I have been looking forward to doing this project for several years. I have distinct memories of when I was a child in Iowa, down in our basement in the bathroom we always hid in when the tornado sirens went off several times a summer. In that bathroom, near the shower, was an antique crock...

(This was cross-posted to Humble Garden) (Homemade chevre cheese) We are enjoying our independence from the food chain. We get our eggs and our milk (and now cheese) from our backyard. We eat our salads from our backyard. If you don’t now, what are you waiting for?! If you think food prices are high now,...

(Asparagus fronds) Can I tell you about a secret thing I learned recently? We planted asparagus last year and this spring we have been sampling a few spears from the 1st year growth. The production quantity is meager in the first year so its sampling, by definition. (Grilled asparagus) No, thats not the secret. (Asparagus...

This is a call out to those of you out there who have some experience with setting up your own CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) activity. I need your guidance and mentorship so any and all input is welcome and appreciated. We are currently seriously contemplating setting up a trial run chicken CSA where the chickens...

(Depleted cheese course) What is it about frugal recipe sites on the web – the ones I find are like bad knock-offs of Sandra Lee almost homemade (or whatever) on the Food Network (or is that rip off the other way around?) Sandra Lee’s formative culinary experiences were around subsistence living off of food stamp/WIC...

What are your plans for eating locally this year? We are currently planting our seeds indoors to get a head start on our very short growing season. See more about our garden at our Humble Garden blog. The kids, an important part of my garden, are helping out with every part of this activity. We...

Further to my post the other day on High Throughput Food, one of our 13 hens has started laying. Its hard to tell by these pictures but it is what is called a pullet egg. Chickens are not called hens until they are a year old. Before then they are called...

A funny thing happens when you grow your own food (at least part of the year like we have to, not many plants live in the snow) and you watch your own chickens grow from little chicklings .. it is almost imperceptible for me but I have grown to feel much more personally identified with...

(Tomato tart) (Red Calabash, microgreens, cherry tomatoes, tomatillo) Other people had tomatoes WEEKS ago, some MONTHS! We live in an area where the growing season dictates setting one’s tomato plants out on Memorial Day. Its been quite a rollercoaster ride with endless weeks of dark rainy days and then now drought conditions (it turned around...

(Recipe is included below) I have had the joy and luxury of being able to put in a garden this year and tend it from germination through to a clamoring jungle of vegetable being. Because it is in raised beds and because it is organic, I managed all my weeds by picking each, one by...