Food Swapping Fun

Yesterday Heather and I were lucky enough to attend our first ever homemade food swap, hosted by a group from Lansing called Mid-Mitten Homemade. You can check them out on facebook here. The concept of the swap was pretty simple, but I was blown away at how great of...

Saving Seeds, A Bonus Harvest

Its been a little while since my last post. As everyone knows, this is a very busy time of year. School starts for the kids and the harvest really starts to pick up, which brings with it preservation season. Canning, drying, freezing… jams, tomatoes, pickles,...

Homemade Sauerkraut

One of the vegetables that we grew this year was cabbage. We chose a variety from Baker Creek Seed Company called the Glory of Enkhuizen. It’s named after the village in Holland where it was first introduced back in 1899. It is said to an early, excellent...

Saving Garlic – and my lessons in patience

One of the things I enjoy the most about our life here at Small House is taking the time to learn what all goes into our food. And I don’t just mean the ingredients. A lot of the food that is readily available at the super market for hungry consumers to purchase...

Our friend Nettles

Nettles. Most people are familiar with nettles if only because of its sting. If you haven’t experienced nettles’ sting, maybe you need to get out more! This common plant can be found most anywhere; roadsides, edges of trails, along river banks, most any...

Super grain of the Andes or common weed?

Our first growing season here at Small House couldn’t be more exciting.. the thrill of breaking ground on a new garden! We had time last fall to build a few raised beds and set up some low tunnels before the snow hit. And when the cold of winter had us in its...