Feeding Healthy Oatmeal to Your Family.

Janet’s Perspective:

Growing up, my mom, Makalia’s grandma, bought instant flavored oatmeal variety packages. You know, the little packs of oatmeal you added boiling water to, then stirred. Yes, the same ones that cook in less than 30 seconds in the microwave. Except we started eating these before we had a microwave.

The variety pack was cool, with different flavors you could choose from each day. Well, cool until my favorite oatmeal flavor was gone and only plain ones remained in the box.

As a kid, I loved them. They were quick to make and delicious to eat. Plus, I could make them by myself without making too big of a mess. As a mom, I can’t believe I ate that stuff, and I didn’t want my kids to eat it either.

As an adult, the first grain I conquered was oatmeal, but not before I discovered oatmeal mush and oatmeal pebbles. I had no idea there were different kinds of oatmeal available. Nor did I realize they had to be cooked differently to be edible.

We use organic oats, giving me peace of mind that there isn’t any GMO’s (genetically modified or genetically engineered) or pesticides in our food. I use whole organic raw milk instead of water to make our oatmeal creamy, healthy, and delicious. Plus, we dumped the microwave, so I slowly heat the milk on the stove top as I stir in the oatmeal. Once the oatmeal is stirred into the milk, I add other whole foods, like cinnamon, apples, raisins, peaches, and maple syrup.

Today we by whole grain oats and use a flaker to make our own flat oats. They aren’t as large as the Old Fashion Oats you find in the stores, but they are delicious.

Makalia’s Perspective:

To this day, I have memories of the smell of homemade oatmeal slowly cooking on the stove. The smell of apples sizzling in the pot. The taste of apples mixed in with cinnamon sweeten with maple syrup. My siblings and I would look forward to this breakfast every morning before getting on the bus.

20 years later, we still cook our oatmeal the same way. The difference is it’s for my little family. We use raw milk, slowly cooking it on the stove top, letting my kiddos stir, and scoop oatmeal into bowls. It is sweetened with maple syrup.

I buy bulk oatmeal from a local bulk food store, storing it in 5 gallon containers. This lasts us about 5 months. We use it for breakfast oatmeal, homemade granola, and homemade granola bars.

I do prefer the flaked oats, they have a taste like no other. I recently decided once we go through our 5 month stash, we will be flaking our own oats.

Getting oats from the field to your home.

All oats start as a whole oat kernel or oat groat. Once oats grow to maturity, they get picked from the fields, cleaned, washed, and hulled. This process removes the outer shell or hull, leaving the inner kernel or oat groat for cooking.

All oats must get heated and dried before being processed into its final oat product. Each final oat product has a unique process and sometimes a different nutritional value as well.

Oats are naturally gluten-free. However, if they are processed in a plant with gluten products, there can be a transfer of the gluten to the oats. If you need gluten-free, make sure the packaging says Gluten Free on it.

Types of Oats and Their Nutritional Value:

Instant Oats or Quick Oats:

Instant or quick oats are a type of rolled oats. They cook the fastest of the oat products. When a recipe calls for rolled oats, do not use instant or quick oats. It can make the recipe mushy and gooey.

Once the groat oat has finished the drying process, the oat is steamed, ran through metal rollers and flattened very thin. Instant or quick oats are then recooked and dried for a pre-cooked feature.

Quick Oats Nutritional Information
1/2 cup or 40g dry 1 serving

• Calories: 150

• Total fat: 3g

• Saturated Fat: 0.5g

• Trans Fat 0g

• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g

• Monounsaturated Fat: 1g

• Cholesterol: 0mg

• Sodium: 0g

• Total Carbohydrate: 27G

• Dietary Fiber: 4g

• Soluble Fiber: 2g

• Insoluble Fiber: 2g

• Sugar: 1g

• Protein: 5g

Rolled Oats or Old-Fashioned Oats

When a recipe calls for rolled oats, it usually means Old Fashion Oats. They cook on the stovetop in about 4 to 8 minutes. They are thicker and larger than quick or instant oats.

Once the groat oat finishes the drying process, it gets steamed, ran through metal rollers and flattened into a thick oat flake before being packaged.

Rolled or Old-Fashioned Oats nutritional information
1/2 cup or 40g dry 1 serving

• Calories: 150

• Total fat: 2.5g

• Saturated Fat: 0.5g

• Trans Fat 0g

• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g

• Monounsaturated Fat: 1g

• Cholesterol: 0mg

• Sodium: 0g

• Total Carbohydrate: 28G

• Dietary Fiber: 4g

• Soluble Fiber: 2g

• Insoluble Fiber: 2g

• Sugar: 1g

• Protein: 5g

Steel Cut Oats or Irish Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oats or Irish Oats do not undergo the process of being flattened into a flake like rolled oats. Once the groat oat finishes the drying process, they get chopped with a steel blade. It takes about 25 to 30 minutes cooking time on the stovetop. Steel-cut oats taste chewy when cooked. You can soak them overnight for quicker cooking the next day.

Steel Cut or Irish Oats Nutritional information
1/4 cup of oats 44g dry – one serving

• Calories: 170

• Total fat: 3g

• Saturated Fat: 0.5g

• Trans Fat 0g

• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g

• Monounsaturated Fat: 1g

• Cholesterol: 0mg

• Sodium: 0g

• Total Carbohydrate: 29G

• Dietary Fiber: 5g

• Soluble Fiber: 1.6g

• Insoluble Fiber: 3.4g

• Sugar: 0g

• Protein: 7g

Scottish Oats

Scottish oats don’t resemble rolled or Steel-Cut oats once processed. Once the groat oat finishes the drying process, they get ground into a meal or flour texture. Many companies stone grind the oat groat to make Scottish oats. Scottish oats create a porridge type of oatmeal when cooked. They take about 30 minutes to cook on the stovetop.

Scottish Oats Nutritional Value
1/4 cup of oats 36g dry – one serving

• Calories: 140

• Total fat: 2.5g

• Saturated Fat: 0.5g

• Trans Fat 0g

• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g

• Monounsaturated Fat: 1g

• Cholesterol: 0mg

• Sodium: 0g

• Total Carbohydrate: 23G

• Dietary Fiber: 4g

• Soluble Fiber: 2g

• Insoluble Fiber: 2g

• Sugar: 0g

Oat Groats

Oat Groats are the whole oat kernel with no further processing after drying. It takes about 50 to 60 minutes to cook on the stovetop. You can soak them overnight for quicker cooking the next day.

Oat Groats Nutritional Value
1/4 of oats 46g dry – one serving

• Calories: 160

• Total fat: 3g

• Saturated Fat: 0.5g

• Trans Fat 0g

• Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g

• Monounsaturated Fat: 1g

• Cholesterol: 0mg

• Sodium: 0g

• Total Carbohydrate: 28G

• Dietary Fiber: 4g

• Soluble Fiber: 2g

• Insoluble Fiber: 2g

• Sugar: 0g

• Protein: 7g

Regardless of the type of oats you choose, they are versatile, delicious, and nutritious. Many recipes use oats, ranging from pilaf and breakfast dishes to cookies and breads.
We add oats to our diet in many ways and you can too.

You can add oatmeal as a nutritious filler in your meatballs or meatloaf. You can sprinkle or stir oats in with your yogurt for extra flavor. Plus, don’t forget good old fashion oatmeal made in a variety of flavors, with fresh fruits.

How do you add oats to your diet?
Let me know in the comment section below.
Happy eating.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey
Makalia and Janet

Supplies

• Scale

• Bowl

• Whisk or Fork for whipping and stirring.

• Baking sheet (I use cast Iron)

• Non Slip Baking Mat

• Canning rings, cup, or a biscuit cutter

Ingredients

• 295 g milk

• 230 g dark maple syrup (lighter maple syrup is sweeter)

• 6 g yeast

• 1 egg

• 25 g olive oil

• 725 g fresh ground Einkorn flour

• 5 g salt (I use Redmond’s salt)

• 5 g garlic powder (optional)

  Instructions

  1. Mix milk and maple syrup into a large mixing bowl. Let it sit on the counter to take off the chill

  2. Preheat oven to 400°F

  3. While oven is preheating, grind flour. I hand grind mine, therefor this step takes me a little longer.

  4. In the milk mixture add yeast, oil, egg, salt, garlic, and 257 grams of flour.

  5. Stir together. You shouldn’t have any flour left over.

  6. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes

  7. Add 372 grams of flour and stir in. The dough will be very sticky, but not soupy

  8. Cover and let rise for 2-5 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. In colder weather you may need to put the dough covered near a wood stove or sunny spot in your house.

  9. After the dough has risen, sprinkle flour on the silicon mat, scoop the dough out of the bowl and onto the mat.

  10. Add 50 g flour on top of the dough and roll it in the flour. I find it easier to split it into two pieces.

  11. Do a light knead one or two times. If it is really sticky add 5-10 grams of flour.

  12. The dough should still be covered with flour.

  13. Let it set for 5 -10 minutes

  14. Use your hand to flatted the dough to about 1/2 an inch

  15. Using a canning lid, cup, or biscuit cutter give you cut out perfect looking rolls.

  16. Place rolls on baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes.

      Join us on our homestead journey of whole food and fun.

  

  

  

  

Cooling and Storing Instructions and tips.

• Set on a rack in single layers until cool.

• Store in an airtight container for 2-3 days or freeze. When defrosting, make sure to open the lid to let moisture out or they will mush. Fresh bread is always better than frozen bread.

• If using a cast iron pan place it in the oven to warm up before putting dough on it.

• If using a wide mouth canning lid bake for 10-12 minutes

• You can substitute lard instead of olive oil

Do You Struggle with Storing Your Winter Squash for Longevity?

I used to too. Pumpkins molded on the rack in November. Spaghetti squash oozed in my hand in December when I grabbed one off the shelf. Yes, it’s gross and heartbreaking. All that work for nothing.

Right now I have three pumpkins sitting on my squash rack from last year’s harvest. They’re still good for cooking, saving seeds, and the animals. My butternut usually lasts until January. The Acorn until January or February. Our Georgia Peach have lasted until March. These pumpkins are storing really well, which shows you what’s possible with curing.

Stop struggling and start curing. Curing is the process of hardening off your squash. The skin gets harder, so you can handle them easier, they last longer, and the flavor improves. This works even if you’re only storing squash for a few months. Yes, pumpkins are squash.

The Universal Steps for Curing

No matter which method you choose, these steps are the foundation for all winter squash.

Cut the squash from the vine in dry, warm weather (60 to 80 degrees). If you live in wet country, cut them when they’re ripe regardless of weather.

Most squash tops should be turning light brown where they connect to the plant, but go by the color of the skin more than the tops.

Wipe and clean off any dirt, debris, or moisture from the squash.

Make sure your squash has good air circulation wherever you place them.

Let them cure for 5 to 10 days.

Three Different Ways to Curing Your Squash

The Garden Method

If weather conditions allow, this is the easiest way to cure your squash. For the best success, you need dry ground or grow on mesh, not plastic. Plastic covering can trap condensation and cook the squash in the field.

Cut the squash off the vine and let them sit where they grew. Remove any plants shading them from the sun. If you have squash ready before the main harvest, just make sure they aren’t covered by the plant.

My neighbor uses this method with great success, but he’s vigilant about rolling them partway through so all sides cure evenly, and he’s careful not to water during the curing period.

Inside By The Window or On a Table

This works especially well if your weather turns wet and cold near harvest time, even if your squash aren’t completely ripe. It’s better to save them from freezing weather than wait for perfect ripeness.

After cutting and drying the squash place them on a table, wire or wooden rack, or windowsill with good airflow and light.

I set my squash on a table in a bright room with lots of windows, but not in direct sunlight where they might cook. The heat from windows can be intense even when it’s cool outside, so watch for that. Throughout the week, I gently roll the squash to a different side to aid airflow. Any squash that wasn’t completely ripe finishes ripening during this time.

Curing Inside and Outside In The Sun

This method works if you can move your squash daily without wearing yourself out. The key is having a system like a wagon that lets you roll them outside on sunny days and pull them inside when rain or high dew threatens.

Place your squash on a towel or screen for airflow, set them in the wagon, and move them accordingly. One of my neighbors loves this approach because she can cure her squash as they ripen without handling them constantly. She uses a wagon with a breathable fabric bottom, which keeps air moving underneath.

The key to all three methods is airflow, dryness, and warmth.

How Do You Know When Your Squash Is Cured

The skin will be hardened and dry. Some varieties naturally have bumps or ridges that won’t smooth out, so don’t expect perfection. Do a thumbnail test. Gently press your thumbnail into the skin. If it resists with little or no indentation and feels hard, it’s ready. If it bruises easily or dents, keep curing. If it starts to wrinkle or soften, use it soon because it won’t keep at all.

Check the stem too. Soft spots or damage around the stem mean the squash will go bad faster.

Storing Your Cured Squash

Keep them in a dark, cool, dry space. Check them often for spoilage such as soft spots, mold, rodents, stems beginning to soften, and their coloring changing.

We used to store ours in wicker baskets, but a few years ago we switched to a wire and wooden racks in our storage area. It changed everything. The squash lasted longer because they weren’t touching each other, and one bad squash didn’t bring down the whole lot. We could glance over the rack and spot problems immediately. One Tromboncino squash we hung from the top of the rack made it over a year. In fact, we used several squash still in storage that spring as seeds for the garden.

Make the most of your winter squash bounty by curing and storing them correctly. Your stomach will thank you.

Enjoy!
Makalia and Janet

Supplies

• Scale

• Bowl

• Whisk or Fork for whipping and stirring.

• Baking sheet

Ingredients

• 328 g salted butter, melted

• 495 g white sugar, organic

• 4 large eggs, beaten really well

• 15 g vinegar or ACV

• 9 g vanilla

• 630 g flour

• 7 g baking soda

• 20 oz chocolate chips (2 bags)

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  Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F

  2. While oven is preheating, add butter to a oven approved dish and melt it in the oven.

  3. In a bowl add sugar.

  4. Add hot melted butter to sugar, stir together well (let cool)

  5. Beat eggs with a fork in a separate bowl until bubbles appear

  6. Add the eggs to the cooled butter and sugar. Whip together well.

  7. Stir in vinegar and vanilla

  8. Add all the flour, make a well in the middle of the flour.

  9. Add the baking soda. Stir the Mixture together.

  10. Let set about 5 minutes. This allows the flour to absorb all the liquid.

  11. Add chocolate chips, stir together

  12. Drop onto greased baking sheets or parchment paper in 1 to 1.5 teaspoons depending on the size cookie you want

  13. Bake at 375°F for 10 to 12 minutes

Cooling and Storing:

Set on a rack in single layers until cool.

These cookies store really well in cookie jar on your counter or in your freezer.
For freezing place cooled cookies into a freezer safe container or bag, and freeze. To defrost pull out several at a time onto a towel, cover until defrosted. They only take a few minutes to thaw out.

Enjoy.

Well, we have been on our new homestead for a little over five months. It seems like a lifetime ago we moved in, but that is because it truly feels like home.

For those reading this for the first time, I encourage you to revisit my other journey posts. Everyone has a journey, and we can all learn from each other. The beautiful and ugly of homesteading: I promise you, there are days and seasons when it seems uglier.

This is the first year I have lived in zone 4 for gardening, the past 4 years I have been in zone 6. What this means for me is that the season is shorter, and the nights can get colder sooner.

I had a mini freakout about four weeks ago when temperatures dipped into the 40’s. I covered all my tomato plants with sheets from the house. This was a little unnecessary, but fear crept in. I thought I was going to lose all my tomato and pepper plants. I have put so much love into these plants. My own flesh was talking, instead of relying on God, who will provide all that we need.

My tomato and pepper plants are flourishing. I have never grown so many tomatoes in my gardening life. This opens up many doors to can multiple tomato products for our family to enjoy all winter.

Here in the midwest, we have had very little rain and the soil hard and dry. For my garden, that meant digging out my carrots with a shovel, otherwise, I would break the tops off. I started watering twice a day, morning and night, that is when I saw the garden take off. Now we wait. We wait for the tomatoes and peppers to ripen. We wait for the beets, onions, and potatoes to get a little bigger.

I have been harvesting small amounts of produce for our family to enjoy.

Gardening with small kiddos

I have heard a lot of wise men from church say, I make the raised beds and add the manure, but otherwise I am not allowed in the garden. It makes me laugh, because it seems that is the unwritten rule in our home too.

My husband and kiddos are allowed in the garden. I did try to keep my kiddos in their own area for planting. It did not work and honestly that is for the best. I was organized and had my garden planned out, to find a cucumber plant in my strawberry bed and a zucchini plant with my other squash. Both my cucumbers and zucchinis were planted to grow up a cow panel. Both unplanned plants are flourishing and giving us food, my oldest is very proud of them. That is what really matters to me.

Projects take a lot longer, this can be true with any project with kiddos. I am constantly stepping away from my garden projects to pull my youngest off the cow panels. Inside, I am proud because my youngest was climbing up the panel for green beans. Who doesn’t love green beans? I also have to step away to be a referee of who is going to be king over the dirt pile. I have had to intervene from too many green tomatoes getting picked. The green tomatoes get put on the window sill inside to ripen. My kiddos love watching them turn from green to red.

Here is the part that amazes me. Over these past two months of spending all day every day outside, I have seen my kiddos’ minds flourish. My oldest is learning to garden and loves picking food from our garden. Their imaginations have exploded, we don’t have a play set in our yard, just a pile of dirt and toys they bring outside.

5 Garden Lessons:

Every garden teaches a lesson, some grow you and make you rethink how you will do things differently.

1. My cucumbers are stunted

   This is the first year, I have not been able to grow cucumbers. I don’t know if it is the midwest or if I need more manure. They are flowering, but small. They do not grow bigger than my finger.

2. Bell peppers

   I decided to try a new variety of peppers this year. They are a mini pepper and in my opinion not worth it. For our family they are too small. We love peppers and with a shorter growing season it is better to have the bigger bell pepper.

3. Lettuce

   I struggled to grow lettuce this year. I finally had some come up, but the days were too warm and too dry. Next year, I am going to try to plant them in cinder blocks with more compost.

4. Planting too early

   I made sure to plant after frost dates. I planted corn and other warm weather crops too early. In my area I really needed to wait until June 1st to put the seeds in the ground. The seeds sprouted and grew, but it took them longer to really establish. Any seeds I plants after June 1st flourished right away.

5. Being more organized

   As the plants are growing I have zero idea what I planted. I remember planting different varieties of squashes and melons, but until the fruit ripen I don’t know what I have. Next year, I will write down what I plant and maybe my oldest will be able to assist.

6. Take over of beetles

   The Japanese Beetles population here is insane, everyday, sometimes twice a day, I would walk around the garden collecting them for the chickens. My garden was okay, but my apple trees were not so lucky. The beetles live on the high leaves too far for me to reach. Next, year I must find another solution.

What are some of your must have plants for next years garden? What are some hard lessons you learned this year? Every ones garden is different, but we can all learn from each other.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading with Little Feet, Big Dreams, and Endless Love!

Makalia

Supplies

• Scale

• Glass Dish

• Spoon

• Baking sheet

• Unbleached Parchment Paper

Ingredients

• 125 grams salted butter*

• 60 grams raw honey* (crystallized or liquid)

• 305 grams raw with cream or any whole milk

• 630 grams freshly ground whole wheat einkorn

• 7 grams of baking soda* (sodium bicarbonate only, non-GMO or organic)

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  Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F on bake setting.

  2. Weigh the salted butter into a glass dish. Add the honey to the butter. Place in the preheating oven to melt together. Do not use a microwave.*

  3. Pour the whole milk into a bowl and leave it while the butter melts and cools. This brings the milk closer to room temperature and lessens curdling when combined.

  4. Once the butter-honey mixture is cooled to the touch, stir it well. Add the cooled butter-honey mixture to the milk and stir to combine.

  5. Add the freshly ground einkorn to the bowl but do not stir yet. Sprinkle the baking soda onto the top of the flour. Mix gently with a spoon or knife until the majority of the flour is incorporated (about 2-3 minutes). The dough may look dry at this stage.

  6. Cover the bowl and let sit for 10 -15 minutes. This allows the freshly ground flour to fully absorb the liquid.

  7. The dough should be soft and slightly greasy. If too sticky, add flour in 5-gram increments. If too dry, use a spray bottle to mist water into the dough gradually.

  8. Using a heaping tablespoon, drop dough directly onto parchment-lined baking sheet, greased cookie sheet, or hot cast iron pan. Do not shape by hand.

  9. Once the oven is fully preheated, place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes depending on your oven, until golden.

  10. Pull biscuits out onto a cooling rack, place a towel over them, and let cool.

Notes:

*Do not use the microwave to melt the butter. The oven method provides better flavor and texture. Melting time depends on the temperature of the butter.

*Baking soda must be pure sodium bicarbonate with no additives. Make sure it’s non-GMO or organic preferred.

*Crystallized honey indicates real honey. Crystallization of honey depends on the sugar content and storage temperature. Honey never goes bad.

Over 22 years ago, Janet moved from Arizona to the East Coast with two Aloe Vera plants from her yard. In Arizona, they thrived on rain and occasional watering with minimal attention from her. She used the aloe for healing in many different situations and knew it had to come with me to my next home.

For the move, She dug out two small shoots with roots and wrapped them in a wet towel. Janet packed them in a plastic bag with the top open and threw the bag into a box in the vehicle. She forgot about them until I unpacked the box several weeks later.

We dubbed the aloe as the “Arizona aloe,” it was the last thing from our old residence we took with us. They were planted in a long self-watering pot and placed in the kitchen’s south-facing window, where it sat neglected except when we needed it.

Five years later, Janet wanted the abundance and reliability she had had out west. She separated the two plants into large pots with wheels and became intentional about watering. Within months, they thrived and began sending shoots from their roots. These baby plants are called pups.

Those original Arizona aloe plants have now spread across multiple states. The offspring have found their way to New York, Alaska, Maine, Vermont, and Pennsylvania through people who wanted to grow their own. We’re still growing descendants from the original aloe we brought with us all those years ago.

History and Information

Scientific Name: Aloe Vera
Botanical Name: Aloe barbadensis
Type: Succulent Plant
Known For: Used in herbal medicine for centuries
Historically: Usage dates back to the first century AD

Ways to Use Aloe Vera

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using aloe vera or any herbal remedy for health purposes. Individual results may vary, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Aloe vera has been used to promote healing and health for years. Inside the tough outer layer lies a soft, cooling, juicy meat with many uses. You can use the inner part externally, internally, for cleaning, and to assist in your garden. Make sure you follow the guidelines of your healthcare practitioner before treating yourself with aloe vera.

Historically, aloe has been used to fight everything from digestive problems to bacterial and viral infections.

For Sunburns

Place the fleshy part of a fresh-cut aloe leaf onto the burn area. It works on all sorts of burns, including burns from a hot pan. If you experience third-degree burns with bubbly skin or if the skin becomes infected, see a medical doctor immediately.

For Digestive Health

People say that eating a teaspoon of aloe vera meat or gel several times a week aids in digestive health and immunity. When ingesting aloe, make sure you follow the directions for your age and ailment from your doctor or practitioner. Make sure you completely rinse the yellow covering under the green outer layer. The yellow ooze-like material from a cut aloe is bitter and can cause diarrhea.

For Cleaning

Adding aloe to your cleaning regimen adds antibacterial effects without adding chemicals. Use a mixture of baking soda, lemon, and aloe to clean the bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry area. You can add aloe to your soap and cleaning routine for extra benefits.

For the Garden

Aloe vera contains plant hormones and natural compounds that stimulate root growth, aid seed germination, and help other plants resist environmental stress like drought and cold. The nutrients in aloe also act as a natural, gentle fertilizer that enhances overall plant vitality. To use aloe in the garden, blend fresh aloe leaves with water in a 1 part aloe blended to 3 parts water. Use this solution to water your plants, particularly newly transplanted seedlings or those showing stress. For best results use filtered or rain water without chlorine and other contaminates.

Harvesting Your Aloe Leaves

To harvest Aloe Vera, either cut part of a leaf off or gently pull a complete leaf working from the bottom of the stalk up. You always want to use leaves from the bottom up. This method encourages the plant to continue producing healthy new growth at the top.

Growing and Caring for Aloe

Aloe vera is an easy plant to grow, propagate, and use. It doesn’t require a green thumb or any special skills, just a bit of water, sunshine, and mindfulness. If I can grow aloe, you can too.

Planting

If you live in an area that gets freezing weather, plant Aloe Vera in a well-draining pot inside. You can move the pot outside during warm weather. Freezing weather kills the plant. Once a plant freezes, it thaws and becomes literal mush. The entire plant becomes gooey and dies.

If your area doesn’t experience freezing temperatures, you can plant Aloe Vera outside in well-draining soil. They prefer full sun outside, but they don’t need full sun all day to survive. Be mindful of sun coming through windows, which can burn them, and air drafts, which can freeze them.

Watering

When you first transplant the aloe, water thoroughly. After the plant is established, water when you notice the dirt is dry or if the aloe plant doesn’t look plump. A healthy aloe plant’s leaves are plump when you touch them. If the plant doesn’t have enough water, it doesn’t flourish and reproduce, but it takes a lot for them to die from dehydration. Do not overwater your aloe, especially babies, for they can literally rot away.

Leaf Care

Make sure you wipe down the leaves, allowing the plant to breathe. An aloe vera plant can live for decades when given a large enough space.

How to Propagate Aloe Vera

Three methods exist for propagating your Aloe plant. You can let the plant throw off baby aloe vera plants from the root, which are called pups, use a leaf to propagate new plants, or plant aloe from a seed.

Let The Plant Do The Propagating For You

The easiest way to get more aloe plants is to do nothing and let your Aloe Vera plant send off shoots from the roots. They grow from the roots near the base of the plant. Normally, an adult plant sends off these shoots when it experiences stress and perceives a threat to its survival. Don’t try stressing your plant because you may kill it. As the plant gets older, it will send off pups on its own. You don’t need to do anything. The plant will do it for you.

Once you see shoots that look like baby aloe plants, watch them carefully for growth. Once they have at least two to three leaves that are about two to three inches long, you can delicately pull them from the main plant.

We like waiting until the pups have four or more leaves. The larger the pup, the more likely the plant will have a root system. Ideally, you want to pull the plant with as many roots as possible. Plant the small plant into soil and water. If there aren’t any roots connected to the plant, set the plant on a dry towel for a few days so they can callus over.

You may see some oozing from the plant. Don’t be alarmed. This process allows the plant to callus over. After a few days, plant into well-drained soil. Keep the soil moist but not wet until the plant roots.

Propagating From A Leaf

Propagating from a leaf works well if you have a healthy, plump plant. Find a short leaf that is plump without bruises, brown spots, cuts, or other damage. You don’t want to use a leaf that is large, for it’s harder to support the leaf in the pot. You can use the end portion of a leaf as well. Make sure it’s about three to four inches long.

Do not pull the leaf off the plant. Use a clean, sharp blade to take the cutting or slice the leaf from the aloe’s stem. Set the cut aloe leaf on a paper towel or plate on the counter away from the sun. The leaf will ooze and callus over. A complete callus should form after two to three days. The cut area will look healed or sealed. Plant in well-drained soil, not in direct sunlight. Keep the soil moist but not wet. After a few weeks, roots will have formed, creating your new Aloe Vera Plant.

Propagating Aloe From Seed

You can plant aloe from a seed that you buy, receive, or that comes from one of your aloe plants. Starting from a seed takes longer than the other two methods of propagation. Each year, a mature mother plant will send off a solid shoot upwards from the middle of the plant. Flowers will appear on this shoot. Once the flowers bloom and fall off, you’ll have hundreds of seeds to plant. Leave the seeds on the plant until they mature and turn black.

Your Aloe Journey Starts Now

Once you have an aloe plant growing, you’ll never need to buy another one. The beauty of growing aloe is that it keeps giving. Your first plant becomes two plants, two become five, and before you know it, you’re sharing cuttings with friends and family. You’ll have a reliable source of healing for burns, digestive support, garden aid, and natural cleaning solutions right in your home.

Growing aloe is more than just about having a plant on your windowsill. It’s about having a living resource that connects you to something larger. It’s about health, independence, and the satisfaction of nurturing something that thrives under your care.

Start with one pup, seed, or leaf today, and watch your aloe abundance grow. Beware, growing Aloe can become addicting.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey
Makalia and Janet

I bake from scratch, buy organic or organically grown, and read labels. So imagine my face when I sat down one afternoon with every baking ingredient on my counter and actually looked at what was in them, again.

Not just glanced, but read every ingredient. What I found made me want to put it all back into the cabinet and pretend I hadn’t started. Why, because I’d read these ingredient packages for years, then become complacent, because I trusted the manufacturers and packaging.

You already know the processed food system is a mess. That’s why you’re baking from scratch in the first place. The problem is that food companies are changing the ingredients in your baking supplies, without you realizing it. The labels look the same, but the ingredients have changed. You have to reread every package before you re-buy it, every sinlge time.

This isn’t a reason to panic. It’s a reason to buckle down and know exactly what you are buying. It means you can’t just pick up baking ingredients thinking they haven’t changed since the last time you purchased them. You have to read them and when we are in a hurry, we tend to forget.

Start With Your Yeast

Yeast should be the only ingredient in the package. Right now, I can only find small packets of yeast without added ingredients. The one-pound packages I used to buy all have extras mixed in, making your yeast not pure anymore.

Here’s what I’ve found lurking in yeast packages besides yeast.

Ascorbic acid: It’s Vitamin C, and it can now be genetically engineered without you knowing it. Manufacturers use it as a dough conditioner, but ginger and apple cider vinegar do the same job naturally.

Sorbitan monostearate: This is a synthetic emulsifier, a chemical that helps oil and water blend together smoothly. Manufacturers add it for storage and shelf life, but it doesn't improve your baking.

Wheat: One brand I checked had wheat in it, which makes no sense. Baker's yeast shouldn't contain wheat at all. This is especially problematic if you're using yeast for gluten-free baking.

Read the label no matter which size you grab. Another option is to learn to use wild yeast or sour dough.

Baking Soda

Baking Soda Is not always just baking soda. Straight sodium bicarbonate is fine. The problem starts when you pick up anything labeled multi-purpose or all-purpose baking soda. Those words should be a red flag to you. Manufacturers usually add cornstarch, mono-calcium phosphate, or sodium aluminum to these products. Aluminum has no business being in your baking or any food for that matter. Some brands offer both aluminum and aluminum-free versions on the same shelf, so check which one you’re actually grabbing.

Baking Powder

Unlike plain baking soda, baking powder almost always contains sodium aluminum (alum) unless the label specifically says aluminum-free. Beyond that, you’ll often find cornstarch, which is most likely modified corn unless it says otherwise.

Other ingredients found in your baking powder include mono-calcium phosphate and acid pyrophosphate. These are synthetic acid salts created in a lab that react with baking soda to create the puffiness of your baking treat. Manufacturers use them for precise control over timing during production and storage.

Here are four substitutes that work:

Lemon juice and baking soda
Half a teaspoon of lemon juice mixed with a quarter teaspoon of baking soda.

Vinegar and baking soda
Half a teaspoon of vinegar with a quarter teaspoon of baking soda. Note that vinegar can thin your batter, so check your consistency as you mix.

Plain yogurt and baking soda
Half a cup of plain yogurt stirred into your wet ingredients, plus a quarter teaspoon of baking soda mixed into your dry ingredients. Reduce your other wet ingredients by half a cup so your batter doesn’t become too thin.

Molasses and baking soda
A quarter cup of molasses with a quarter teaspoon of baking soda. Pull out the same amount of liquid from elsewhere in your recipe. This will add sweetness to your baking treat, so adjust your sweetener accordingly if needed.

Each replaces one teaspoon of baking powder

White Sugar

The source of plain white sugar matters more than you might expect. Nothing should be added to it. What you want is pure cane sugar. If it doesn’t say cane on the label, there’s a good chance it came from beets. Roughly 85 percent of the beet crop in the United States are genetically engineered, and conventional beet farming relies heavily on pesticides. Pure cane sugar is also more granular than beet sugar or refined sugar.

If you want to step away from refined sugar altogether, raw honey and pure maple syrup are solid swaps in most baking. You’ll need to look up the amount for each swap and play with either adding more dry ingredients or decreasing wet ingredients to get the right consistency.

Powdered Sugar

Powdered sugar bought in the grocery store contains an anticaking agent, usually cornstarch. Cornstarch is most likely modified corn unless it says otherwise. Instead, you can make it in your own kitchen by blending cane sugar and storing it in an airtight jar.

Brown Sugar

Brown sugar is simply white sugar with molasses mixed in. The difference between light and dark brown sugar is how much molasses you add to the white sugar. If you look at the label on brown sugar, it says “brown sugar” instead of “cane sugar” and “molasses”. It makes me wonder what else is in the brown sugar. Making your own takes minutes and gives you complete control over ingredients and quality.

For light brown sugar, stir two teaspoons of molasses into one cup of organic white cane sugar. For dark brown sugar, use one tablespoon of molasses per cup. That’s it. You know exactly what went in and where it came from.

Real Vanilla

Genuine vanilla extract has three ingredients: water, cane alcohol, and vanilla beans. If the label says imitation vanilla, vanillin, or artificial vanilla flavoring, what you’re getting is a synthetic product often made from wood pulp industry byproducts. Along with the vanillin, you'll find sugar, citric acid, sodium benzoate, and caramel color in your flavoring.

Buy organic real vanilla extract. Better yet, make your own with rum or vodka and vanilla beans. Homemade takes 6 to 18 months to develop, but it's simple and lasts indefinitely.

Food Coloring

Food coloring doesn’t need to be a chemical. Bright artificial food coloring is petroleum-based. It’s a chemical dye derived from petroleum, and it doesn’t belong in anyone’s kitchen. Polysorbate 80 also shows up in some products labeled plant-based or natural, but it's a synthetic chemical despite how it's marketed.

If you have kiddos, you should know chemical based food coloring has a real impact on your kids. Pulling chemical food coloring from their diet can significantly change their behavior. Try it out, you have nothing to lose.

If you want color in your baking, look for organic food coloring made from fruits and vegetables with nothing else in the ingredient list. Better yet, make your own from beet juice, ground beets, carrot juice, turmeric, etc. Your colors won't be neon bright, but it will be real.

Butter

Butter should have a maximum of two ingredients. Salted butter has two: cream and salt. Unsalted butter has one: cream. Recently I’ve noticed brands slipping natural flavors into their butter, including organic brands. Natural flavors is a catch-all term that masks what’s actually in your food. Yes, it’s a small percentage, but it’s still in your food.

If you can’t find truly unsalted butter, buy salted butter and reduce or eliminate the salt in your recipe to compensate. Better yet, make your own butter with fresh cream if you have access to it.

What You Can Do Starting Today

Pull out your baking supplies and read every label. Not just once. Manufacturers change their formulations without notice, which means the brand that was clean last year might not be this year. This isn’t about fear. It’s about staying informed so you can keep feeding your family in a healthy manner.

Check your cabinet this week and let me know what you find. If you spot something I didn’t cover, drop it in the comments so we can all learn more.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey
Makalia and Janet

YIELD: 8 slices

PREP TIME: 10- 15 min

BAKE TIME: 12-15 min

TOTAL TIME: 30 min

OVEN: 350

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PREHEAT TO: 350

SUPPLIES NEEDED

• 12 Inch Cast Iron Pan

• Mixing bowl

• Whisk

• tooth pick

INGREDIENTS (SHOPPING LIST)

• 2 C Fresh Sifted Einkorn Flour (sometimes I grind it the night before)

• 1 1/2 TSP Baking Soda

• 1/4 C Real Maple Syrup

• 4 TBS Salted Butter Melted And Cooled For The Batter

• 1 1/2 C Frozen Blueberries (Or Fresh)

• 2 TBS Salted Butter For The Cast Iron Pan

• 1 1/4 cup Raw Milk

• 1 tbs Real Lemon Juice

• 1 Egg

INSTRUCTIONS

Batter:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree

2. Add Milk, baking soda, and lemon juice

3. Add all the other ingredients and whisk together

4. Fold in blueberries.

Preparing the Cast Ion Pan:

1. Place the 2 TBS butter in the 12 inch cast iron pan, melt and evening spread the melted butter around the pan. This allows the cast iron to warm up and prevents your pancake from sticking

2. Add pancake mix to the cast iron and bake for 12 minutes. Poke it with a tooth pick if it comes out clean it is done.

3. Remove cast iron from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before cutting

RECIPE NOTES

If you use a smaller or larger cast iron pan bake time will change.

Amber maple syrup is sweeter. I use dark maple for baking which is less sweet. Both will work.

Please do NOT use fake maple syrup that is a sin

SUBSTITUTIONS USED

ORIGINAL: 1/4 C Maple Syrup | SUBSTITUTED: 1/4 C Cane Sugar
ORIGINAL: Raw Milk | SUBSTITUTED: Whole Milk or Other Milk Substitutes. ORIGINAL: Blueberries | SUBSTITUTED: Raspberries

Products we love for this recipe are linked. Yes, we are apart of the Amazon affiliate program. A portion of what you buy helps fund our food freedom mission at no additional cost to you.

Before a hen goes broody, you should know if she is going to be a good momma. Unfortunately, that means you have to let her go broody to find out. A good brooder will sit on her eggs for about 21 days, hatch them, and care for the chicks after they hatch. A bad brooder will sit on the eggs and kill any babies that are born. If you find out your hen is not a good momma, DO NOT let her go broody! This means when the hen starts showing signs of going broody, you take the eggs she is sitting on. Warning, when taking her eggs, she might peck at you.

Signs Of A Broody Hen

The signs of a broody hen are straightforward. A hen will start to sit on multiple eggs, only getting off for food and water. They stay in the coop and do not venture outside. I start to notice the hens staying inside during the day. Then I pay attention to whether the hen is in the laying box at night or on the roost. If she is sitting on eggs in the laying box overnight, this is a good indication that the hen is broody.

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At this point, we usually move the hen to her own area inside the coop. You do not have to move your broody hen from the box they are laying in if they have protection from the other hens. We always move our broody hen into a smaller coop inside our large coop. This allows the hen to be with the flock, but protects her and her eggs from the other hens. Sometimes the other hens will pick on her, try kicking her off her nest, add more eggs to her nest, or steal eggs. We like to place our brooder’s coop on the floor. Our laying boxes are elevated; therefore, when chicks are born, they could fall out of the box.

Moving Your Brooder

When moving broody hens, make sure to do it at night. We put straw in the enclosed area with a smaller dish of food and water. Next, one of us picks up our broody hen, yes, she does peck at you. The other collected the eggs under her and puts them in her nesting box. Then she is placed back on her eggs. She will move the eggs to where she feels the safest in the new coop.

Let Nature Be Nature

As my mom always says, “Let nature be nature”. When a hen goes broody, she takes care of the eggs. She rotates them, she keeps them warm, and the humidity of the eggs are perfect. The only thing we do is make sure her coop is clean and give her fresh food and water every few days. I am not constantly checking on the eggs to make sure they are at the correct temperature and humidity. Sometimes, the broody hen will eat an egg or two under her. Don’t be alarmed; these eggs are not developed and it is nutrients for the momma hen.

When hens go broody, they only get up to eat and drink. This means they poop on the eggs and sit in their poop. Gross! Right?! It does smell and it is gross, but that is part of nature and part of letting a hen incubate eggs.

Once the hen starts hatching her eggs, the momma hen will keep the chicks under her wings to keep them safe. In the first few days, they will not go far from the momma hen. If she is a good momma, she will protect her chicks and keep them warm at night.

This is very important. If the momma hen takes good care of her chicks, we will let her go broody. If she turns out to be a bad momma, we will take the eggs from her. You don’t want to let a hen sit on eggs for 21 days and then kill her chicks. Yes, it happens.

After all the chicks have hatched out, the momma hen will stay close to her chicks in the coop, but will allow them to be adventurous. At this point, any eggs that are left in the nest are no good. We clean the nesting box and throw any unhatched eggs in the woods. Be aware that these eggs might make a popping noise and smell when you discard them into the woods. This is also normal.

Depending on the flock, we will allow the chicks and momma to be with the rest of the flock. Other times, we take the chicks inside until they can go into their own coop. In the summer, we are more willing to leave them with the momma hen. In the colder months, we bring them inside under a heat lamp. Sometimes chicks like to wander away and freeze. This is what works for us, but every homestead is different.

What is your experience with a broody hen and hatching out baby chicks?

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading with Little Feet, Big Dreams, and Endless Love!

Makalia

Welcome to our adventurous journey. We have been on our new homestead for three months. We really need a name for it. Leave a comment giving me some ideas!

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The homestead has slowed me down, in a good way. The mornings are slower. Starting my mornings in the bible with nature reminds me of God’s amazing creation. Hearing the birds chirp as the sun comes up is one of my favorite parts of my morning routine. The bright sun peaking through, the morning birds singing, the blossoming fruit trees, and the flowers in the grass. The daily hustle is gone, all you feel is peace.

As the weather warms up, we have been able to live outside in the shade. We spend enough time in the sun planting the garden or watching the chickens, so I try to keep us in the shade as much as possible. I have pretty fair skin and unfortunately, for my kiddos, they did not inherit Dad’s Indian genes.

In these three months, I have learned a lot.

1. Free range birds

I wanted to let our chickens and turkeys free range the property every day. The first month, we kept the chickens in the large enclosed area and let the turkeys free range when we were home. We decided the birds would only free range when my husband and I were both home. This ensured someone could keep an eye on them. I thought I could manage it with the kids on my own, which went sideways on me. My neighbors must have thought this girl was crazy. I was trying to get the turkeys in the coop, holding my youngest while my oldest was trying to push them in. The problem was that my oldest was chasing them and my youngest was trying to escape my arms. It took an hour to get the turkeys in the coop. I don’t know if I was corralling the kids or the birds.

After a few weeks, we let the chickens free range with the turkeys. At first, I thought we were going to have issues with the chickens and turkeys free ranging together. Our rooster was not a fan of the turkey hens. He never attacked them, but he would puff his feathers at them. We watched them for a few days and they figured it out on their own. They all stay together for the most part around the yard.

I was warned that turkeys have their own personalities, which I chuckled at, but it is true. Our turkeys love to wonder into the hayfield, which then we have to push them back into the yard. They like to lay their eggs in the field and I don’t love going on a scavenger hunt for eggs. If we keep them out of the hayfield, they will lay their eggs in taller grass near the house. One evening, when my husband was working, one of the turkey hens escaped from the coop. She was fast. I tried to bribe her with food, but she decided she wanted to go lay an egg in the tall grass near the barn. When she was done, she hopped up, joyfully waddling back to the coop.

2. Hayfield

We learned the hard way that finding someone to hay our field was going to be difficult. We were very naive in the processes. Most farmers have their own fields to manage and do not have the time for other fields. To add to that, asking a farmer to travel with a tractor and equipment is a big ask. To add to the equation, the previous owners put a racetrack in the hayfield. We needed someone with small equipment who could maneuver around the mini hill in the middle of the field. In the future, we will level the field, removing the racetrack.

The last lesson I learned is that not everyone is reliable and hay does not make money in the farming business. Soybeans and corn are more profitable and require less work for farmers. We had a lot of interest in tilling the hayfield, which we do not want to do. The field will feed our cows in the years to come. We are very protective of it. Once the cash crop farmer realized we would only allow it to be used for hay, we were put at the bottom of their list.

I was stressing out! The field needed to get done and we were losing time and good weather. We had someone from our church who could use the hay for their animals. Right in the middle of my stress, God put the right people in our lives. Someone who lives down the road has a side business haying fields in our area. Since, we won’t be buying any equipment for a few years, this builds a relationship for years to come with a trusted family. The best part, they have a similar mindset and a little farm store.

3. Community

Building a community of likeminded people has been a big prayer of ours since relocating to the Midwest. The last year, it felt like we were in a standstill. We met other families, and would get together, but nothing really clicked. Slowly, as we settle into our new homestead, we are building a community of neighbors and churchgoers. A neighbor down the road stopping by to say hi and welcome to the neighborhood, or a church family that homesteads. We even met the neighbor across the street because their goat in heat wandered over to our house. I had to return my neighbor’s goat; that is when you really know you live in the country.

I don’t know if it’s country living that brings people together, but this area feels different. There is less city and more country. It feels more like home and how I grew up.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading with Little Feet, Big Dreams, and Endless Love!

Makalia

With all the information floating around about fats, what are you to believe? What fats are good for you? What fats are bad to consume? Your body depends on healthy fats for regularity, brain power, heart health, and much more. Yet eating fat became taboo.

I’m not a doctor or a scientist. Though I use food as my medicine. I experiment with food and herbs to create a healthier me. You can too.

The food industry wants you to believe that many oils are genuine or beneficial to your health. I grew up with margarine, a chemical substance that is pretty close to plastic. This doesn’t really sound healthy to me. Does it sound healthy to you?

Three Fats You Can Make At Home

With all the crap in your food, it’s nice to know you can create three healthy cooking fats at home. You can make butter from cream. Lard from rendered pig fat. Tallow from rendered beef fat.

You can use these fats for eating, cooking, baking, soap making, creams, and candles.

With pork and beef, you will render the fat. Rendering is the act of cooking down the hard fat into a liquid at a low temperature. You can render the fat in a pan on your stove, or in your slow cooker over night.

Sourcing Quality Fats

If you don’t have your own milk, beef cows, or pigs you may think you can’t make good fat for yourself. You’d be mistaken. There are many places to find good, quality, reliable sources to make your fat.

Go with the best quality raw material to make your fat. For butter or tallow buy cream or beef fat from a grass-fed, organically grown cow that grazes in the pasture. For lard, find fat from humanely raised organically grown pigs.

Talk to butchers in your area. Though they will not know how the animals were raised they will know people who are raising them. Talk to homesteaders and small farms about buying fat from them. This way, you can ask how the animals are raised. Some will let you visit, so you can see for yourself.

What type of fat do you want?

Milk:

You need cream. You can make butter with store bought pasteurized milk, but it’s not the same as making it from raw milk. Some people who sell raw milk will sell cream separately. Most likely you’ll need to buy raw milk, let the cream rise, scoop it off, and make it. The color of your cream will be from a light yellow white to a dark yellow. This coloring depends on the breed of cattle, butterfat, and what the animal is eating. Our cream is much more yellow when our cows are on a new pasture with clover, then when they are eating only hay.

We keep fresh butter in the refrigerator for daily use. When we make extra, we freeze it for baking or using at a later time.

Pork:

There are four different types of pork fat. When you buy pork fat, or receive it from your own butchered animal, you may find that it’s all lumped together. Before buying or having your animal butchered, ask if they can separate the fat by type. Rendering them down separately gives you the benefits of each. If it comes in one lump, you can still render it and use it.

• Leaf Lard: This is the soft fat surrounding the kidneys and loin area. It has a neutral texture and flavor, making it the highest quality fat for baking and pastries.

• Pork Belly Fat: This is the fat from the belly area. It’s thicker and richer with a slight pork flavor, making it well suited for cooking and frying.

• Shoulder Fat: This fat comes from the shoulder area. It isn’t as neutral in flavor as leaf lard, but it’s an excellent fat for rendering.

• Trimmed Pork Fat: This is the fat butchers trim from various cuts and connective tissues across the whole animal. It tends to be cleaner and whiter than other fat types

Beef:

With beef you need to make sure you get the saturated fat, meaning the harder fat from the beef. The color of the fat can range from white to yellow, depending on the breed of cow, their age, and what they are eating.

The jiggling fat you see after making bone broth and letting it cool will not work for rendering into tallow. This is still an excellent source of collagen, but not a fat for rendering.

There are five different types of fat on a beef. You can render them all together without an issue. Many times, you will not have the option of knowing where the fat is coming from on the animal.

• Trimmed Fat: This is all fat that has been trimmed from cuts of meat.

• Leaf Fat: These are leaf-like fatty deposits found on the underside of the cow’s belly, near the kidneys. This fat is considered to be the most mild type of beef fat.

• Hard white fats: These fats come from around the organs of the beef.

• Rump fat: Or the fat that is found around the rump of the beef.

• Rib Fat: This is the fat from around the ribcage area.

How to make each type of fat?

Butter

Let your raw milk sit in the refrigerator for about 24 to 48 hours. You will see the cream rise and get a little thicker than when it’s fresh. Scoop the cream off with minimal to no milk. If you do get some milk in the cream, you’ll have more washing to do later. Whip or blend the fresh cream until it becomes butter. As you’re whipping or blending the cream it will appear to look like whip cream, keep blending.

Within a very short period of time the butter will separate and you’ll have butter and butter milk. I use a bowl with a screen and cheese cloth to pour the mixture through. The butter stays on top of the cheese cloth, while the butter milk separates into the bowl. Let the butter sit for 5 or so minutes, allowing the butter milk to drain. Yes, the butter milk looks different than the butter milk in the stores, but it is real butter milk. Save the butter milk for drinking and baking.

Now it’s time to wash your butter. This is where you use cold water to rinse the excess butter milk from the butter. I usually make my butter in the blender or food processor. For washing I put the butter back into the machine with ice cold water and run it for 30 seconds or so, then drain into the cloth. I do this until the water is clear.

Let the butter drain in the cheese cloth until no more water comes out, then salt to taste. Use fresh or freeze for later use or baking.

Tallow and Lard

You can make both tallow and lard in the same manner. First, you cut off any meat from the fat. The cleaner your fat is from meat the clearer and milder tasting it will be.

In a pan, Insta Pot, slow cooker, in the oven, or a roaster, add water, then the cut up pieces of fat, then simmer the fat down into a liquid. The cooking of the fat is called rendering.

No, you do not want to mix pork fat and beef fat to render together. They have different textures and tastes.

Once the fat is rendered down to mostly liquid, scoop out any extra pieces of fat that are not cooking down.
Strain the melted fat through a tightly woven cheese cloth into a metal bowl.

Put the metal bowl into the freezer.
Once frozen, pop the solid fat out and scrape off the impurities on the bottom.

Beware the fat will solidify quicker than the water, or any beef or pork liquid left on the fat. The fat rises to the top, while impurities, extra water, liquids, etc. sink to the bottom.

Put the solid fat back into the pot with water and melt it on warm. You don’t want to cook it, but melt it. Then pour it back into the bowl and freeze and repeat, scraping off the impurities.

Continue performing the above step until you achieve a clean fat without impurities.

Once the fat seems pure, melt it down one last time for storing. Though some people just store the fat in the freezer in this form, we do not.

We heat the oil down one last time, and pour them into canning jars and process. You can freeze or can your lard and tallow for later use.

We process the canning jars in a pressure canner for 50 minutes on 10 pounds of pressure due to our altitude. The tallow will be hard, while the lard will be softer.

Whipped tallow is softer, and more useable than rendered tallow that has cooled. We whip tallow from our canned tallow before use.

To make whipped tallow whip or blend the tallow in a blender or with a mixer as it’s cool and before it’s solidified.

Using Your Fat Daily.

You will need to experiment with what and how you want to cook with your newfound fats you’ve made.

You most likely will not slather tallow or lard onto a piece of toast, but then again you might.

You can bake and cook with any of these fats. You may need to adjust your recipe. Remember, before margarine and Crisco came out (another super bad fat for you), people cooked and baked with animal fats.

You can also create flavored fats like garlic butter, garlic lard, garlic tallow by adding chopped up garlic to the fat. You can also take these flavored fats and pour them into ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop the fat cubes into a container and use as needed.

Making healthy fat is not only easy to do, but rewarding.

Congratulations, you’ve added one more level of food freedom to your life.
Enjoy!

Tell me about your favorite fat to make. Plus, if you make it differently.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading from the Other Side of the Hill, Where Downsizing Opens the Door to Freedom, Travel, and Endless Love!

Janet

You don’t decide to homestead to become rich. Sure, there are ways to make money on a homestead, but for us, it was more about freedom. Knowing where our food comes from and how it is raised. If we are able to sell extras from the homestead, that is an added plus. We are frugal and try not to waste or buy unnecessary items.

5 Ways to Reduce Waste

Free Range

Free range chickens or turkeys are a win-win for everyone. The birds are the perfect pest control for the yard, and they get nutrients from sources other than pellet feed. In the summer months, this will save you. If you live in a snowy climate, as we do, in the winter months, the chickens and turkeys will rely more on feed.

Free ranging is not an option for everyone depending on what predators are in your area. That being said, you can give your birds a large enclosed fence area. We did this on our Vermont homestead, we fenced in a very large area that went into the woods. The chickens loved it and the foxes did not go into the fence. We staked the bottom of the fence to the ground to prevent anything from digging under it.

Egg shell

Chickens and turkeys need grit to help them digest food. Egg shells are a perfect source of grit and it gives the birds added calcium. We save our egg shells in a gallon bag. Once it is full, the kiddos crush it into small pieces. Some people like to bake it or let it sit in the sun. We give it to the chickens as is once a week mixed in with the pellets.

Food scraps for chickens

We do not give food scraps to our turkeys as of now, but we do give them to our chickens. I know you can give scraps to the turkeys, but they are still inside the coop for a few more weeks until we can let them out. Turkey’s natural instincts are to navigate towards the woods where predators lurk, so we want them to get used to us before letting them out.

For the chickens, we feed them anything we do not eat. This is food that is left over on the kiddos’ plates or a snack that was never eaten. Usually, it contains homemade bread, cheese, fruit, and some veggies. Sometimes they get a gourmet meal of leftovers that we are sick of or forget are in the fridge. I don’t give them junk food, because we don’t eat it.

I also stay away from anything that will sit inside the chicken fence, like banana peels or orange peels. This invites animals inside the fence at night. Trust me, we learned this the hard way. We had a skunk family that would hide under our chicken shed and eat leftover scraps at night. It was a nightmare getting rid of the skunks and our German Shepherd learned the hard way that skunks don’t play fair.

Pellet Feed Powder

Are your birds picky like mine and only eat the pellets or corn? If there are any really small broken pieces or pellet dust, they won’t eat it. I take the left over dust from the feed bins and add a liquid to it, making a paste. I prefer to use raw milk or broth for added nutrients.

The broth usually comes from other meals, either an Instant Pot chuck roast or a whole chicken. If I don’t use the broth for rice, the chickens get it. For raw milk, I use older milk that is starting to go sour. If I don’t have milk or broth available, water works too.

Bird poop

We all love chicken poop, only a homesteader would say this. Chicken and Turkey poop is great for composting or in the garden. During the summer months, we create a compost pile that will be used the following garden season. In the fall after garden season, the chickens and turkeys are allowed into the garden to scratch and fertilize it. Some people let their birds in the garden during the summer, but I don’t want to step in poop in the garden or risk them eating our food.

What are some ways you reduce waste on your homestead? Let me know in the comments, I really like to learn new things.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading with Little Feet, Big Dreams, and Endless Love!

Makalia

It’s Milk Time.

Right now it’s spring, well, sprinter really, because some days it’s 63 degrees and some days it’s 32 degrees or colder. You just never know which one you’re waking up to. The cows don’t care either way. They don’t pick the nicer days to have their calves. They just have them when they want, and I bundle up and go outside, cold or not, because that’s the deal. Every new calf is a blessing, and milking is amazing.

No, we don’t milk like most people think you have to milk, because you don’t really have to milk your cow like the system says you should. Remember you’re a homestead not a commercial dairy farm. We milk the cow with nature and what we call milk sharing.

If you haven’t heard that term before, milk sharing is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of separating the calf from its mother and taking all the milk for yourself, you leave them together and share it. The calf eats, you take what you need, the cow stays healthy because her baby is doing a lot of the work for you. I’ve been milking this way on and off for twelve years, and the whole system is built around one thing: my sanity.

The Myth That Keeps People From Starting

Everyone who thinks about getting a milk cow has heard the same warning. You have to milk your cow twice a day or your cow will get mastitis. People say this like it’s settled fact. It isn’t, at least not when you’ve got a calf on her side.

When the calf is with the mother, the cow’s being tended to whether you show up or not. Your job isn’t to replace the calf. Your job is to work alongside the calf and take your share. That’s what makes milk sharing manageable for a homestead family that’s already got a hundred other things going on.

Why We Don’t Pull the Calf at Birth

I’ve seen homesteaders follow the commercial model. This is where the calf is pulled of the mom at birth or within a few days, the cow’s milked out, and the milk gets bottle fed back to the calf. I’m not saying that’s wrong. I’m saying it’s not how we do it.

When you pull the calf away from the mom at birth, you become that calf’s mother. Someone’s needs to feed the calf three or four times a day at the beginning, then twice a day after that. The calf doesn’t bond with the mother, and the cow doesn’t keep her innate mothering skills to protect the calf. Plus, you have to milk the cow twice a day to keep her production from dropping just to feed the calf, and you. That’s a lot of work that nature didn’t intend to happen.

Yes, the calf will be friendlier toward you because it genuinely thinks you’re its mother. Some people like that. You’ve replaced the cow’s instincts entirely though, and the whole system falls apart the moment you can’t be there.

We want the mother to stay the mother. We want her instincts working as nature intended. If something happens and we can’t get out to the barn, that calf is fed, and the mom stays healthy. Nobody goes hungry and nobody gets sick. That’s the foundation we’re building on, and it changes everything about how manageable milking a cow actually can be.

This is how we start our milk sharing, once a calf is born.

The First 72 Hours

Once a calf is born, we watch it for the first 72 hours to make sure it’s getting enough colostrum. The first 24 hours are the most critical. Colostrum is what builds the immune system and gives the calf its start. If something goes wrong and the calf isn’t drinking, you’ll need to find colostrum from a neighbor or use a powdered form from the store, but our first choice is always to let the mother feed the baby directly.

Unless we see a problem with the bag getting too full or showing signs of warmth, which can indicate infection, we leave things alone for the first three to four days. Sometimes up to two weeks depending on what else is happening on the homestead. Our Dexters are usually fine during this window. The calf empties enough that the mom isn’t in distress. We do choose to take some colostrum from our heavier producing moms after the calf has eaten at a meal, allowing us to store colostrum for our homestead or a neighbor if there is a problem. Yes, our colostrum has saved other farmers’ calf, because they can start feeding it pretty quickly. I’m not taking milk for us at that point. I’m just making sure she’s not in pain and we have a little extra in the freezer.

Any colostrum I milk out in those first 24 to 48 hours I save in the freezer. It’s pure yellow colostrum. I don’t drink it, though many people seem to be buying colostrum powder to add to their smoothies.

We freeze the milk in mylar bags. Our process is simple. We fill larger mylar bags with a quart of colostrum. Before sealing we set them upright in the deep freezer, let them freeze overnight, then vacuum seal the bags shut once the milk is solid. Trying to seal a bag full of liquid colostrum is a mess I learned this the hard way. If you’re using glass instead, leave at least two inches of headspace and freeze without the lid on so the jar doesn’t crack. I’ve found half gallon jars seems to crack more often and I need to leave four inches or more of a headspace. I freeze the glass jars without the lids on. You can do this with plastic jugs too.

The frozen colostrum gets offered to other farmers or homesteaders in the area who might need it for a calf in trouble. Getting it from a real cow beats the powdered substitute every time.

Week One: Getting Established

When the calf is about a week old, I start going out to the barn after the calf has already eaten in the morning to milk. People think you have to milk at 4 or 5 in the morning. You don’t, I don’t, and I never will. Whatever schedule you set, your animals will adapt to it. I’m usually out between 7 and 9, and I check the calf’s belly first to make sure it’s not hollow or indented, which tells me the calf hasn’t eaten.

Once I know the calf has eaten, I milk all four quarters but not completely out. I want the calf to have the ability to get a little snack between feedings if the mom allows.

During this period we also separate our milking cows and calves from the main herd. They have their own area with fresh pasture, hay, water, and cover. It keeps them trained for milking and makes the morning routine predictable.

During these first several weeks I’m milking every single morning. We’re establishing the supply, getting the cow used to the routine of us milking alongside the calf eating, and building trust between her, the calf, and me. Our older cows get back into the routine of milking very easily. New cows, take a little longer to get them into the milking groove.

Weeks Three Through Five: Starting the Separation

Somewhere between three and five weeks old, depending on the calf and the cow, I’ll go out in the morning and there’s no milk for me to take. The calf has eaten it all. This means we need to do two things. Separate the cow and calf at night, and get the mom’s milk supply up for both calf and us.

By this point the calf is starting to nibble hay and grass. It’s not dependent on milk alone anymore, though milk is their main food. At night we move the calf into a large run area right next to where the cows come in and out. It’s roomy enough for two full-size cows with space to spare, and the calf has hay, water, and can still touch its mother through the fence. They’re not completely isolated from each other, but the calf cannot feed.

In the morning I milk out part of two of the four teats. As the cow makes more milk at the morning feeding we take more of the milk from the two teats. The calf eats from the other two teats. Yes, sometimes at the same time as us, and sometimes after us, depending on the calf. We do this until the calf is about four or five months old, when we will empty the two teats.

The calf is with the mom in the field and barn throughout the rest of the day eating, whenever it chooses.

If the calf is a heifer, this is also when we start getting her comfortable at the stanchion. Not because we’re planning to milk her necessarily, but because a cow who’s been handled and trained is easier to work with and easier to sell to someone else who wants to milk her. It takes almost no extra effort at this stage and it pays off later.

Our Setup: The Stanchion

We use a milk stanchion, which is a structure the cow walks into with a head gate that closes loosely around her neck while she eats. It keeps her steady, keeps me safe, and keeps the calf from getting in the way once they’re old enough to fight me for the pail. In front of the cow there’s hay, and depending on the cow, sometimes molasses.

I milk our Dexters by hand, because to me it’s faster than getting the milking machine out, using it, and cleaning it. Plus, as I get older milking seems to keep my hands moving.

Hand milking has a real advantage in milk sharing because I can feel how much milk I’m taking and how much I’m leaving. I can see and feel how the calf is eating, and interact with the calf easily. After twelve years I’ve gotten good at knowing when to stop.

We Don’t Milk Every Day

For the first two weeks while we’re establishing the milk supply, yes, I’m out there every morning. After that, there are days we skip. We take one day off a week on purpose. It gives everyone a break, human and animal both. Sometimes life is happening and we can’t get out to milk. Plus now that we are looking at downsizing what we do to see children and grandchildren not in our area, we have a little more freedom to visit, and not worry about milk. The calf and the cow handle those days together on their own. That’s the entire point of milk sharing. The calf is the backup, the insurance, the partner in this system.

When you’ve got a calf on the cow, the cow’s being taken care of whether you show up or not. You get the benefit of fresh raw milk without the whole thing collapsing the moment something goes sideways on the homestead.

When We Stop and When We Start Again

We milk up until around January, sometimes a little longer sometimes a little shorter, depending on the weather. We live in cold country and I don’t enjoy milking when it’s below freezing. Our cows are bred in July and deliver in April and May, which means if we stop milking in January the cow gets a solid three months where she’s not milking and pregnant at the same time. That matters for her health and for the next calf.

All calves stay with their mothers for at least six months. We don’t let any calf leave the homestead before that. If we sell a calf from one of the milkers, we stop milking that cow when the calf goes. After six months, the weaning timeline depends on the calf. Heifers we wean at seven months if the bull is still in the pasture. If there’s no bull around, or the calf is a steer, we go to nine months. That gives the cow three good months to rest before the next calf arrives.

I have one cow who starts weaning her calf herself around six months. She gets antsy and doesn’t want to be milked anymore. When she weens her calf, she weens us off too.

We don’t have winter calves by design. Yes, we could have cows freshen (calve) twice a year for year round milking. We preserve what we can, go without fresh milk once it’s gone, and then sprinter arrives and we start again.

The Point of All of It

You’re homesteading because you want real food and peace of mind, not because you want a new full-time job that never takes a day off. Milk sharing is how we get fresh raw milk without the milk owning us. It works because we’re working with the cow and calf instead of replacing one of them.

If you’ve been on the fence about a milk cow because you’ve heard it’s too demanding or too complicated or you can’t possibly do it unless you’re out there twice a day every single day, I want you to hear this. It doesn’t have to be that way. Figure out what works for you and your animals.

Try It and Tell Me How It Goes

If you’re starting your first milk share this spring or you’ve been doing this for years and do it differently, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Every homestead works it out a little differently. The more we share what actually works, the easier it gets for the people just starting out.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading from the Other Side of the Hill, Where Downsizing Opens the Door to Freedom, Travel, and Endless Love!

Janet

We have been living in our new home for about three weeks and have started planning for livestock and this year’s garden. Before I dive into what we will be doing with livestock, I wanted to give a little backstory for anyone who is new.

This is not our first homestead with animals or a garden, but I pray that it is our last. My husband and I started our homestead journey in Vermont when my oldest was 10 months old. I had just quit my full-time job to stay home with our oldest. That is when I realized how broken our food system is.

My husband built me 2 large, beautiful pine-log raised beds from our property, and we asked my parents for chicken from their flock. It was important that we knew where the chickens came from. We learned a lot just from our two years of homesteading in Vermont.

We sold our Vermont homestead in 2025, to move across the country to the Midwest. It truly was a God thing. I was 36 weeks pregnant during the move. It was not all smooth, but looking back, it was the easiest move we’d done. The move to the Midwest was our third move as a married couple/family. We spent a year renting and praying for our forever homestead. A place we could raise our family and start new traditions that would impact our legacy for generations.

Starting Our Homestead Again:

Our next homestead journey will be completely different from our first because we are not the same family and we have learned many lessons. First, we have two small children who want to be involved. That being said, I want to do things in a way that they can help based on their age. Second, this is a different area with different obstacles and challenges.

I know they tell you to only get one animal at a time, don’t overdo it. Well, that is not the case for us. The chickens and turkeys will be arriving at our homestead today! As for the guinea fowls, we will be waiting until mid to end of May, when I can get them from the hardware store or a local homesteader.

Chickens

Of course, our first animal on the homestead are chickens, my parents will be bringing us our flock, plus some additional chickens. Chickens are fun creatures to have and are very entertaining. I have really missed hearing my husband and our rooster talk back to each other… My husband can crow; it sounds exactly like a real rooster. No, I will never get it on video. My kiddos love the chickens too, my youngest has not been around them much, but my oldest used to feed, water, and collect eggs starting from 18ish months.

The bread of chickens is homegrown, why do I say that, well because they have been crossbreed between like minded farms and incubated for the past 6 years. We look for traits like color, behavior, bird size, and breeding traits that are desirable. For example, we don’t won’t a hostile rooster bred with any of our hens. We look for roosters that will protect the flock, but not attack us or our kiddos. One trait I personally love is a broody hens that take care of their babies. She needs to take care of her babies, otherwise that is more work for us.

Broody hens are not a bad thing, it allows you to hatch baby chicks without an incubator. If you don’t want a hen to go broody, take their eggs out from under them. Sometimes, when you try to take their eggs from under them, the hen will try to peck you. You can tell they are broody because they will sit in a box or another area for long periods of time and not go outside. They even steal eggs that other chickens have laid. If you decide to allow your hen to go broody and hatch baby chicks, protect them from the other chickens. In our last coop, we made a enclosed chicken area inside our chicken coop. The broody hen had her own food and water. Warning, they will start to smell.

We already have the chicken fence started. I want to try to have free range chickens, but until we know what the predators situation is here, we will keep them in a large fenced in area. On days we are home all day, we will free range the chickens, but make sure to keep an eye on them at all times. Our Rooster PPJ (Pretty Boy Junior), who is stared in the photo above, is an amazing protector, but is still upsetting to see a fox go after him. This happened in Vermont, PPJ was in shock and ran into the woods. Luckily, we were able to get him from a pile of sticks and bring him home.

Turkeys

Our next animal, which we have never raised, are turkeys. A family friend, who we are very grateful for, is gifting us turkeys. We already have a shelter for them that was on the property. I have always wanted to raise turkeys, but never took the leap to do it.

We will be getting Midget White Turkeys, which are essentially a large white chicken. The hens grow to be about 10 to 13 lbs and the Toms are around 12 to 18 lbs. Their meat is very tender, and they are easy to pluck by hand. Midget Whites are known for being docile birds, this is important to us with having small kiddos. honestly, I don’t want a big angry bird coming at me either.

Turkeys can fly, meaning you have to enclose their shelter or they will fly out of it. Some people will clip the birds’ wings so they cannot fly, but we won’t do that. If an animal tries to attack your bird, they have no way to escape. We are going to build them an enclosed fenced area attached to their coop. If we are outside the turkeys should follow us around, which we will do in small increments.

Guinea Fowls

Lastly, we are looking into raising a few guinea keets (baby guineas), but not for food. Guinea fowls are very obnoxious birds and I honestly have no desire to have them on the homestead. That being said, they are amazing pest control animals. We have a big tick issues in our area, it’s not just when we go into the woods. We are finding them in the short cut grass, but we are butted up to a hayfield. A benefit of the Guinea fowls being loud is that they are a natural predator deterrent.

The chickens and guinea fowls might be able to free range together, but as I stated above, we need to understand the predator in our area first. Once the guinea fowls are bigger, they will free range. Guinea fowls do better as a free range bird, and if they have enough food outside, they do not need feed. I have read that they are the dumbest birds and sometimes wander away, never to return. I am hoping we can train them with the chickens to go back into the coop.

Do you have experience with Guinea fowl? Leave a comment, are Guinea fowl worth it?

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Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading with Little Feet, Big Dreams, and Endless Love!
Makalia

If you want to help kickstart our homesteading journey with extra caffeine you can support me with coffee ❤️☕.

Coffee Keeps Us Strong

Everyone who gardens has started somewhere. Even if you’ve watched someone garden or helped in someone else’s yard, there’s still that moment when it becomes your space, your time, and you think, where do I even begin?

You feel overwhelmed, have great ideas, and might even be a little too ambitious. You don’t have to grow everything right now, this year, or ever.

You wonder what comes first, what comes second, and how much it’s going to cost you if it all falls apart.

Get that last thought out of your head right now.

Gardening gives you freedom and control over what you eat, how it’s grown, and how much you grow. Yes, you might have a bumper crop one year and a dud crop the next. However, learning gardening skills gives you more control over clean, healthy food.

Here are six things to think about to move you from wanting a garden to having food on your table, plus a bonus seventh.

1. Decide what type of garden you want.

For infrastructure, I’m talking soil gardening here, not aquaponics or hydroponics, though those are worth looking into if they interest you.

What kind of space do you have to work with? Do you want containers on the porch, raised beds, an in-ground square-foot garden, or a combination of them all?

How do you want to put your garden areas together? There are different methods to create your garden space. For instance, lasagna gardening or the Ruth Stout method, where you layer green and brown material and plant right into it. The Back to Eden method, where you cover the ground with cardboard or newspaper, then top it with a few feet of soil, which you plant directly into. You may choose between till and no-till methods. There’s no shortage of options, but don’t get hung up on them.

Organic gardening is another method which I want to impress upon you for your health. Why do all the work of growing your own food if you don’t grow it without pesticides and genetically engineered products and seeds? This means any soil you bring in should be from a farm that hasn’t sprayed chemicals or fed GMO food to their animals. Buying bags of organic soil works. Going directly to an organic farm is even better because you can talk to the people growing it. Or dig where you already are. Don’t look at grass and weeds as a bad thing. It means you have good soil.

2. Decide where you’re going to grow.

Where you grow may determine how much of certain food you can actually produce. Keep in mind that you can always grow vertically. Growing up, instead of out saves space, reduces work, and can give you more food per square foot than spreading everything flat. If you’re growing in containers, add a trellis for more growing space.

3. Plant your perennials first.

Perennials come back year after year from the same rootstock. You’ll probably buy most of them as shrubs or trees, though you can start from seed or cutting too. Think berries like blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and elderberries. Think trees, including fruit and nut varieties. There are also other plants such as asparagus, mint, rhubarb, some herbs, and horseradish.

Some perennials will give you food the first year, while others take time to establish themselves. Once established, they give you food year after year. Don’t wait years thinking you need the perfect spot, because the perfect spot will never come, and time will go by.

4. Decide on your annual plants.

Annuals are plants you replant each year from seed, starters, clones, or cuttings. Always use organic, open-pollinated, heirloom, or what’s now being called OG, meaning original seeds. Stay away from hybrids and F1 seeds, even if they are organic. Someday you’re going to want to save seeds. Hybrids and F1 seeds are not true to their fruit.

5. Decide between seeds and starter plants.

Seeds are cheaper and more work, but your options are wider. Starter plants are ready to go, but you have to make sure the plants are what you want. Are the plants open-pollinated or organically grown? If not organically grown, are they non-GMO seeds?

Yes, starter plants are easier to start your garden with, but be mindful of where you’re getting your plants from and who started them. At a big-box store, I saw a plant that showed the soil would be good for three months. I had to ask myself what’s in that soil that the company specifically put three months on the label?

Buying seed starters from your local greenhouse or homesteader is much safer and transparent than from any big box store.

The best way to find good seed companies is to ask friends and family who are already growing. People who grow from seed have favorites. A smaller seed company run by people who genuinely care about preserving old varieties is going to serve you better than a large company that doesn’t share your values. If someone you know already saves seeds for your region, ask if they’ll share some with you.

6. Start small and grow food you actually eat.

You can choose a variety of food to grow and still stay small. Pick fruits, vegetables, and herbs that you eat every day. Choose things that give you immediate satisfaction, like tomatoes right off the vine, fresh cucumbers, mint for your water. Pick herbs you’ll cook with this week, like cilantro, basil, oregano.

When you’re starting out, don’t aim to can everything and fill a root cellar. Aim to eat fresh food and have a little extra. If you want to preserve something, pick one or two items and plant a few extra plants for that purpose. Two tomato plants for eating fresh and two for canning are plenty to start with. You’ll be amazed by the production from just a few plants.

Bonus: Succession Planting

Succession planting means planting multiple crops of the same or different food in the same space as one crop finishes. We do this with lettuce, spinach, carrots, peas, beets, and onions to name a few. For 20 to 60-day varieties, we plant two weeks apart and reuse the space as we harvest. We do it with garlic, too. Garlic comes out in July, and we put something else in right behind it for a second crop later in the season.

Gardening is a marathon, not a sprint. If one seed doesn’t work, try another. If one method doesn’t suit you, try something else. What works for your neighbor’s garden might not work for yours, and that’s fine. Just keep gardening, growing, and learning.

Remember when you start, you don’t know what you don’t know, but you’ll learn.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey. Where I’m Homesteading from the Other Side of the Hill, Where Downsizing Opens the Door to Freedom, Travel, and Endless Love!
Janet

Think Before You Buy

You may think purchasing new chicks every year is the smartest and easiest way to have chickens on your homestead. Have you considered the vaccines their parents received?

It’s very easy to go online, choose the chickens you want, order them, and wait for the chicks to arrive by mail. Did you know that the majority of chicken hatcheries in the United States belong to the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP)? That means your chicks come from vaccinated breeding stock, whether you know it or not.

Most U.S. hatcheries vaccinate their breeding flocks and do not need to disclose this on their websites. Before buying chicks from a breeder, ask them what vaccinations their breeding flock receives. Ask them whether they keep their breeding stock outdoors or in cages. Ask if the eggs are vaccinated. This is called In-ovo vaccination, which doesn’t need to be disclosed either, because it’s given through the eggshell before the chick hatches. So technically, the chick hasn’t received a vaccination because the procedure happens before they are considered chicks.

You want birds that thrive in nature, not in small cages, and are healthy for you to eat, eat their eggs, and reproduce them.

What Hatcheries Vaccinate For

In late 2024, we emailed five different hatcheries and discovered that they vaccinated breeder chickens for the following diseases. Some hatcheries vaccinated for all, while others only vaccinated for some. They all said they align with the NPIP program, which is a voluntary government program, sort -of.

According to the USDA participation is voluntary, but all flocks must first qualify as “U.S. Pullorum-Typhoid Clean” to access additional program benefits. More importantly, the vast majority of U.S. states prohibit the entry of any poultry shipments except those designated as Pullorum-Typhoid Clean , which means any hatchery selling birds across state lines essentially has to participate to stay in business.

Please note, according to the NPIP website and USDA, the Avian Influenza (HPAI) vaccination started rolling out in 2025 and will continue through 2026.

The rest of the vaccines I could find are as follows. Many of these vaccines are live vaccines.

• Mareks: a viral infection.

• Bursal or IBD Vaccine: for a viral infection.

• Newcastle/Bronchitis: a live-virus vaccine supposed to protect chickens against both Newcastle Disease and Infectious Bronchitis.

• Avian encephalomyelitis (AE): supposed to protect chickens from the disease caused by the Avian encephalomyelitis virus.

• Fowl pox: a live virus vaccine used to prevent Fowl Pox in chickens, typically administered at 8 weeks or older, with some sources recommending 12–16 weeks.

• Pigeon pox: a virus.

• Laryngo: a vaccine used to prevent laryngotracheitis, a respiratory disease.

• Salmonella vaccine: used to reduce Salmonella in the digestive tract.

• Bird flu vaccine: designed to protect against the avian influenza virus, specifically the H5N1 subtype.

There are groups writing articles and touting how wonderful these vaccines are for keeping flocks healthy. To me a vaccinated flock is a weak flock. The more you vaccinate, the weaker your animals become because they can’t fight off anything that comes their way.

Their bodies are depending on medication instead of survival of the fittest. You want strong birds that can take care of themselves and not get sick naturally. Most hatcheries only keep their breeding birds for one year. You, with the exception of meat birds, will keep your layers and breeders for several years.

Remember your health is what you eat.

There are some places that don’t vaccinate their chicks, breeders, or the eggs. Look for a chicken preserve and ask them directly what, if anything do, they vaccinate their chickens.

Incubating Your Own Chicks

A better idea besides buying baby chicks is incubating your own. Or get them from someone you know who incubates their own.

Ideally, the cheapest and best way to incubate new chicks is by letting your chickens do it on their own. This means you need a broody hen, one that will sit on eggs and hatch them without your intervention, sometimes without your knowledge as well. This isn’t always possible, and it gives you less control over your flock. The other option is usinto use egg incubator.

An egg incubator puts you in charge. You must have a mature rooster for every eight hens that are laying eggs. This ratio ensures the eggs will be fertilized. The best time of year is when the weather isn’t too hot nor too cold for that breed. Most breeds do well fertilizing between 40 and 80 degrees.

Incubating Cons

There are two cons to owning your own incubator.

The biggest con of incubating your own chicks is the cost of a good incubator that incubates 24 or more eggs with little work from you. Sure, you can purchase a cheap incubator or make your own. We’ve done both, and neither has lasted long and the ratio of hatching was low. The cheap ones make hatching more difficult due to the manual work you need to do.

The second con, you might get addicted to hatching out way too many chicks. In this case, lend your incubator to a friend, or sell the chicks.

Another option is to find someone who will incubate your eggs for you while you save your pennies for your own incubator. You may not get your eggs hatched exactly when you want, but you will get new chicks that come from cleaner stock.

The Pros: Freedom

Freedom. That is my number one reason for incubating our own eggs. You decide when you want more chicks, what breeds you want, and whether you want any vaccinations for your flock at all. You get to stop the insanity of medicating birds that should be strong enough to take care of themselves.

You also control what your breeders eat, which matters more than most people realize. If a hatchery feeds their birds genetically engineered feed, your chicks carry that with them even before they hatch. With your own flock, you know exactly what they eat.

Swap fertile eggs with a friend and you add new genetics to your gene pool without spending a dime on outside stock. There are no surprises about shipping costs, no worrying about a hatchery running out of your breed, and no risk of a supply shortage. You are in charge from egg to hatch.

Having and using a chick incubator gives you freedom for your chicken meat and eggs. Now go save your pennies and create some outstanding chickens to add to your food freedom.

I’m off to check my baby chicks.
You can use the same incubator to hatch out quail, duck, and turkey too.

Welcome to Our Wild Journey – Homesteading from the Other Side of the Hill, Where Downsizing Opens the Door to Freedom, Travel, and Endless Love!
Janet