Category: homesteading

homesteading, sewing

On Not Reinventing the Wheel

About a year ago, I was reading a handful of blogs on sustainability and coming environmental apocalypse, specifically Crunchy Chicken during the annual “Freeze Yer Buns” Challenge and Casaubon’s Book when the author was discussing how her family dealt with low interior temperatures. These are people who, when it gets cold, don’t turn the heat up – they add layers. Casaubon’s Book, which, in general, looks toward history to find solutions to such problems, mentioned the petticoat. It’s weird that I’d more or less forgotten about petticoats, given my general tendency toward antique fashion. I appreciate that I can wear …

homesteading

I need a cow

 

Ok, maybe not. Cows are big, and the neighborhood would probably object if I were to fence off our central park and convert it to cow pasture, since there’s no way my back yard is big enough. And there’s the various problems of noise (“Mooooooo!”) and manure (flies and stink), not to mention the sheer work of feeding, milking, impregnating, and keeping it healthy. Oh, and what to do with the inevitable calf? No, I can’t have a cow. I don’t even really want one. I’m happy growing vegetables but very nervous about all forms of livestock. But I need …

in the kitchen, Introspection

Kitchen Magic

I spent another afternoon in the kitchen (yogurt, bread, more gifts, a brave attempt at something resembling curry) today. Sure, my feet are a bit sore from lots of standing, but in all I’m pretty happy just now. Which leads me to wonder, why do I like the kitchen so much? First, I like to eat. And I like to eat things with recognizable ingredients. I like to assemble things. There’s something appealing to a pile of parts and some instructions, and something satisfying about getting a useful or beautiful thing out of the raw pieces. Quilt kits, LEGO sets, …

in the kitchen

A day in the kitchen

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I read email this morning, and then ignored the computer for the rest of the day. As a result, I’m down to my last bottle of corn syrup and I’m out of almonds. I hand-chopped 6 cups of almonds today, and now, finally, I understand What a Food Processor Is For, although I don’t think I’ll buy one – I don’t know where I’d put it. I’ve bundled up the results of today’s work already, before taking any pictures, so you’ll have to imagine: English Toffee Peanut Brittle (and black beans and roasted squash, but those aren’t quite the same) …

homesteading

The Great Carrot Experiment

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Last year, I chipped frozen carrots out of the p-patch. This year, I decided not to bother. The ideal way to store carrots is in a root cellar, which I don’t and can’t have (probably a good thing, really), although I do blanch and freeze a few quarts of carrots during the summer. But what if, as our soil isn’t frozen solid all winter, I just left the carrots in the garden until we needed them? Wouldn’t that be sort of like having them in a root cellar, minus the baskets full of sand? I am pleased to announce that …