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 …

Caitlyn, Seasons

Inventing Traditions

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I enjoyed Christmas as a kid – what child doesn’t like presents and a party? But it’s only recently (yes, and belatedly) occurred to me that I haven’t really done anything to make sure Caitlyn will be able to say the same in 20 years. Traditions, apparently, don’t make themselves. After moving out for college, I always went back home for Christmas. I wasn’t responsible for shaping the holiday there, and by then the patterns were pretty much set. When we didn’t go to my family’s home, Ian and I went somewhere else where we still weren’t responsible, leaving the …

Caitlyn, Seasons

Making Pretty Lights

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About the time the email discussion of How We Would Do Thanksgiving This Year got started last month, I saw this over at Uncommon Grace. We were discussing food, as one does, and spreading out the cooking responsibilities and I suggested that maybe, in addition to potatoes and pie, we could have a craft table set up. While most of the family members are quite happy to sit around and talk, Caitlyn doesn’t see the appeal. I thought having a creative space might keep her from being too much underfoot in the kitchen or from jumping on the couch unsupervised. …

random thoughts

Experimenting with Titles

When I was in high school, I had an English teacher (Hi, Ms. Mullins!) who insisted that everything we wrote be titled. This resulted in some titles that had very little to do with the contents of the essay. Maybe it was James who titled something (probably about Catch-22 or Le Morte d’Arthur) “Becky’s Yellow Socks”. It could have been a “meeting the letter, not the spirit” kind of thing or it could have been some expression of Absurdism, in which, as rural high school seniors, we were Experts. I still have the t-shirt that class made: illustrated pocket protector …

homesteading

Home-made Raisins

I’ve been tossing a small handful of raisins on my granola in the morning. These are extra special raisins because they came from these: The grapevine in the front yard was prolific this year. Some of the grapes became grape juice or grape jelly or grape syrup. And some of those grapes spent some time in the dehydrator transforming into these tiny, sweet-tart bundles of sunshine. Having them in the granola makes me smile at my breakfast. Save