our yule-tide traditions is Christkindlemarkt or the traditional Christmas markets found over much of Germanic Europe. There's nothing quite like it for putting a smile on one's face. Wandering through the many booths, viewing the arts, crafts and local food favorites is one of the coziest memories I have of growing up. A trip to the market just wouldn't be the same without a stop-off at the Glühwein stall to warm up, the smell of mulling spices in the air and the warm mug in your hand as you gaze out over the twinkling lights and merry sounds around you. In the absence of the traditional markets in our neck of the woods, we still like to make this holiday favorite for ourselves. For those among us that prefer a non-alcoholic version, I've got you covered! So keep on reading and I hope you enjoy a warm, and festive Yule with all your family and friends.

Traditional Glühwein

1 bottle of good quality red wine

1 cup of water

juice of 1 lemon

5 tbs sugar

3 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 oranges - cut into bite size pieces

orange slices for decoration

How to make it: Put first 6 ingredients in a pot and bring it close to boil then reduce to simmer.
Add cut orange to the wine.
Let simmer.
Remove clove, cinnamon stick and orange pieces before serving it into lightly pre-warmed glasses. Decorate glasses with an orange slice.

Non-Alcoholic Glühwein also known as Kinderpunsch (Children's punch)

2 – 3 whole Cloves

2 crushed Nutmeg (or app. ½ tsp Ground)

1 - 2 Cinnamon Sticks

Whole Lemon, unpeeled, quartered

Whole Orange or Tangerine, unpeeled, quartered

1 gallon red grape juice (preferably unsweetened)

Pour the juice into a dutch oven or thick bottomed pot. Start warming it up on the stove. Add the spices to the juice. Add the quartered lemon and orange/tangerine. Allow to soak or slightly simmer at least a half-hour, but not more than an hour. Remove the whole spices and lemon and orange/tangerine.

Keep covered and on lowest heat. Serve in prewarmed glasses or mugs and decorate as above.

Enjoy!

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A Homestead Christmas: Lebkuchen (German Gingerbread)

2014-12-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

With the coming of winter things have slowed down considerably on our front. We are comfortably preparing for the Yule-tide celebrations and looking forward to the homey, peaceful months ahead.

As the second installment of some of my favorite childhood Christmas traditions I'd like to share another cookie recipe with you all. This one is a traditional German cake-like cookie similar to gingerbread, however, the taste is quite different. Lebkuchen (most closely pronounced "layb-coo-ken") has been a traditional staple in Germanic Europe since the late 1200s when specialty bakers and monks have been recorded as creating these honey-based cakes. Each town, and even family, has a special recipe that is passed down through the generations which varies as to the spices incorporated (Lebkuchen can range from spicey to sweet) and the favorite form of decoration. Some are quite large and hard so that they can be decorated with icing saying and hung from ribbons for various festive occasions. The following recipe is a moist cake-like cookie with a pleasingly spicy flavor and can be decorated in a number of ways: lemon glaze frosting, chocolate coating or simply plain with almonds and candied fruit. Whatever your preference these make a lovely addition to any cookie tray during the holidays.

source: Cafe Schubert

Yield: 18 cookies

What you'll need:

For the cookies:

3 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 egg
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 molasses

For the Glaze:

1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. lemon juice

Optional:

Sliced Almonds or other nuts, candied fruit

Directions:

Sift together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Set aside.
Beat the egg and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
Beat in the honey and molasses until thoroughly combined.
On low speed, stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead the dough, adding more flour as needed until a stiff dough is formed.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm (about 2 hours or overnight).
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper
On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough into 9x12-inch rectangles. Cut the dough into 18 3x2-inch rectangles (or with any cookie cutter shape you desire). Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Whisk together the confectioner's sugar, water and lemon juice for the glaze. Brush or spread on top of the cookies.
Allow the glaze to firm before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.

Steader's Note: These cookies taste better after a couple of days "rest" since the flavors develop over time. Also, place the sliced almonds or other nuts and fruit on top of the cookies before baking. You can glaze over them if you choose after baking or leave them plain. If the recipe is varied to make a drier cookie and a hole is made before baking, these can be iced/decorated and hung from the tree as ornaments.

I hope you enjoy these and let me know how they turn out for you should you decide to give them a try.

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The Poetry of Nature

2014-11-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

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A Homestead Christmas: Vanillekipferl

2014-11-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

image source: lecker.de

I love Christmas and Yule-tide! Few things have a warmer place in my childhood memories than celebrating the season with wonderful family traditions. Traditions that included home-baked, made from scratch, cookies every year. As there are limited weekends before the big event, and Advent starts on November 30th, I thought I'd get this year's festivities off to a start with some recipes - beginning with one of my favorites - Vanillekipferl.

Pronounced: Vah-Nil-Ay-Kip-Furl, these are delicate almond and vanilla flavored confections that are relatively easy to whip up but will have everyone thinking you've spent ages on them. The only tricky part is their delicate nature after baking so take care when removing them from the baking sheet and when coating in vanilla sugar.

What you'll need:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cups ground almonds (use a coffee grinder)
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 of a vanilla bean

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F (170C)
Mix dry ingredients
Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or fork) then quickly knead into a dough
Shape dough into logs 1/2" and cut off 2" pieces
Shape into crescent shapes and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet
Bake approx. 8 - 10 minutes or until just slightly golden (don't let them get too dark)
Cool 1 minute, then carefully roll in or dust with vanilla sugar.

To make vanilla sugar:
blend 1/2 vanilla bean with 1 cup sugar in a blender or small coffee grinder - make sure to pulse - then sieve.
The vanilla sugar will be like powdered sugar.

Steader's tip: I usually keep vanilla flavored sugar on hand year round. I make it by putting a couple of vanilla beans in a container of white cane sugar and allowing the sugar to become infused. This infused sugar can then be ground/pulsed to create the powdery sugar called for above. It's also excellent in everything from coffee to tea to cereal.

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Unintentional lessons in food preservation

2014-11-10T09:00:00.001-07:00

Mr. Newbie and I are very fond of hiking and camping in the late spring and autumn months and toward this end we decided several years ago to put up some dehydrated foods that we could take along with us on the trails. We were able to enjoy the fruits of our labor (punn intended) and felt a great sense of satisfaction in having learned a skill that would put us in good stead in our future endeavors.

While recently clearing out some items we had in storage, we found that several packages of these dehydrated fruits had unintentionally been stored away. What a great opportunity to have a little homesteading test of our food preservation. We had followed the general rule of thumb when dehydrating fruits. They were dried until they had a pliable, leathery texture. We packaged them in freezer bags with oxygen absorbing packets.

First we unpacked the dehydrated mangos

Condition of packaging: like new.
Texture: leathery
Smell: faintly arromatic
Taste: rather bland with a slight after-taste of mango

Next came the apples

Condition of packaging: like new.
Texture: leathery
Smell: non-existent
Taste: very bland with no aftertaste.
This was easily our most successful carry-over along with our tea-mix that consisted of apple bits, apple and orange peels.

Condition of packaging: like new.
Texture: leathery with very dry orange peels
Smell: slightly fragrant smelling of orange
Taste: very faint orange flavor.

Next followed the three least successful:

Pineapples which tasted mildly unpleasant and were followed by

Strawberry which along with the below pictured banana slices were inedible, somewhere between burnt coffee and the actual flavor of the fruit.

The positives: we learned that the oxygen absorbing packets work very well creating an almost vacuum-sealed packet.

The negatives: Taste... While I believe the quality of the fruits remained and they were not spoiled in any way, the flavor of the fruits did not hold up over the span of time they were in storage.

Lesson learned: Properly dating the food storage bags is very important. While our home-dehydrated fruits were very tasty when first dehydrated along with those we kept with us and consumed within the first 6 months to a year, those that had ended up in storage for more than a year were a bit more disappointing. Overall, this worked wonderfully for short-term storage and is yet another great way of preserving the fruit and vegetable harvest from year to year.

Have you had similar experiences? If so, I'd love to hear about them.

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Let's Get Snackin' with Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2014-10-27T06:40:00.000-06:00

Both Mr. Newbie and I LOVE savory snacks and roasted seeds and nuts are right at the top of our list. So with that in mind, I thought I'd share how we made our very own roasted pumpkin seeds.

What you'll need:
A pumpkin (we used a pie pumpkin)
Serrated knife or hand saw
Ice Cream scoop or sturdy spoon
Bowl
Colander/Strainer
Baking sheet
Salt (we like sea salt)

Here's what we did:

Step 1
Cut the pumpkin in half using the serrated knife

Step 2
Scoop out the seeds (save the pumpkin meat to can or make pumpkin pie filling, soup or other yummy things)

Step 3
Put the seeds in the colander/strainer and rinse under cool running water until clean.

Step 4
Spread out on backing sheet and blot with paper towel or napkin

Step 5
Sprinkle seeds with a layer of salt

Step 6
Preheat the oven to 250F and place the seeds in the oven to bake/roast

Step 7
Roast until the seeds are dry and achieve the desired brownness

Step 8
Remove from the oven and place on paper towels to cool. Salt to taste

There you have it, wonderful, tasty, scrumpdiddly-iscous roasted pumpkin seeds. No worries about preservatives or other nasties and no hassles.

Featured on Strangers & Pilgrim's Link Up Love

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Homestead Crafting: All-Natural Moisturizing Face Cream

2014-10-20T09:52:00.000-06:00

As the season turns to the cooler months and the bite in the wind is nipping at my skin, my face finds itself in need of a little TLC. I'm not much of a primper on my best day and spending a lot on facial creams that are loaded with chemicals and preservative is not my idea of a good time, so what's a wind-chapped girl to do? Make her own all natural, 100% edible (chemical and preservative-free) facial cream, of course!

What you'll need:
1/2 cup of all natural oil (almond, olive, grape seed, jojoba, etc.)
find a list of carrier oil properties here
1/4 cup of coconut oil or Shea butter
1/4 cup of beeswax
Saucepan/boiler
Canning jar & several rims or other high temperature safe bowl
Small jar for the finished product (I reused a honey jar)

Optional items:
1 tsp vitamin E oil; Essential Oils or Extracts; Honey

What I chose:
3 TBS Almond Oil; 3 TBS Grape Seed Oil & 2 TBS Jojoba Oil to equal 1/2 cup of natural oils
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1 tsp Vitamin E oil
1 tsp honey
a little less than 1/4 cup of beeswax
I added the following essential oils: Rosemary (10 drops); Tea Tree (5 drops) and - not pictured - Lavender (15 drops)

Step 1:
Gather your materials

Step 2:
Measure and place all ingredients except the essential oils into the canning jar or bowl

Step 3:
Fill saucepan/boiler with a little water. Place canning rims in bottom or pan and place the canning jar or bowl on top of the rims. The rims keep the bowl off of the bottom of the pan. The water level should come about 2/3 up the side of the bowl or jar but not to the top.

Step 4:
Melt the contents of the jar/bowl until the wax is smoothly incorporated, stirring occasionally. Do not boil!

Step 5:
Remove from pan and add the essential oils

Step 6:
Pour into a bowl (I used my KitchenAid bowl but any bowl that you can mix in will do) and place in the freezer to firm up a bit - do not freeze

Step 7:
Remove from freezer and mix with a stand or hand mixer until smooth and creamy and the consistency of cake batter. Test the "feel" on the back of your hand. If you prefer, add a little corn starch to cut down on any greasy/oily feeling and whip a minute or two more.

Step 8:
Spoon the cream into your storage jar, wipe any spills with a napkin and close. Store on your counter top or if you prefer in your refrigerator. The cool cream can help with puffiness.

That's it! You have all natural - so good for you - facial cream which can be used for up to 6 months.
If the cream starts smelling odd discard it and make another batch.

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Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere - Let's make pie!

2014-10-13T06:40:00.000-06:00

Last week I shared how to can pumpkin with you and one of my favorite things to make with those canned chunks of pumpkin is pie. Warm and spicy it just defines Fall and the holiday season for me, so I thought I'd share my pie recipe with you today.

Pie Making Essentials

Pie crust (you can use a store-bought crust but here's my homemade version if you'd like the full-on pie making experience)
Pumpkin Pie Filling
Pie dish (I like the deep dish type)
Mixer - electric or wand type - or potato masher and a spoon

For the pie crust you'll need:

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (sifted)
1 tsp salt
2/3 cups butter or shortening
5 - 7 tbsp cold water

Instructions:

Put flour into a mixing bowl
Cube or slice the butter/shortening into the flour
Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour
Add salt and water
Mix until the dough is formed
Roll out on a flat, floured surface or between two sheets of waxed paper (should yield 2 - 9" pie crusts/shells

For the pie filling you'll need:

Pumpkin puree - use canned or steamed pumpkin cubes and puree with a hand mixer until smooth
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can evaporated milk (12 fl. oz.)
1 UNBAKED 9-inch deep dish pie shell

Instructions:

Mix sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk.
Place unbaked pie crust/shell into 9" deep dish pie pan
Pour mixture into pie crust/shell
Bake in preheated 425F oven for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 350F and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

For decorative pie toppers:
using the second pie crust, cut out shapes using a small pie cutter or cookie cutter or use a knife to form free-hand pieces. Bake at 375F in a preheated oven until desired brownness. Remove from oven and cool completely. Place on pie when removed from oven - prior to cooling.

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How to can pumpkin

2014-10-06T06:40:00.000-06:00

It's officially Fall now and I'm super excited. I love everything about Fall, the cool crisp mornings and mild evenings; the explosion of color from the changing trees and most of all the homey smell of baked goods and foods being prepared for storage. If there's one food that epitomizes the season for me it's the pumpkin. Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, Pumpkin Soup and mashed pumpkin with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon (think mashed potatoes only yummier!). With all that pumpkiny goodness awaiting it was next to impossible for me to not want to store some up for the winter. So off I went on a fact-finding mission to figure out how to can those lovely little bundles of Autumnal joy... here's what I found. Canning pumpkin really isn't all that difficult, sure it will take a little more effort and you'll need a pressure canner but otherwise it's pretty straight forward. Let's get this little disclaimer out of the way first. The USDA recommends you do not home-can pumpkin puree, butter or pie filling; only can pumpkin cubes. So, now, let's get to it!

First, what you'll need:

A pumpkin (of course) but not just any ol' jack-o-lantern pumpkin... you'll need a Pie Pumpkin. These are a smaller, sweeter and less grainy textured pumpkin which you can either get at your local grocer, farmer's market or if you're lucky to have one near "pumpkin patch".

You'll also need:
A microwave, steamer or a baking sheet and oven. I use a steamer since I don't own a microwave and the oven just takes too long for me. Choose what works best for you.

A knife for cubing the pumpkin and preferably a serrated knife for cutting it open before you cook it.
A clean pot holder or oven mitt for holding the pumpkin while hot
Canning jars, lids and rims (properly sterilized with new lids)
Canning tools like the jar grabber/lifter, funnel and and a spatula or wooden spoon handle
A pressure canner large enough to accommodate the canning jars you've chosen and a timer.

Now for the fun part....

Step 1 - Get your pumpkin

Step 2 - Prepare the pumpkin for cooking: wash the exterior in cool or warm water - do not use soap! Cut the pumpkin in half with the serrated knife (a smooth bladed knife is more likely to slip and injure you) using a sawing motion. If you prefer use a small hand saw to cut through the tough skin.

Step 3 - Scoop out the seeds - use a melon baller or ice cream scoop to scoop out the seeds and stringy insides. SAVE THE SEEDS for replanting or roasting!

Step 4 - Cook it! There are several ways to cook the pumpkin. As I mentioned above I prefer steaming, but I'll list the methods below so you can choose what works best for you.

Method 1: Microwave
Remove the stem and put the pumpkin into a microwavable bowl, cut it into more pieces if the larger ones won't fit but remember that the fewer (and larger) the pieces the easier it will be to remove the skin later. Put a couple of inches of water into the bowl and cover it. Microwave in intervals until the pumpkin is tender - but DO NOT MASH or PUREE it. Be very careful to keep the pumpkin in tact.

Method 2: Steam on the stove top
I use a double pot steamer but you can also use an ordinary pot with a steamer basket. Place the pumpkin pieces into the steamer and steam for 20 - 30 minutes or until tender. Again, be careful not to mash the pumpkin. Save the cooking liquid, you'll use it for packing the jars later.

Method 3: Baking in the oven
This method takes the longest. Place the pumpkin cut side down in a covered oven-safe dish. Bake at 350F (200C) for 45 - 90 minutes or until tender. Test periodically with a fork.

Step 5 - Prepare your canner. Fill the pressure canner with at least 3" of water and bring to a boil.

Step 6 - Peel the pumpkin - The skin should easily peel off using a blunt knife in one hand and an oven mitt in the other.

Step 7 - Cut it - Cut the pumpkin flesh into 1-inch cubes (BE CAREFUL NOT TO SMOOSH THEM).

Step 8 - Pack the jars - fill the canning jars with your pumpkin cubes and fill them with the cooking liquid from steaming (or if you used a different method - boil a pot of water and use that) leaving 1" of headspace. Place the hot lids and rings on the jars.

Step 9 - Let's get canning... Take your jar lifter/grabber tongs and place the jars onto the rack of your pressure canner. If the water level has dropped below 3" add more hot water. Put the lid on the canner but do not place the weight or close the valve (depending on your type of canner).

Step 10 - Let it vent. Put the stove top heat on high and let the canner vent steam for about 10 minutes. This purges the airspace inside the canner.

Step 11 - Put the weight on or close the valve to let pressure build. Pressure should build to 11 to 13 pounds in a dial-type canner gauge or 10 to 15 pounds in a weighted gauge canner.

Step 12 - Process. Once you reach the correct pressure, start your timer and process the jars for the required time. I used 65 minutes for pint jars and 75 minutes for quart jars. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain a consistent pressure in the canner. Also pressure requirements depend on the altitude. Here is a chart to help you determine the pressure and processing times if you are above sea level. Canning books or other online canning guides may have more helpful charts so keep that in mind.

Step 13 - Be Cool - After you've processed the jars for the required time, turn off the heat and let the canner cool down. After the pressure drops to zero wait 3 additional minutes and then remove the weights or open the valves to allow remaining steam to vent.

Step 14 - Remove the jars and let them cool. - using the lifter/grabber tongs, remove the jars and place them on a wooden cutting board or towel to cool. Do not touch or bump them. After the jars have cooled you should check the lids to make sure they have sealed properly.

That's it! Now you have yummy, homey pumpkin for the winter. You can eat them as is, puree them for pie filling or soup or you can mash them up like potatoes. Have fun!

P.S. Remember to label your jars! Here are some lovely printable labels from JES at Strangers & Pilgrims on Earth.

featured at Front Porch Friday by Preparedness Mama;
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Homestead Crafts: Knitted Doll Pattern

2014-09-29T06:40:00.000-06:00

Since we are creeping on toward the holiday season I decided to share one of my crafted gift ideas with you. A couple years ago I decided to hand-make the Christmas presents for my little nieces. I believe that something that's been made with love and thoughtfulness makes a wonderful gift for those we love and is something that can be passed down with time.

My thoughts ran through my limited skill set and I landed on making knitted dolls for them. Now, I'm anything but the worlds best knitter so I needed something that a relatively inexperienced knitter could tackle in a short amount of time (I needed to make two after all) and that wouldn't make me pull my hair out before the project was done; I found a great pattern by Vivian Hoxbro at www.viv.dk for her Danish Christmas "Nisse" dolls. At first I was a bit intimidated by the instructions, but once I figured out how to read them the directions were very simple.

What I used for this project:
1 skein Red Heart Super Saver yarn in "Buff"
remnant of purple and soft pink yarn (for dress)
remnant of soft pink and purple yarn for scarf, contrast stitching in dress and belt
remnant of chunky brown yarn for hair
white sewing thread
sewing needle
2 small black buttons with posts (for eyes)
cotton batting for stuffing
1 set of size 8 double point needles
1 crochet hook

Instead of knitting the Christmas dolls in the original version, I decided to change the coloring so that the dolls would resemble my nieces and would have a dress in each of their favorite colors (pink and purple). Otherwise I followed the directions for the construction of the dolls. Once the dolls were completed and the dresses had been finished, I made the hair out of chunky brown yarn by inserting a crochet needle through a stitch on the dolls head and out the other side, then I doubled the yarn and hooked it before pulling it back through the stitch. I made sure to hold one end of the yarn firmly so that only the other end would be pulled through. Once that was done I simply knotted the yarn on the head and proceeded from there until the head was covered to my liking.

I also did not knit the shoes in a contrasting color opting instead to leave the entire leg and feet in buff.

I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I did, I can see endless possibilities for this, possibly a teddy bear or something similar in the future. Just knit some ears and sew them on the head instead of the hair.

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A note from the 'stead:

2014-09-22T06:40:00.000-06:00

We'll be back at our regular time next week, hope to see you then!

Preserving the harvest when you don't have a garden or orchard

2014-09-15T06:40:00.000-06:00

How do you stock your pantry for the dark winter months ahead if, like us, you aren't living full-time on your homestead or you don't have the space or option to garden where you are?

Our solution? "Pick Your Own" farms. We are fortunate enough to have several orchards near us that offer very reasonable rates for gleaning your own fruits. We try to take advantage of these as often as we are able. We've mostly had success in getting loads and loads of apples and pumpkin but ours also offer pears, peaches, strawberries and cherries in season.

How does it work? If you aren't familiar with these, the concept is very simple. You check the Pick-Your-Own website here to see if there are any in your area; then grab your family and as many friends as would like to tag along before heading to the closest farm or orchard. Once there, you generally will be directed to the farm store or produce stand where you will be able to chose the amount you'd like to pick (for example: 25lbs is our standard but we could choose to get multiple 25lb bags and fill those if we wanted to.) Once you make your selection you pay up and head out into the orchard. The experience will vary depending on how large the operation is. We have a mix of farms near us so some of them are relatively small and offer only a few varieties but others have a wide range available and require a drive-through in order to access the portions you want to pick from. A map depicting the farm's layout and their varieties is generally available where you pay, make sure to grab one! And that's about it, you get your bags and stuff them as full as you possibly can, put them in your car and head on home. We've canned apple wedges, apple pie filling and apple sauce; not to mention dehydrating apple slices for snacking as well as drying the peels to use in tea. We've also picked our own pie pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and made pie filling as well as canned pumpkin chunks.

a small part of our pick-your-own apple bounty

Having no option for gardening right now, we are very thankful to be able to do this. If you have the opportunity to check one out for yourself I'd encourage you to go for it. It's a great way to spend the day with your loved ones and do a little bit for your self-reliance and preparedness.

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Free Homesteading Information - where to find it and how to get it.

2014-09-08T06:40:00.000-06:00

If there's one lesson that I've learned since we started on our homesteading venture, it's that setting up a 'stead doesn't come cheap. While we focus on reusing and re-purposing items as well as searching for inexpensive alternatives, one area we've found can cause considerable cost is amassing a resource library. Research and information is vital to us as neither myself nor Mr. Newbie come from agricultural backgrounds and as anyone who's gone looking for information at places like Amazon or Barnes & Nobel knows those books aren't inexpensive. Local libraries and online sites can be a wealth of useful and much appreciated information but sometimes you just want to know where to go without looking through pages and pages of search results (or at least I do)...

Well, look no further! I stumbled across a wonderful resource for free farm and homesteading information and want to share it with you: USDA Farm Bulletins! Now I realize that these are older publications but the information in them is still very relevant to today's aspiring 'steader community. You can find these to buy in paper form on eBay and other places but my favorite is a free online option for reading them via the digital library at the University of North Texas. I'm in the process of saving links to those that are most interesting to us in our Library section as I discover them. The University lists over 1800 results in the Farm Bulletin Serial so go ahead and check them out, I'm sure you'll find something that will be helpful to you, I sure did.

If you'd like a bit more hands-on and personal experience you can do as my southern granny does and visit or call up your local county agent or county extension office. These folks are a storehouse of knowledge for the home gardener and homesteader alike. If (like me) you have no idea how to locate your extension officer you can do so by searching you're state on the "Pick Your Own" website here.
I've already found some very interesting and useful information on our specific locality via my local extension office's website (which is found with the office's contact details at the link above) and I'm sure we will be making even more extensive use of these guys once we make the full-time move to our property and start building up our homestead.

I'd love to hear your ideas and resources as well, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

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Super Simple, Quick and Easy Homestead Apple Cobbler

2014-09-01T06:40:00.000-06:00

This summer has been unusually mild over most of the U.S. and it's no different in our neck of the woods. With the cool evenings and crisp mornings my mind has turned toward fall. Its these blustery pooh-type days that put me in the mood for the gooey, warm comfort of apple cobbler so I thought I'd share our super simple, quick and easy Homestead Apple Cobbler recipe with you and spread the autumn love.

What you'll need
Filling:
Our canned apple pie filling (or a store bought filling if you choose)

Cobbler batter (printable card with our pumpkin cobbler recipe here):
1/4 cup butter - cubed
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F
Mix the dry ingredients
Work the butter into the flour mixture with a fork until crumbly
Incorporate the milk and beat until smooth
Pour or spoon batter into a deep baking dish (I like to use a 9" Pyrex(TM) deep-dish pie pan)
Pour or spoon the filling onto the batter (do not mix in) the batter will rise up through and around the filling.
Bake at 400 for 45 - 55 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Start watching it after about 35 minutes as it can go from brown to burnt rather quickly.
Best served warm with vanilla ice cream or a vanilla sauce on top.

We hope you enjoy this little taste of autumn!

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We're out back making memories

2014-08-25T06:40:00.000-06:00

Thanks for stopping by this week. My mom is in town and we've taken the week to make some more memories together. At the end of the day that's what really matters; living consciously, respectfully and making memories with those we love. I hope to see you again next week when I'll share our Homestead Apple Cobbler recipe with you all. Until then, have a great week and remember to make some memories of your own!

A practical hobby can be a very good thing

2014-08-18T06:29:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! As you've probably already noticed, I'm enjoying my new-found hobby of sewing quite a lot. One of the things I'm particularly pleased with is the fact that even though I am spending money on this hobby I am also achieving something very practical and usable in my everyday life and also helping to keep a bit of traditional knowledge alive at the same time. I have new-found respect for those stalwart women of yesteryear who after a hard day's work still sat down to many hours of hand-stitching their family's clothing by dim light. Even with a very minimal wardrobe per person, that must have been quite a job. As for myself, I am very thankful that modern sewing machines are affordable and easy-enough to come by.

I work in a corporate office environment and so need a particular type of wardrobe which in our neck of the woods can mean forking over a bit of cash if you aren't fortunate enough to find what you need at a discount store like Marshall's or TJMaxx. And sometimes even those prices can be a bit more than I like to spend. Looking polished and professional through creating my own wardrobe pieces (by way of something I find enjoyable in my downtime) gives me a great sense of satisfaction.

Here's a look at my 3rd, 4th, and 5th dress projects that I've completed and which along with the previous two have already been put to good use in my office wardrobe.

This is Vogue Pattern's Misses Dress #8146. I've sewn it in three different fabrics, all of which I bought on sale or with a coupon from Joann Fabrics. Each of these dresses was completed for well under $40.

Dress #3: Sewn in a burgundy red (Biking Red) Stretch Cotton Sateen fabric from Joann Fabrics - finished cost = $18.47

Dress #4: Sewn in a floral peachskin fabric (Simply Silky Prints Cosmos Poppy Spray Peachskin) from Joann Fabrics - finished cost = $22.47

Dress #5: Sewn in red & white polka dot satin fabric from Joann Fabrics - finished cost = $37.14 This dress I experimented with the pattern by changing the neckline shape and by adding a full lining of the same fabric as the dress.

How about you? Have you found interesting and practical ways to incorporate your hobbies into your everyday life? I'd love to hear about them.

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Homestead Pickled Cauliflower

2014-08-11T06:40:00.001-06:00

A few years ago we made our first forays into fermenting and pickling. There are so many ways to preserve the harvest and we want to give as many of them a try as we possibly can. Our baby steps included making up a batch of sauerkraut and some pickled cauliflower. I love cauliflower and pickles of most types are right up my alley so this week I'd like to share how we made our Homestead Pickled Cauliflower with you. I hope you enjoy.

What you'll need:
2 heads of cauliflower
2 c. small white onion
1 c. pickling salt (non iodized)
1 c. sugar
3 c. white vinegar
2 tbsp white mustard seeds
1 tbsp celery seeds
1 sm. red hot pepper chopped and de-seeded
4 pint canning jars with rims and new lids
Water bath canner or large stock pot and canning rims

Here's what you'll do:
Setup your work area with all your ingredients.
Wash the cauliflower and break into flowerets.
Scald and cool the cauliflower by boiling for 4 minutes and then cooling completely.
Peel and chop the onion to preferred size.
Mix all vegetables (except the hot pepper) with salt
Add just enough water to cover and let stand for 18 hours.

Drain vegetables. Rinse in cold water and drain again.
Dissolve sugar in vinegar
Add mustard and celery seeds along with the chopped and de-seeded hot pepper (you could also use red pepper flakes to taste here) then bring to a boil.
Add the strained vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes until barely tender
Pack vegetables into hot canning jars
Fill with boiling hot liquid (don't waste any of that good pickling juice!)
Wipe rims and seal

Refrigerate or process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes to preserve.

Makes 4 pints

If you are going to keep these in your refrigerator or eat them relatively soon I'd at least give them a couple of days to marinate in that yummy pickling solution.

I'm sure you have your own very good pickling recipes and I'd be happy to hear all about them.
Thanks for stopping by!

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Come along and hear the song of granny's wild-grown scuppernong

2014-08-04T06:40:00.000-06:00

O, I wish I was in the land of cotton

Old times there are not forgotten

Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie Land.

The image of the south is quite fractured but the prevailing theme seems to be one of comfort, friendliness and homeliness coupled with a strong work ethic and a will to make do. I'd say all of those things apply to my granny. She's a born and bred southern woman who has that Midas touch. She can make something out of nothing and figure out ways to use things that she finds around her home. Nothing shows this more than her love for all things green and growing (besides Kudzu and poison ivy/oak). She found some pretty little periwinkle blue ground-cover flowers in the back corner of her property and transplanted them to the front yard so she could see them while she sat on her front porch. Instant beautification for free - just a little elbow grease required! Another one of her transplants was her scuppernong vine. I can hear you now, scuppernong? What's a scuppernong?

This fruit with the funny name is a staple for making jelly at granny's place and happens to be my all-time-favorite homemade jelly made by granny.

Scuppernongs are wild grapes (a type of muscadine), similar to green grapes in texture and taste but much, much plumper. They can range in color from light green to bronze; the resulting jelly varies in color accordingly. She found her vines growing wild many years ago and transplanted them to the side-yard next to her garden. They are prolific producers every year and require very little effort on her part. Beyond making sure they were trained to grow along the trellis (two posts about 8 feet apart with a sturdy wire running between them) and the occasional watering they do their own thing and reward her year-after-year with a bountiful harvest. They are not very cold tolerant (thriving where temperatures rarely go below 10 F) so many northerners have never heard of them, but the southern folk know and they sure do make use of them. Everything from jelly to wine is made from this lovely fruit. You can eat the fruit whole as well, there's some debate among southerners as to eating the skins but nothing says you can't and that's where most of the nutrients are. The seeds on the other-hand you'll either have to swallow or spit out. We children loved having spittin' contests with these, similar to watermelon seeds but not quite as hefty. ;-) If granny ever made wine from them I don't recall it, I just know she makes some heavenly jelly.

If you should be lucky enough to find yourself in the way of some scuppernongs (or scuppanons as nanny calls them) I'd encourage you to scoop them up and give granny's jelly a try.

Granny's Southern Scuppernong Jelly

Ingredients:
Several pounds (3-4) of scuppernongs (enough to yield about 5 cups of juice when done)
2 cups of water
2 tsp lemon juice (granny uses the bottled kind for convenience)
1 pack of fruit pectin (low sugar or no sugar work best)
6 1/2 cups of granulated sugar (this is not a diabetic-friendly recipe)

Tools:
large saucepan/boiler
potato masher or something similar to crush the fruit with
mason/canning jars - granny uses pint size jars
water bath canner or a large pot and canning rims to process the jars in

wash and de-stem the scuppernongs
place in a boiler with the 2 cups of water and bring to a rolling boil. As the fruit/water is heating crush the fruit with the potato masher to release the juices. The more you crush the more juice will come out. Once at a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 10 minutes.
strain the mixture through a mesh sieve/strainer to remove the large solids. You can then process through a food mill if you like but granny just strains hers through a cloth made from an old (well bleached) cotton sheet.
reserve 5 cups of juice (if you don't have quite enough you can simply add some water or even white grape juice if you prefer)
prepare your canner and jars. If you don't have a water bath canner you could use a large stock pot as well, simply put some jar rims on the bottom of the pot before filling with water. You'll place your canning jars on top of the rims to keep them from sitting directly on the bottom of the pot.
measure out your sugar and set aside
in a large pot/boiler combine the juice, pectin and lemon juice and bring to a rolling boil - the sort you can't stir away.
add the sugar in one dump and return to a full boil for 1 minute
remove from heat and ladle into canning jars leaving 1/4" of headspace
wipe the jar rims, add the lids and rings and process in the canner at a boil for 5 minutes (or adjust for altitude should you need to)

Voila, you've just made some scrump-diddly-iscious scuppernong jelly the southern granny way.

Granny makes hers with good ol' granulated sugar, I haven't tried it with a sugar substitute like Splenda but if you should, please let me know how it turns out.

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Incredible No-Hassle, No-Knead Artisan Bread

2014-07-28T06:40:00.000-06:00

We here at the Ten Acre Homestead LOVE freshly baked bread. We've tried several different kinds over the years; bread machine variations, classic white bread loaves etc., etc. Now we've discovered this incredible recipe for the easiest, no-hassle bread we've ever made. It requires minimal ingredients and very little effort.

Introducing: Incredible No-Hassle, No-Knead Artisan Bread

Here's what you need:

6 cups of all-purpose flour (or bread flour if you prefer)
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 - 2 2/3 cups water
6 - 8 quart dutch oven (slightly smaller will work too for a taller loaf)

Here's how you make it:

Step 1: gather your ingredients
Step 2: mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
Step 3: add the water, start with 2 cups and add as necessary to get a firm sticky, wet dough (tip: a dough whisk comes in really handy here but is not necessary. This is not an affiliate link, I just happen to really like mine)
Step 4: cover with cling wrap and let sit on the counter top for 12 - 18 hours (I know, I know this sounds like an insanely long time but the longer rise time makes for better flavor and allows you to use less yeast - plus you don't have any hassle or kneading to contend with)
Step 5: place a tea towel covered by a piece of parchment paper on the counter and dust well with flour.
Step 6: the dough will look foamy/spongy and will have darkened slightly. With well floured hands work the dough out of the bowl (you want it to still be somewhat sticky but not so wet that it's an unmanageable blob) and using your fingers and plenty of re-flouring of your hands, work it into a ball.
Step 7: place seam-side down on floured parchment/towel and dust with more flour
Step 8: gently fold the parchment and towel over the dough ball and leave to rise for 1 - 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Step 9: during the last 30 minutes of rise, place a cast iron dutch oven with the lid into the oven and preheat to 425F
Step 10: carefully remove the hot dutch oven to the stove top, unwrap the dough ball and plop it into the dutch oven by holding the parchment/towel underneath in one hand and carefully turning it over into the dutch oven. (just a note of caution: the flour from the parchment/towel will most likely billow up and go everywhere so be careful when tipping this into the pot)
Step 11: cover with the lid and place in oven to bake for 40 - 45 minutes. uncover and bake for another 15 minutes or until golden brown
Step 12: remove from oven and exert a lot of patience while you wait for this to cool down. Resist the urge to cut into it at all costs as this cool-down period is imperative to achieving that crunchy, crispy crust! Once it stops crackling (like rice crispie's) you should be OK to cut it.

I usually stir up the dough in the evening after dinner and Mr. Newbie finishes it off in the morning. If we don't devour it all right away it gets stored right in the dutch oven on the counter top and will lasts for several days just fine.

And there you have it. Easy, peasy super yummy bread with a minimum of effort - all you need is a little time... This would be wonderful with old fashioned homemade fig preserves.

Feel free to share any favorite recipes you might have or if you should try this I'd love to know how you like it.

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Sweethearts, Princesses and Zippers oh my!

2014-07-21T06:40:00.000-06:00

My second project is complete and I have to say the fact that I've made this dress before has helped me to be able to concentrate more on finishing details. The challenges and successes of this dress were:

Challenge 1: the princess seams

In the first version of this dress the princess seams gave me a little trouble because they wanted to bunch and pucker. I'd never sewn anything major before and princess seams were in a new league. The seersucker fabric on the first version helped to disguise the puckering a bit though so I wasn't all that unhappy about it. I sewed this dress out of basic cotton and any puckering would be very visible (the unfortunate placement would be a bit embarrassing) so I wanted to concentrate on getting that seam as smooth as possible. I managed it a bit better but it still isn't quite perfect.

Challenge 2: the sweetheart neckline

The neckline on this version is very feminine and pretty. the slight heart-shaped curving makes it so much more special in my opinion. That same curving presented a sewing challenge to this newbie but I believe I managed to achieve it without too much distortion and puckering. A note to any other newbies trying this dress, make sure you transfer the stitch line from the pattern to your fabric very carefully. The curvature toward the "v" is super important to making this look perfect.

Successes: I managed to make the neckline and princess seams at the bust relatively smooth and with the addition of an overedge foot I was able to finish off my seams beautifully. My major success, however, was the side zipper. It looked so much better on this dress and went in very easily. After trolling some other sewing blogs and doing some searching online, I ignored the instructions in the pattern and just did the following:

Installing the conventional zipper (my way):

Baste the side seam opening between the notch on the skirt and the sewn portion at the arm hole/armscye (this is where the zipper will be). The side seams should be sewn together at this point from the armscye downward for a couple inches and from the skirt notch downward to the hem leaving that opening for the zipper which we have now basted shut. To baste simply set your machine to the longest possible straight stitch and sew along the seam allowance WITHOUT backstitching at the beginning or end. (The link above is to a lovely tutorial/explanation on machine basting).

Iron the seam allowance open

with the wrong side of the dress facing up, lay the closed zipper face down over the seam with the zipper stop lined up at the notch/opening on the lower end and making sure the teeth are centered over the seamline.

make sure the zipper is closed and the pull is pointing up toward the armscye and neckline. (The zipper pull doesn't show on the picture - sorry)
Pin

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How to make Granny's Old Fashioned Fig (or pear!) Preserves

2014-07-14T06:40:00.000-06:00

A breakfast at my granny's place is just not complete without the homemade biscuits and preserves. Not to mention the bacon, sausage eggs and whatever else she might decide to throw on the table. As a child I didn't much care for preserves - something about the mushed up fruits just set me to crying -but I sure did love the "syrup" that came along with them. I don't mind the fruit that much these days ;-)

Anyway, back to the preserves... since we're inching along through summer and since she always had these on hand from her very own pear and fig trees... I thought I'd share my granny's method of making her preserves. So lets get down to it, shall we?

This is a very simple but wonderful recipe (or formula if you will):

You'll need:

1 part sugar to 3 parts fruit (however much you have on hand)
canning jars in the size you like best - granny uses pint size ones cause that's what she has around from all her other canning, plus you just can't have too much of these yummy preserves at any given time.
a pot large enough to hold the fruit and sugar mixture
a lid for the pot
some lemon juice (optional) to hold the color
water (if needed)

Now, here's how the magic happens:

Wash & cut up the fruit, small figs get halved while larger ones get quartered. Pears get pealed before being sliced and chunked (spellcheck tells me that's not a word but I'm going with it.)
Put those lovely figs (or pears!) into the pot with the sugar and cover with the lid.
Put them on the stove but don't turn it on. Leave them to sit covered for 8 - 12 hours or overnight. Then uncover and look at all that yummy fruity goodness! Now you can add the lemon juice (or slices or squeezed halves) if you choose.
Turn the stove on and bring to a gentle rolling boil. Simmer/boil this until the fruit has cooked down a little and become soft. Add a little water if there isn't enough juice to keep things going while boiling. Ladle the hot mixture into your canning jars leaving about 1/4" headspace and seal with new lids (you can reuse the rims and jars as long as you make sure to sterilize them properly.
That's it, let them seal up on their own (you can flip them over on their heads for 15 minutes or so but don't have to) no need to waterbath can them. You should hear them seal within 30 minutes or so, if for some reason one or two don't seal, you can put them in the fridge or freezer. That's it! Easy peasy right?

I hope you'll give these preserves a try - personally I love these over fresh, buttery biscuits but you could have them on toast, waffles or even pancakes or maybe even pair them with a bit of pork roast or prosciutto if you like... experiment and see what you think. :-)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll let me know if you give them a go or even if you don't I'd love to hear your thoughts on preserves or any other little thing you might like to share.

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How my southern granny keeps her gardening records

2014-07-07T06:40:00.000-06:00

If you're anything like my granny, you're a record keeping junkie. She keeps notes on everything (I really mean everything) from her blood pressure readings to which medications she has taken and at what time. Her medium of choice? Those wall calendars with the days divided up into squares. She used to get them from my papa's company (he was an insurance salesman back when they actually went door to door) and after that she just used whichever ones she could find for cheap at the dollar store or elsewhere. People know she's a bit of an addict so she gets a slew of them at the start of the year from anyone and everyone (including her doctors, church friends and the postal carrier).

One of the most prominent calendars is the one right beside the front door. It records anything and everything to do with her garden. My granny has had a garden for as long as I can remember. I truly think that's what allows her to survive on an extremely limited fixed income. It's such a part of her daily routine it's not even given much thought. A firm believer in the early to bed, early to rise philosophy, she is up before the dawn most days and after breakfast she'll go out on the porch and check the rain gauge so see if any rain occurred overnight. That measurement, if any, gets noted in the little box on the calendar by her door. After that she'll go out and hoe her garden (she's a master with her hoe I tell you, I've never seen one wielded with such one-handed precision) and do any weeding (she uses her hoe to chop up and bury any weeds) or harvesting that's required. This calendar also keeps track of what's planted and when. If watering is needed (as indicated by the amount of rain in the rain gauge) the garden will get water in the evenings. It seems like such an obvious sort of thing this keeping track of your gardening habits, but I would never have thought of it. Being the girlie girl that I am, I'd have thought I needed some sort of fancy garden log or a journal of some kind in which I record all the detailed goings on in my award winning (sarcasm here) veggie plot (that doesn't mean I don't still want one) - but nope, being the frugal southern lady that she is, granny just does the sensible thing and goes with a conveniently placed wall calendar hung by the door. She even strings a pen up on some twine and hangs that from the same nail as the calendar. One smart cookie if you ask me!

So how about you gardeners out there, how do you keep track of all the vital information needed for your gardens? I'd love to hear your tips n tricks.

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Homesteading and Independence

2014-06-30T06:40:00.000-06:00

The homesteading lifestyle has long been one of self-reliance and independence. What better mindset than that of the homesteader to celebrate this upcoming July 4th.

We are fortunate that the village we live in (although surrounded by urban wilderness) holds fast to small town values and family friendly ideals. Each year they host a 4th of July celebration that begins with a parade and ends with music and fireworks in our river-front park. It's something the entire town turns out for. How about you? What family traditions do you have to celebrate Independence Day? I'd love to hear about them.

For now, from our homestead to yours...

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