On April 28, 2012, the Missionary Church of Kopimism held their]

April/May 2015From Scratch

Spring is hereAre you ready?

HOMEMADEHOUSEHOLD CLEANERS

THINGS TO PLANT RIGHT NOW5

2FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Scratch and Peck Feeds Organic Chicken Feed Organic Turkey Feed Organic Pig Feed Organic Goat Feed Organic Grains Supplements Non-GMO Meat

& Eggs

FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

LETTER FROM THE

EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Its Spring time -- Finally!

Its been a weird year, what with Arctic Blasts and Mega-droughts all in the news.Planting, for us, has been delayed for quite some time now.But were itching to get to it!Were working on getting seeds in the ground, growing transplants and al-ready waiting eagerly for those baby plants to show their adorable little heads.Hopefully, you are too.Whether its a backyard garden, a giant field of corn or a simple little pot full of herbs, now is the time to get going.Spring is a time for new beginnings. Its time to put aside your past failures -- and your past successes, no resting on your laurels here -- and dig in and get something started.So, if you are a beginner with no previous experience or a seasoned veteran with years of gardening and farming and homesteading under your belt, it does not matter. All that mat-ters now is the work you set in front of yourself and since the weathers got-

ten warmer and the days have gotten longer, you dont have any more ex-cuses.So dust off those plans and get to it!Do not worry, we are here to help.Weve got pieces in this issue on rais-ing flowers, saving money, building up your soil and more.So peruse these pages and see if you can get a little inspiration.Heres your homework: Try something new this Spring!You can try out a new variety of veg-etable to put in your garden. You can make some kale kraut (its a thing, honest). Make your mother an herb garden for this Mothers Day.And dont worry about doing it wrong. The best thing about homesteading is this: Its what You make it, not anyone else!And Spring is exactly the same way. Enjoy your Spring and whatever you make it into. And if you come up with some great ideas, send us a note and let us know.Happy Spring!

Steven and Melissa


M

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Fr

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FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE: Contributors

CHRIS MCLAUGHLIN

Associate Editor

CAROL J. ALEXANDERHomeschool Editor/

Everything with Carol

Contributors

Steven JonesEditor

Melissa JonesPublisher

CASSIE LANGSTRAAT

Laughing Crow Company


FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE: In this Issue

IN THIS ISSUE

homemade householdcleaners

What we are planting now

Springis here


Carols Canning Tips

Deschooling your homeschooler

hugelkultur -german raised beds

eatthe weeds

kalekraut

What we are planting now

3 Ways tosucceed athomeschooling


The windmill at One Ash Farm & Dairy

Meredith sent in this photo of the baby birdies

Cozie Nook Homesteads valley in Western Mass. Sally sent a photo of Peach Blossoms from Southeast GA

photos from our

readers


The windmill at One Ash Farm & Dairy

Spring ducklings. Cheese & Quackers ~ Livin Lovin Farmin

Mindie sent in the photo of a cute little baby.

Cozie Nook Homesteads valley in Western Mass.

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photos from our

readers

Mat sent in this photo of 2 week old Danny and Diablo

Lila and her pullet

Judy sent in this photo of her son in wildflowers in Tennessee.

Harnessing the sun to bake and power their home. Homestead Honey

Mindie candling an egg.

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A Spring Day on the JHP Ranch

Mat sent in this photo of 2 week old Danny and Diablo

Karlie sent in this double yolker

Daffodils from Janelle

Harnessing the sun to bake and power their home. Homestead Honey

Mindie candling an egg.

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HelloSpringweve missed you

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During this time of year we convert the egg surplus into beautiful egg arrangementsall place them all over the kitchen and dining room.

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You can find beautiful dishes to display your egg arrangements

at thrift stores or antique malls.

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Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! - Sitting Bull

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Family Physician Kit- The Herbal Homestead - $150

Melissas Picks

An Electric Kettle because it is life changing and mine is on its last leg. - Amazon - $54

A diffuser - a great way to chill out after a long day - Amazon - $40

Clear Bird Feeder to put on my kitchen window- Amazon - $8

My Mothers Day Wish list

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How can I not have agnome already?! - Amazon - $25

Melissas Picks A sun hat to protect my fair skin- Amazon - $17

A rope chair because I am not quite lazy enough for a hammock Amazon - $39

A sun hat to protect my fair skin- Amazon - $54A rope chair because I am not quite lazy enough for a hammock Amazon - $54

A garden cart that has a basket. Genius! - Amazon - $100

How do I nothave a gnome?!- Amazon - $25


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What we aregrowing now

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Its been a weird season in Eastern North Carolina. At Carolina Crow Farm, we had a late start because of the weird and wonky weather.

With the Arctic Blasts hitting most of North America, Im pretty sure most of the coun-try had a delayed start to their growing season also.Still, now that the weathers shifted, Im jumping on my chance and planting every-thing I can. Heres my Top Five Favorite Crops to Plant now!

KaleI love Kale. I love to eat it, I love to grow it, I love every-thing about it.Kale is a member of the Brassica family, which means its related to cabbage, col-lards, broccoli, cauliflower and the like.Its an incredibly versatile plant. It can be eaten raw, sauted, blended into a smoothie, fed to most forms of livestock (not your daughters tortoise, how-

ever), fermented into kraut and even sprouted like wheat grass.Its incredibly easy to grow, and can be grown just about all year long, as long as youre willing to employ row cov-ers during the winter months (excepting Arctic Blasts, of course). Its pretty easy to grow too: Simply put a few seeds in the ground, make sure they get enough water and watch it grow. Kale is susceptible to aphids, whiteflies, flea beetles and caterpillars. These can be combated with row covers, lady bugs and Bt spray, all of which are organic in nature.Be aware: Kale is normally con-sidered a cool weather crop, but it can be grown in the sum-mer. The leaves of the summer crop will turn out tougher and more bitter, which puts off a lot of people. I ferment it into kraut during those months or use it raw (lightly massaged to make it a little more tender) in salads to add texture and a more complicated flavor than youd normally get from salad greens.

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Victory Garden Starter KitIncludes everything you need to start your own Victory Garden.

Throughout history, Victory Gardens have been sown during times of war as a way for folks to both feed their families and to aide in the war effort.

Planting a Victory Garden has more personal significance in our time. Whatever your reason may be stretching your grocery budget and sav-ing money, growing pure food for your familys table or declaring indepen-dence from the corporate food chain planting a garden makes sense.

Contained in a decorative gift bag are tried and true varieties suitable for planting a Victory Garden in a wide range of climates.

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Lettuce

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LettuceI wasnt a big fan of lettuce, until I started growing it.As a younger man, I found let-tuce to be bland and pointless -- empty calories designed to take up space with a tepid fla-vor -- mainly because Id been raised on the ubiquitous ice-berg variety.But, as I started planting it, I found lettuce to be a pretty awesome crop to grow. It grows well during the colder months and provides a little bit of life to a garden many might write off as done for the year.Experiment with different vari-eties: Lettuce can be grown as greens or as head varieties and they come in all manner of col-ors and textures. They arent hard to grow usually (although Ive had more success by avoiding the head varieties, personally) and provide a great way to kick off a season early or extend it late.Also, quick tip: You can fry up some bacon, then use the grease to wilt some lettuce. Serve both with a homemade biscuit. Itll be the best salad youve ever had.

Rattlesnake beansI dont grow any other variety of beans, other than rattle-snake beans. Im what you might call a rattlesnake bean snob.You can keep your prudish green beans, with their lack of imagination or joie de vivre. I dont want any of your lacklus-ter lima beans crowding up my rows, give me the humble, yet vibrant, rattlesnake bean.I like this variety of pole bean because its the Swiss Army Knife of beans: You can har-vest it early and eat the tender pods whole, just like green beans; you can harvest it at full maturity and eat it like a shell bean; or you can leave it on your vines to dry and store for future use in the crock pot. Theres never a bad time to pick these things.In my experience (in this par-ticular ecosystem, anyway) they tend to be hale and hardy, producing well throughout the bean picking season.The only trouble Ive ever had with them is a little caterpillar damage, which is easily com-

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Blue Popcorn

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bated with semi-regular bursts of Bt. And if you wind them up corn plants, ala the Three Sisters method, then you dont even have to worry about stak-ing them.

PopcornThe last time I grew sweet corn was in Saint Granny Jones gar-den (the term garden should be used loosely here. As the daughter of sharecroppers, she considered anything under 5 acres to be a garden which led to two and three acre kitchen gardens) when I was 14. Technically she grew it. I, as an unruly and quite frankly really, really dumb teenager, just helped out in her garden whenever my Junior Saint of a father made me. Ill have to give him a call and thank him for that as soon as Im done with this article.After experimenting with pop-corn this last year, I seriously doubt Ill grow sweet corn again.I grew a hybrid blue miniature popcorn from NE Seed last year. And Im growing as much as I possibly can this year.No only do the four-feet-tall

stalks make for great trellis-ing for beans and cucumbers, but because its a cereal crop (popcorn is processed and sold as kernels instead of cobs like sweet corn) it requires a lot less maintenance than its bet-ter known cousin. Instead of spending the season fighting the worms and bugs, I actu-ally just let them eat their fill, handpicking insects off when-ever the mood struck me. After allowing it to dry on the stalk at the end of the summer, I just broke off the damaged part of the cob and kept the good ker-nels for myself. This approach meant I didnt have to spend any time spraying my corn like I would with sweet corn. It didnt seem to impact my yield all that negatively either: I planted a hundred corn seeds and Ive got dozens of pounds of popcorn for my lack of effort.Another benefit: Popcorn is a lot more forgiving of planting times than sweet corn. Which means if you get a late start on your planting, like we did this year, theres still plenty of time left in April to plant this fantas-tic crop.

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Homemade Household Cleaners

By: Melissa Jones

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Homemade Household Cleaners

By: Melissa Jones

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H o u s e h o l d H o m e m a d e

All Purpose Disinfecting Spray Ingredients: 16 oz. glass spray bottle (these are easy to find online) 1/4 cup white vinegar 1 3/4 cups water 30 drops essential oil. We like grapefruit.

(dTERRA is the recommended oil) 1 teaspoon borax

Bleach is poisonous.Ammonia is a powerful irritant.Detergents, innocuous as they seem, should be kept out of reach of your children.Furniture polish contains solvents and aerosols that are harsh on the environment.Commercial air fresheners contain phthalates which are linked to breast cancer and hormonal changes.Essentially, under your sink is a toxic waste dump.But hey, you have to clean house, right?Well, theres better ways. Weve collected a list of our favorite recipes and concoctions for house-hold cleaners, including dish soap,

furniture polish, general surface cleaner and more. The items are made with vinegar, essential oils, water, baking soda, water, etc. All natural ingredients that if you felt so inclined, you could probably drink with little or no harm.No calls to poison control. No trips to the ER.And all of these recipes create cleaners which clean at least as good -- and probably better -- than the toxic morass that you might use now. And for the most part, theyre probably cheaper. So you can save your health some unnecessary damage and save your-self a pretty hefty chunk of change in the process.

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ANTIBACTERIAL ANTI VIRAL ANTIFUNGALeucalyptus, lavender, lemon, lime, marjoram, melaleuca, peppermint, Roman chamomile, rosemary,sage, sandalwood, wild orange, wintergreen

cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon,melaleuca, oregano, sandalwood, thyme

eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, melaleuca, patchouli,sage, sandalwood, thyme

ANTIBIOTIC

Bergamot, clove, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, lime,melaleuca, oregano, patchouli, Roman chamomile

WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?

Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in the seeds, flowers, bark, rind and leaves of plants, extracted & distilled for health benefits.

essential oils kill Bacteria, mold, fungi, and mold.

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ANTIFUNGAL

ANTIBIOTIC

Fridge-microwave Spray Ingredients: 1 cup white vinegar 2 cups hot water 15 drops of Lemon essential oil 1 teaspoon borax

directions:Combine the ingredients in glass spray bottle. Spray mixture inside fridge or microwave, then scrub and wipe using damp cloth.

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Furniture Polish Ingredients: cup olive oil cup vinegar 10 drops essential oil (try

orange or lemon)

directions:Mix and apply. Wipe clean.

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Dish SoapIngredients: 2 cups unscented castile soap 20 drops Lime essential oil 8 drops Lemon essential oil 6 drops Citrus Bliss essential oil

directions:Fill a large, clean bottle with castle soap; dilute according to instructions if using a concen-trate. Add essential oils. Shake bottle before each use. Just add 1-2 tablespoons to dish water for use

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Everything you need to know to get started with Essential Oils

The Getting Started Kit FREE Essential Oil Classes One-on-one Coaching Access to a Vibrant Community

The first Five people to take advantage of this offer will receive a Secret BONUS gift PLUS the following:

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The first Five people to take advantage of this offer will receive a Secret BONUS gift PLUS the following:

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Email me at:[email protected] for more information.

Ways to use Essential Oils in your life

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Eating the WeedsErika G Galentin, MNIMH, Medical Herbalist andAssistant Director of Course Development, Herbal Academy of New England

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steps to enjoying wild edible leaves, roots, and flowers5

Eating the WeedsErika G Galentin, MNIMH, Medical Herbalist andAssistant Director of Course Development, Herbal Academy of New England

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Eating the WeedsThe organic produce aisleof all places to have an epiphany. There I was, wrestling with the guilt of feeling bored with the canned veggies from my gar-den, when suddenly my eyes got stuck on the most peculiar looking foliage. I blinked a few times not quite believing what I was seeing - very luscious but expensive bundles of certified organic dandelion greens! As an herbalist I was rather amused, thinking to myself about the pure abundance of dandelion greens growing in my front yard even in the dead of winter (albe-it much smaller in stature than what I was seeing on the shelf in front of me). I had just collected some that morning to put into our salad for dinner.

I stood there slightly bewildered and thought, Why would any-

one actually buy dandelion greens, especially at this crazy price? And then it dawned on me. Not everyone is as comfort-able as I am walking out into my yard, a fallow pasture, or the for-est to harvest and eat the plants that are growing there. What is to me of second nature may be rather intimidating to others. Maybe the average person wan-dering through the grocery store is super interested in testing out the infamous dandelion greens of their grannys dinner time sto-ries, but they are a little freaked out by the idea of foraging them from wild spaces? Well, perhaps I can remedy that.

Acquiring knowledge about how to properly identify, harvest, and prepare edible weeds can be a lifelong journey and there is as much to learn as there is fun to be had. So on behalf of the wild weed kingdom, I would like to

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welcome you to an enlightening and satisfying way to build rela-tionships with the natural world and truly connect with local wild foods you can rely upon for nourishment.

Why eat weeds?Anyone reading a cooking blog these days can tell you that there is a growing interest and market for wild foods such as mushrooms like chanterelles or morels and berries and fruits like elderberries, mulberries, or paw paw. These delicious and well-known miracles of nature can be both expensive and hard to find. Fortunately, there are many less famous edible plants, or weeds, growing with wild abandon right outside our front doors whose tasty leaves, roots, and flowers contain tre-mendous nutritional value. In fact, in the days before grocery

stores, farmers markets, and year-round produce, these wild edible weeds served as primary sources of both food and medi-cine.

Not only are these edible weeds nutritious, they are also free of charge, costing only the ener-gy it takes to learn how to identify them and to get out into the great outdoors (with a bit of bending over). Research has shown that fresh air, natural light, and exercise all have the added health benefits of reduc-ing the effects of stress on the mind and body (unlike a typical trip to the grocery store, in my experience).

Foraging for wild foods is a very rewarding and nourishing way to interact with nature. For many individuals and families, taking time to eat the weeds even just those in your own front yard can be an inspiring

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and memorable way to spend time with loved ones. It can also be a powerful teaching tool for parents wanting to instill in their children a sustainable food ethic and admiration and respect for natures bounty.

In practicing the ethos of eat-ing local, it is so important that we remind ourselves and our children where our food actu-

ally comes from. When learning to harvest and eat the weeds, we create mindfulness about respecting and honoring the life, the death, and the resourc-es used to get that food to our dinner plates. In addition, preparing delicious food from the weeds you have harvested yourself can enliven the spirit behind your meal and the inten-tion in your cooking.

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Step 1: Do your homeworkWhen I find a new subject that I am uber excited about, I want to jump right in. However, in order to eat the weeds, we need to learn which plants are safe to consume as foods (i.e., not poisonous) and how to identify them accurately. There are many poisonous look-a-likes out there, and although some of these plants are deadly, more often than not you and your guests could end up with a bad case of vomiting and diarrhea (its a terrible way to end a din-ner party).

Needless to say, getting a han-dle on basic botanical identifi-cation is of utmost importance, so arm yourself with at least two plant identification field guides. The Herbarium and the blog of the Herbal Academy of New England are fantastic websites that house loads of great infor-mation about the properties of plants, but any good book on

medicinal plants will cover edi-bility, what the plant is capa-ble of inside the human body, and whether or not it may be ill-advised to consume it. The caveat is this: always cross ref-erence your field guides and herbal books in order to ensure you have positively identified a plant before harvesting it. See the reference list for my favorite field guides and herbal refer-ence books.

We also need to understand which plants are both edible and abundant. Many edible weeds also valued for their medicinal virtues are in dan-ger of being over-harvested in the wild. Some edible weeds require very specific places to live which can also account for their rarity. Never collect rare or legally protected plants and never enter into fragile habitats where your presence can alter the sanctity or stability of the ecosystem. If you are not sure

5Steps to eating the herbs

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about these things, check out the United Plant Savers At-Risk and To-Watch lists (www.unit-edplantsavers.org) and the USDA Plant Profile database which will provide information about the vulnerability status of the particular species you are interested in eating.

Step 2: Find a fresh locationLike vegetables grown in a farm-ers field, edible weeds absorb everything they are exposed to in the water, soil, and air. Therefore, it is important to con-sider the growing conditions. Its generally good practice not to harvest edible weeds that are

growing next to roadsides due to likelihood of residue from gasoline and diesel engines and the salt, fracking wastewa-ter or coal cinders used for de-icing. These substances are full of toxic chemicals and heavy metals which accumulate in the soil. There is also a very high likelihood that roadsides have been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides to discourage plants from growing too close.

The use of pesticides and herbi-cides can also be an issue with public parks, as can excrement or urine from pets (or even peo-ple!). Be wary of immaculate or

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highly manicured lawns, parks and gardens, which are not like-ly to be pesticide-free. Know the history or mainte-nance regimen of the land you wish to forage from, even if it looks wild. Stretches of land with a dubious past may look benign but could have been an old landfill or industrial dump-ing ground. Your local county auditors office or public library should have historical plat maps that can tell you the history of that land.It is also important that you

seek permission from private land owners before foraging their property for edible weeds. If you intend on foraging from state or federal lands be sure you know what you can legally harvest. For example, many state parks and nature preserves have a moratorium on harvesting any-thing from their properties, and federal lands like the nation-al forests might require special permits or have specific rules about what you can and cannot take.

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Step 3: Harvesting fresh plant materialBefore harvesting fresh plant material, get in the right head-space and be prepared with the necessary equipment. Youll need a magnifying glass to assist in proper identification of flow-ering plants, clean and sterilized scissors or pruners, a trowel or hori-hori for digging roots, col-lection bags with labels, and a pair of gloves (for harvesting species with thorns and stings). It is also a good idea to bring along a first aid kit. If going out alone, be smart and let some-one know where you are going

and when you expect to return getting lost or injured in the deep woods when no one knows where you are can be a terrible and frightening experi-ence.

There are also some ethical issues to consider. Bottom line: do no harm and leave no trace. Be gracious and caring about your foraging practices, never harvesting more than 10% from the plant itself or from the plant grouping. If you are collecting roots, remember to be mindful of the damage you are causing to the surrounding area, includ-ing other plants and the soil. If significant damage is likely,

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the plant can attempt to regrow (depending on the species, sometimes regrowth is possible, sometimes not). Use what you pick and dont let wild foods go to waste.

There are real benefits for har-vesting with the seasons. In the case of flowers this is pretty straightforward, but the nutri-tional (and medicinal) benefits as well as the palatability of weeds and their various parts will ebb and flow throughout the year. Spring and summer are definite-ly good times to harvest leaves and aerial parts, where late sum-mer through fall is believed to be the best time for digging roots. Some plants are only available in the spring or taste better when young, whilst others last all sea-son long. Get to know the grow-ing season to help you decide when, and where, to forage.Avoid collecting material that is damaged, diseased, infested by bugs, or pooped on by crit-ters. I personally prefer to keep my weeds separated by species when I am harvesting (hence the multitude of bags and labels). Keeping edible weeds separat-ed will help with the final stages

of preparation when you are removing non-edible material or undesirable tag-alongs.

Step 4: Preparing the weeds for consumptionProper rinsing and cleaning of your weeds is straightforward. Dispose of any damaged, buggy, or rotten material that you may have overlooked when harvest-ing and sort through your weeds carefully to make sure there is no foreign or unidentified plant material. Most edible weed parts like flowers and leaves are best consumed fresh, but for short term storage, make sure they are drained of excess moisture and then stored in bags in fridge. Consume them within a few days so you do not lose them to rot. Flowers will wilt and go off sometimes within hours of being picked, so it is often best to eat them right away.

The roots of a plant should also be consumed fresh for highest nutritional benefit, but they can also be chopped and dried for longer-term storage. Learning how to dry edible weeds prop erly is both an art and a science and care must be taken in order

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Environmentally friendly products, U.S.A. made and manufactured whenever possible.

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to avoid spoilage. Some edible weeds, like dandelion leaves, nettle, chickweed, and red clover all make wonderful weedy vin-egars that can be used in salad dressings and other recipes. The vinegar not only preserves the plant material by extracting the nutritional and medicinal virtues of the plant, but also

assists the body in assimilat-ing them. For further lessons in drying and preserving edible and medicinal plants, check out the Herbal Academy of New Englands online Introductory or Intermediate Herbal Courses. They are chock full of solid information, how-tos, and deli-cious recipes!

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Step 5: Cooking and eating the weeds!Finally! The exciting moment of reaping the nutritional rewards of your harvest has arrived. When first starting out and especially when preparing weeds for oth-ers, a little will go a long way. A whole mouthful of dande-lion greens may make a differ-ent impression upon a dubious first-time weed-eater than a few leaves chopped up and added to a salad. Start small and go slowly, giving time for palettes to adjust to the new tastes and textures.Similar to legumes, there are some weeds that contain prop-erties that can be harmful if not nullified by heat, and some of which may require substantial cooking. On the other hand, there are some wild weeds

whose nutritional value and pal-atability can be completely anni-hilated through cooking. Make sure you know which herbs you need to cook and others that would be better off eaten fresh. Everything in between is left to you, the artist!

Last but not least, have fun! Be creative! Remember that some-times it can take a while to incorporate new things into our lives and wild foods are no dif-ferent. Be patient with yourself, and with those whom you share food. It may take some con-vincing or stealth weed-eating tactics, but eventually every-one will likely come around and enjoy eating weeds with you. Good luck and happy foraging!

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Chickweed

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DandelionsLatin Name: Taraxacum officinale

The leaves, roots, and flowers of dandelion are edible. Leaves are best harvested when young and tender to avoid excessive bitterness. Full of potassium, calcium, and other trace minerals. Flowers turn brown quickly after harvest and are rather bitter, so avoid using whole flower heads and eat ray-florets immediately after harvesting. The roots of dandelion are delightful roasted and ground and used as a chicory or coffee substitute.

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Common Blue Violets

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Woodland nettleLatin Name: Laportea canaden-sis A close relative to the more commonly cultivated Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), but dont let its name fool you as it still has a good sting to it! Commonly found in moist woodlands, our

native nettles are furiously deli-cious but require cooking or drying in order to nullify the sting. A gorgeous addition to soups or casseroles, or simply steamed. Great candidate for herbal vinegar as it is chock full of minerals and vitamins. Harvestable all season, but best before flowering.

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Red Clover

Red CloverLatin name: Trifolium pratense The flowers of this species are definitely the most palatable and agreeable part of the plant, being at their very sweetest in the early spring. Make sure to harvest only the most fresh

and colorful flowers, leaving the older, brown flowers behind. Wonderful chopped up and put into salads, the flowers are an incredible source of B-vitamins and minerals such as magne-sium and selenium.

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Ramps

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RampsLatin name: Allium triccocum Another woodland species, Ramps are a member of the garlic family traditionally har-vested for their pungent onion-like bulbs. Please note that this species is in decline due to over-harvesting and is being considered for addition to United Plant Savers At-Risk list. However, harvesting the leaves of this plant (10% max per plant) is not nearly as dev-astating. Almost chive-like in their flavor, the fresh leaves can be used to add a mild kick to any dish and can be enjoyed fresh, steamed, or cooked. They are also a won-derful addition to pesto and dressings.

Spicebush berriesLatin name: Lindera benzoin Also known as Appalachian Allspice, females of this under-story woodland shrub bear bright red berries in the fall. The whole plant has a woody and spicy aroma, but the ber-ries (both fruit and seed) can be ground up and added to

sauces, marinades, and des-serts to impart a lemon-like allspice zing. For best results, spicebush berries should be collected in the fall and dried to less than 30% moisture. Because they are high in fats, dried berries should be stored in the freezer to avoid rancid-ity.

REFERENCES

Bartram, T. (1998). Bartrams Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. London: Robinson.

Brill, S. (1994). Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild and Not So Wild Places. New York: Quill William Morrow.

Chevallier, Andrew. (2000). Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. 2nd ed. London:Dorling-Kindersley.

Clarke, C.B. (1978). Edible and Useful Plants of California (California Natural History Guides). Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

Foster, S. and Duke, J. (2014). Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Gleason, H.A. and Cronquist, A. (1993). Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. 2nd

ed. New York: The New York Botanical Garden Pres.

Grieve, M. (1971). A Modern Herbal. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

Kershaw, L. (2004). Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies. Vancouver, BC: Lone Pine Publishing.

Peterson, L. A. (1977). A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Eastern and central North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Thayer, S. (2006). The Foragers Harvest: A Guide to Indentifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Wild Edible Plants. Self published.

United Plant Savers. (2015). Species At-Risk. Available online: www.unitedplantsavers.org. Accessed 3/9/15.

USDA, NRCS. 2015. The PLANTS Database. Greensboro, NC: National Plant Data Team. Available online: http://plants.usda.gov. Accessed 3/3/15.

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The Haul after a day of Foraging

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Q: I am interested in harvesting edible herbs, but I am not famil-iar with what they look like. How do I get started with identifying plants accurately?

A: There are several different ways to learn the information required to feel confident in your abilities to accurately identify wild edibles when foraging or wildcrafting. One of the best ways is to take a wild edibles walk with a knowledgeable herbalist or edible foods expert. These types of classes are often offered in the spring and summer through community education centers

and food co-ops, and are wonderful ways to get hands-on instruction and meet the plants in person. Take careful notes of a plants physical characteristics, including the shape, size, color, texture, and arrangement of its leaves, flowers, stems, and roots. Also take note of its growing habitat: sunny, shady, rich or poor soil, moist or dry conditions, other plants that grow in the same type of habitat - these are all helpful clues for not only iden-tifying plants, but for finding them! There are many field guides for identifying edible plants, and four that are particularly helpful are: Newcombs Wildflower Guide

by Lawrence Newcomb Peterson Field Guide to

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants and Herbs by Steven Foster and James A. Duke

The Foragers Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer

Your Herbal questions answered

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Natures Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants by Samuel Thayer.

Its always a good idea to con-sult more than one source until youre comfortable with your identification skills.

Q: I found a big patch of sting-ing nettles in a field down the road and would like to try cooking them or making a tea with them, but really have no idea how to harvest and eat them without getting stung. What do you recommend?

A: Most importantly, a good pair of gloves! While you can pick nettle barehanded if you work carefully, gloves and long sleeves make the task easier. Youll also need a knife or a pair of sharp scissors or clip-pers and a bag or basket. Approach the nettle patch with awareness and respect and take a moment to say thank you for the gift of its green nourishment before you start harvesting. Nettle is best

harvested in spring and early summer before the tiny, inconspicuous green flowers appear at the leaf axils. Harvest the top six inches or so of the plant by holding the top of the leaf stalk with one hand and snipping the stem with the other; then drop into your bag or basket. Once back home, you can either use the nettle immediately or dry it for later use. Nettles sting is caused by formic acid and histamine con-tained in tiny hairs that cover the stems and leaves. When these hairs touch skin, they penetrate the skin, break off, and release their chemicals, hence the sting-ing sensation. If the plant is dried, cooked, or left to wilt for a day or two, the sting dis-appears. So you can lay nettle to dry on a screen, hang it in bunches to dry, or cook it by steaming or sauting and its ability to sting will be gone. One final tip: a pair of kitchen gloves is helpful when washing, chopping, or otherwise prepar-ing fresh nettle for cooking.

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RampsNettle

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ingredients pound nettle12 ounces Arborio rice1 leek, finely chopped1 onion, finely chopped2 Tablespoons olive oil cup dry white wine6-7 cups of vegetable broth2 ounces of grated Parmesan cheese teaspoon fresh chopped pars-ley teaspoon fresh crushed oreg-ano leavesA pinch of nutmegSea salt and fresh ground pep-per to taste

DirectionsBring water to a boil in a medi-um size saucepan. Wash net-tles, and place in boiling water to blanch for just a few seconds. Remove from water and drain on clean kitchen towel. Chop

nettles and set aside. Heat the vegetable broth in a stockpot, and keep warm on back burner. In a large saucepan, saut the chopped leeks and onions in the olive oil until tender and slightly golden. Add the Arborio rice to the saucepan, stir and cook for another 2 minutes over slightly higher heat. Add the chopped nettles and the white wine and continue to stir and cook, uncovered. When the rice has absorbed the white wine, add cup of boiling stock. For the next 15 minutes the risotto will continue to absorb about 6-7 cups of liquid as it is stirred and cooked over medium heat. Add stock in cup measurements until risotto is cooked with the slightest crunch. Remove risotto from the heat and stir in Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, nutmeg, sea salt and cracked pepper. Serve piping hot!

Nettle Risotto

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6Simple Ways to save money on groceriesby: Karen Lynn at Lil Suburban Homestead

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Simple Ways to save money on groceriesby: Karen Lynn at Lil Suburban Homestead

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At our Lil Suburban Homestead we love growing our own food right in our backyard, but with both of us

working full time we still buy quite a few of our groceries at the grocery store down the street. We are able to supple-ment a substantial part of our diet with farm fresh produce right out back -- especially in the warmer months in Coastal North Carolina. We also gave up cou-poning a couple of years ago when we realized the couponing was steering us to mostly pro-cessed foods and we knew that in order to have good health and to continue to improve on a healthy lifestyle getting away from chemical laden and pro-cessed foods was the direction we wanted to go in!

Cut your bacon in half Im not joking whether you buy tur-key bacon, regular bacon we noticed that when we started cutting our groceries in half, no one noticed. Your waistline may thank you as well. When we shop for bacon I freeze it because I dont know when we are going to use it. Bacon cuts very nicely in half when frozen with kitchen scissors. All you notice is that you have short pieces of bacon. This works well with a family of 4 -- of course this may not work so good with a family of 8. Start cutting things in half and see what happens. The cutting in half principle also works with fruit for lunches. Cut your apples and bananas in half -- again most people just want the taste of the fruit and wont really notice that they had less apple or banana. Again, this is

tips to save money on

your grocerybill

Cut your bacon in half1

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for most people, not for 64 athletes like my son ;)

Start adding dried milk to your baking -- you can use it anytime a baked good recipe calls for milk. I use it to make banana bread and corn bread and so much more! No one will be the wiser seriously.

Start adding a Meatless Monday meal to your familys diet - Now this one is more of a struggle for me since I eat a gluten free diet, but it can be done. If you cant go all the way meatless, then try to have an inexpensive cut of fish one night a week. In many places cod, tilapia or flounder are still relatively inexpensive and dont forget the good ole standby

of tuna! Also, there are a lot of gluten free pastas at the gro-cery store now a days they are not necessarily priced low so you may have to look for deals!

Make the veggie the star of your meal! I have a favorite rec-ipe on my blog at Lil Suburban Homestead called Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa. The grain and the peppers are the stars and there is a little hamburger or turkey burger in the sauce to make it a hearty meal. Its a heart healthy meal if you use a reduced fat meat and omit the cheese! Grains really can stretch your grocery budget and using them up as leftovers and lunches will stretch your money even further!

Cut your bacon in half 2driedmilk

3meatlessmonday

veggies as the star 4

StartSaving!

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Beans really are Big Value for your buck! They are a great source of complex carbs and they are not only a great addi-tion to every meal they also can be the centerpiece of your Meatless Monday meal! If you are concerned about dropping the additional protein of meat you can also add TVP or Textured Vegetable Protein. I have slipped soy based TVP into many an unsuspecting meal. Of course I always mixed it in half and even I could not tell the dif-ference!I often will make chili in the slow cooker on Fridays in the winter and I will eat chili for lunch the following week. I just pre-mea-sure it into 1 or 2 cup containers the next week depending on everyones appetite. Delicious lunches make the day go so much better in my opin-ion.

Cook a turkey or whole chick-en at the beginning of every week! If you have a large fam-ily you can take off the turkey what you need for a recipe for every night of the week and you can cook the bones up for good healthful homemade broth. Then you will have soup every day for lunch -- or at least for a couple of days that week! Finding small ways to save on your grocery bill, eating less pro-cessed foods and putting some change back in your pocket at the end of the week is a good thing!

5 Beans, beans, beans 6Cooknow, eatlater

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Cooknow, eatlater

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KALE krautWe love fermenting foods. This year, were planning on ferment-ing everything we can from the garden: Green beans, okra, green tomatoes, you name it. Fermenting, as weve discussed before, does a great job of preserving vegetables without pressure or water bath canning and adds all sorts of yummy, tangy lacto bacteria to our diets, which is good for our digestive health and immune system.

First on the list for the seasons fermenting is kale.

Kale kraut isnt such a big leap from sauerkraut. Cabbages and kale -- along with broccoli, cauli-flower and collards -- are all part of the brassica family of plants. Which means theyre pretty identical in a lot of respects.

So why not make some kraut with it?

Kale is a bit tougher than cab-bage, so were expecting the resulting kraut to follow the same pattern. I like crunchy kraut, however, so I believe Ill enjoy this.

Check our blog and social media accounts to get a full account-ing of the taste.

Heres the recipe and method were using, so if youd like to try and make your own kale kraut, then have at it!

where it doesnt get too hot. If you use a mason jar, youll have to burp the jar at least once a day to let out all the accumu-lated gases.After about three days, taste your kraut. If its tangy enough for you, stick it in the fridge, preferably on the shelf on the door.Eat it as often as possible.

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The RecipeIngredientsEnough kale to fill whatever con-tainer youre usingtwo-three tablespoons of salt, (any kind will do, were using Pink Himalayan salt)several cloves of garlic, peeled, to taste.

InstructionsFirst chop up your kale. A lot of people like to shred their kraut, but I like it to be nice and chunky. Its up to you. Place the kale in a bowl and cover with the salt. Squeeze the kale, mix-ing it thoroughly with the salt. Let it sit for about 10 minutes so the salt can pull the liquid from the greens. After the kale gets wet enough that when you squeeze a handful a good flow of water comes out (similar to what you get when you squeeze a wet sponge). Then put the

kale, with all the juice, into your container (were using a ceramic crock, you can also pack it into a mason jar). Then find something to weigh the mixture down so none of the kale is poking above the liquid. We used a plate in our crock. You can also use a zip-top bag filled with water. Any clean, heavy material will do. Then cover the container with a cloth or paper towel. If youre using a mason jar, put a lid on it. Then put the container in a cor-ner somewhere out of the way where it doesnt get too hot. If you use a mason jar, youll have to burp the jar at least once a day to let out all the accumu-lated gases.After about three days, taste your kraut. If its tangy enough for you, stick it in the fridge, preferably on the shelf on the door.

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bees

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Part of being a good homesteader involves working with nature instead of against it to achieve the things we want. One thing I want is to not have sneaky little insects destroying my plants this year. I figure there might be a few other people who want this too. So how do we go about this without dumping loads of poison all over everything? I hate to say it, but I dont think saying a few oms and qui-etly asking the little buggers to leave is going to work either. The magical answer: other insects! Boom. That wasnt so hard, was it?

Lets dive right in by talking about which insects you need to take care of the unwanted ones. That seems like a good place to start since when people usually talk about insects, they talk about how to get rid of them. Well, lets shift the conversation to which ones we DO want to come around and how to get them to do that!

10insects youshould begto be in your garden

by: cassie lang straat

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FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINEladybugs

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1.Parasitoid WaspsThese bad boys are downright ruthless in the insect world. They cause trembling fear in all those aphids youre trying to shoo away. The parasitoids spot their prey and just casually lay their eggs INSIDE of their host. This enables the parasitoid larvae to demolish unimportant organs and tissues before pupating to consume the essential organs that kill the hostsee? Ruthless. To attract parasitoids, plant things with tiny flowers and try to create a cool micro-climate for them because they cant withstand extreme high heat.

2. LadybugsNow, lets reel in the scary organ-devouring talk and switch our gaze to an insect a little more friendly looking. The ladybug! Well, they arent necessarily kind or anything. They still feed on pest insects like aphids and mites but hey! at least they look pretty doing it! To keep em around, try planting chives, cilantro, dill, or fennel.

3. SpidersBack on the frightening track, lets talk spiders. Pretty much all spiders are in the mood to feast on some insects so they are important in keeping the pest insects at bay. Spiders like to reside in heavily mulched areas so if you want to attract some more of them, try putting quite a bit of straw down.

4. Ground BeetlesThese shiny little creatures are going to help you out by eat-ing your slugs, snails, cutworms, and root maggots! Thank you little sirs. They like to hang out underneath rocks and logs so to attract them, youre going to want to have some year-round ground covers along with some stones and logs. Also, ama-ranth provides a good habitat for ground beetles as well.

5. Spined Soldier BugThis guy is going to prey on some pesky hairless caterpillars and pest beetle larvae. He also ladybugs

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likes to be kind of protected so shelter via mulch or ground cov-ers are ideal for him.

6. BeesLets just take a second to talk about the SUPER important non-predatory insect that we need to have in our lives. Bees! They obviously wont help with keeping other pest insects away, but they are vital in the fact that they are HUGE pollinators. The honeybee is the most prominent pollinator, but mason bees and bumblebees are great too! The best way to bring bees around is by providing a large variety of nectar sources.

7. Phorid FliesBack to our previous gruesome theme. Phorid flies deal with ants quite horrifyingly. They lay their eggs on the necks of ants, and then the larvae do this thing where they build a ring-shaped parasite around the ants neck. It infiltrates the exoskeleton and takes some ant hemolymph to feed its growth. Then, as it

grows, it basically strangles the ant, eventually squeezing the head off. Then the larva eats the ants brain for breakfast, and settles inside the cozy head capsule to pupate. So yeah, ew. But yay for no ants all over everything!

8. Tachinid FliesThese are from the same family as phrorid flies but theyre quite a bit different. Tachinid Flies are more interested in caterpil-lars, and more importantly get-ting inside of them. They some-how elbow their way INTO the inside of caterpillars and then ruin them from the inside. Keep your enemies close, eh? They like herbs such as parsley, sweet clover, and dill.

9. LacewingsThe lacewing also has quite the hefty appetite. These guys will snack on whiteflies, mealy-bugs, aphids, caterpillars, spi-der mites, and thrips! To attract them, try things like sweet alys-sum, coreopsis, and angelica.

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10. Aphid MidgeI thought wed finish the list up with a grisly one just so we could go out like we came in. When I say grisly, I mean toxic saliva. That is how these aphid midges attack. They paralyze their prey with their toxic saliva. Cute, I know. Plants with lots of pollen attract these guys.

It might be a bit over the top to try to plant every single plant mentioned here to try and attract every single insect on this list, but if you have a cer-tain pest insect problem, you can check here to see which amazing beneficial insects will help you out with it! AND we can work with nature and trust it instead of poisoning our gar-dens and everything around us!

lacewings

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Jaybee Precision produces products that are perfect for your farm based business. If you have a larger dairy you can go big by buying a machine that can handle 30 gallons of milk or juice, or you can purchase a four gallon machine perfect for small farmsteads.That doesnt include the other products: Cream separators, butter churns, chillers -- even buckets. All of these products are high quality and built to last. Vat Pasteurizer allows any size farm to produce dairy products up to the USDA specifications, which means every farmer or homesteader can compete in just about every market.Buying products from this company is an investment in the future of your dairy, creamery or farm related business.

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Flippin Chicken StyleProcessing Chickens

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Bree Zamora -- dressed in a pair of overalls offset by her pixie cut -- placed a big, white chicken inside a metal

cone.She deftly slit its throat: Two cuts, one on each side of its head, just above the birds beak as it hung upside down in the kill cone.It clucked in protest, and thrashed around a bit until it heaved itself out of the cone, only to fall to the ground and calmly bleed to death on the floor of the Flippin Chicken auction house.We got a jumper! her hus-

band, Joe Zamora, exclaimed.Killing aint easy.

Joe and Bree Zamora are chick-en keepers in Swansboro, NC. They slaughter dozens of birds every year and process the ani-mals into healthy, wholesome carcasses for their freezers.They also raise, slaughter and process turkeys and pigs.For them, its a personal mis-sion.A lot of people dont under-stand where food comes from anymore, Bree said.The Zamoras want to make sure as many people as possible understand that chicken fingers,

Flippin Chicken StyleProcessing Chickens

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and wings and thighs and legs and other parts that we make into chicken salad and whatnot come from actual, live chickens.In addition, they want to make sure these people not only know where their food comes from, but they want to empower peo-ple to actually produce their own food.Thats why they started teaching classes on how to process chick-ens. The steps are simple (see the accompanying list). Like any form of butchering, its got its gross parts, sure, but overall, butchering your own chicken is a clean, humane process, that -- as the Zamoras teach it -- results in a pretty solid product when its all said and done.Theres nothing in the process as demonstrated by Joe and Bree that you wouldnt want to see. No images of industrial abattoirs. Nothing dirty, no dis-gusting smells.In fact, even after killing and pro-cessing about two dozen birds in about two hours, teaching what appeared to be about 25 or 30 students, despite the blood on the floor and feathers piled up around the chicken plucker, the space was an area you wouldnt

mind taking a meal in. Joe Zamora said the process is not only educational to others but an important aspect of his family life.Joe and Bree have a 4-year-old daughter.We want her to be brought up knowing where food comes from, he said. She under-stands, if you want to eat bacon, its got to come from some-where.

Basic steps for processing a chicken:Step 1-Kill the chickenHang the chicken head down in a kill cone. You can make a kill cone from metal, buy a profes-sionally made kill cone or just nail an orange traffic cone to a post or wall.Grab the chicken by the head and slice the necks of the chick-ens, just under the beak (or above as the chicken is hanging upside down) on both side. Slice the necks on both sides through the arteries on the birds neck (youll get a brief spurt of blood), then hold the head beak down. This lets the blood drain easier from the bird and prevents the animal from hopping out of the

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cone. The bird quickly loses consciousness from a sudden loss of blood pressure. Death follows quickly after, in a man-ner of minutes. After youre sure the bird is dead, you can move on to step two.

Step 2-Scalding the birdDunk the bird into boiling water with a little bit of household dish detergent in it. This loos-ens the feathers making it easier to pluck them. The detergent helps loosen the feathers and cleans the carcass. It takes about 15 seconds of dunking.

Step 3-Pluck the birdEither pluck the bird by hand (which is admittedly time con-suming) or put it inside a mechanical chicken plucker. A mechanical chicken plucker has dozens of rubber fingers inside that strip the feathers off the bird.

Step 3: Cut off the birds head and feet then loosen the esoph-agusThis is probably the grossest part. With a cleaver or sharp

knife, whack the birds head off. Preferably, the bird has been fasting for about 24 hours or so before killing it. If not, youll have a bird crop (in the neck) full of food. After you remove the animals head, youll slice the skin along the neck expos-ing the birds esophagus and trachea (windpipe). Youll cut around this area where the neck joins the birds chest loosen-ing it for later removal. Cut the birds feet off, at the knee. Youll slice through the skin all the way around the knee and then crack them right off.

Step 4: Remove the oil gland and innardsFlip the carcass onto its stom-ach and look for a small, yel-low looking bump near the tail. Thats the oil gland. Slice that off without cutting into the body cavity (Just shave it right off). Then under the tail, find the birds vent. The vent of a bird is its catch all exit point. It is where the colon empties into. Youll cut around the top of the vent (with the bird on its back) leaving the vent attached at the bottom. Open that hole that

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youve made with your hand and reach in, riding along the top of the inside of the carcass at the ribs (it will be unsettling warm). Cup your hand down-ward, grabbing the innards and pull them out. The esophagus and trachea, properly loosened will come with the handful of guts. It will still be attached by the skin under the vent. Simply slice through that and discard the unwanted innards. If you want to keep the gizzard and liver, nows the time to set that aside. Remove the neck (set it aside if you want to keep it) with a sharp knife or cleav-er. Using your hand, or a lung scraper, remove the lungs from the inside of the bird. Theyll be bright pink and shockingly hard to remove.

Step 5: Finish upWash the carcass, inside and out with water. Drop the now clean carcass into ice water. Let it sit for about an hour in the water bath, then stick it in a big zip-top bag and put it into the fridge for 24-48 hours. Either wrap it in freezer wrap or uti-lize a vacuum sealer (which is a much better option) then stick

it in the freezer. Cook normally whenever you want to eat the bird.

About Flippin Chicken:Flippin Chicken is an auction house in North Carolina in Duplin County. The auction house sells all manner of fowl (pheasants, turkeys, guineas and of course, chickens) on the first and third Saturday of every month.Jeff Williams, Mike Williams and Douglas Basden run the business along with Amanda Williams. Based out of Beulaville, NC, the auction house gives about 1100 buyers a chance to buy birds raised in the area.They started the auction after Basden went to a chicken auction in another town. He enjoyed it so much, he decided to come home and start one with the Williamses. They work with the area extension office and community organizations (like Barnyards By the Sea) to help provide a venue for people to sell their animals and -- like the processing class in March -- educate them about proper animal husbandry methods.Find out more about Flippin Chicken here.

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read it

Click here

to readnow!

The ultimate guide to raising chickens

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Im still pretty young, as a par-ent that is. My oldest son is 5 12, which makes me a 5 12-year-old parent. When I look at it that way, I dont feel so badly that there is alaundry list of things that Im still puzzling over and experimenting with. Ive certainly had moments and extended periods of time when things move along with ease.

Then there are other times when its all I can do to provide my family with the bare minimum (basically food and some clean-ish clothes),

to at least look at the email in my work inbox, and maybe get the breakfast dishes done.

Ive recently been wondering what it is that happens to offer our family those ease times. Im a thinker so this has been a topic of much reflection, and time and again it becomes clear that the recipe for our ease lies in the rhythm that my husband and I bring to our days.

Rhythm. What exactly is that? I can think of the rhythm of a favor-

to a Rhythmic LifeNatures Guide

By Amy Fredland, Oak Meadow teacher

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ite song, the sweet sounds of a sleeping babys breathing, the ins and outs of the tides. Rhythm. Its a fairly predictable series of events, around which we humans tend to find ourselves relaxing, breathing, and coming into the present moment.In our home its the rhythm of brushing teeth after breakfast, putting our coats on our hooks right after coming in from the outdoors, listening to a story before nap time,

Mamma and Dadda working in

and out of the home at previ-ously decided times. The rhythm of a weekly playgroup for my youngest and the school days for my oldest. Its the rhythm of our dinner menu that renews itself each Sunday and the time we spend outside each morning and afternoon.

In nature, rhythm can be seen in any season and on any given day.

In spring you really cant miss it: crocuses are emerging and the snow recedes as it does every

Rhythm. Its a fairly predictable series of events, around which we humans tend to find ourselves relaxing, breathing, and coming into the present moment.

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year. Birds are returning and waking us up in the morning as they begin to build nests and search for mates. Buds swell and leaves unfurl. The days grow longer and temperatures warm us.

Soon after these springtime lovelies emerge, summer will embrace us with even longer days and more vibrant colors. Then autumn will call and leaves will turn. Birds will migrate and well bring out our jeans and sweaters again. Winter will blan-ket us with snow and ice, and well dream of hot cocoa and flickering fireplaces.

Nature is the essence of rhythm. In its changeable yet predictable movements we canfind inspiration for our fami-lys lives. The predictability of natures events quietly keep usgoing from day to day. When it seems like we cant go another day in the cold winter weknow that the melting days always lead to blooming flowers. When we cant stand the muck of mud season, we can remember that the heat of summer will bring forth sizzling

days and thunderstorms. The humidity of August will give way to a crisp autumn, and well then be blessed with the quiet snugglieness of winter again.Its comforting knowing what will come next, dont you think?

Children feel this as well. In fact, creating a rhythm to our days with children is one of themost supportive ways to offer them nourishment. When they know what each day willbring, they can relax into their surroundings and explore their interests, environment, andabilities with joy and calm.

Amy Fredland is a K-8 teacher for Oak Meadow who has a background in both Waldorf Education and Wildlife Management. She guides out-door nature explorations for parents and their young chil-dren through Sophias Hearth Family Center. Amy and her family enjoy following natures rhythms in the beautifulhills of southern New Hampshire.Originally published in Oak Meadows free educational journal, Living Education, Fall 2014

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Whether you have a few acres and attempt to live off the land, or grow tomatoes in pots on the back patio of your urban home, living a sustainable lifestyle adds a new dimension to your already full life. If youve grabbed a front row seat on the green bus but struggle to keep up to speed with your homeschooling obligations in tow, you are not alone.

When we bought our homestead in 2001, our oldest son was 13. It

didnt take us long to find out that living off the land is hard work. And, it frequently interfered with the kids school lessons. Something had to be done.

Through trial and error, we dis-covered there is a way to get the chores done, and the schoolwork too. When you embark on living the homesteading life, or at least adding some sustainable, green practices into your already natural lifestyle, there are three

3Ways tosucceed athomeschoolingon the homesteadby: Carol J. Alexander

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things that, if you implement, will help you.

Start Small and SimpleOur family spent nine years in the city dreaming of moving to the country. We watched the movie The Wilderness Family over and over againgear-ing up for that day when we would be doing all those things. Fortunately, our move was not a sink or swim proposition like in the movie; because if it were, we would have surely sunk.

What does small and simple look like?

For us, small and simple meant spending enough time getting a feel of the land before starting projects. I watched the sun and wind patterns before planting the garden. We determined where to put fencing and what kind of fencing we needed. Then we planned for animal housing.

Once we figured these things out, we added one project at a time. We got one goat, not a pasture full. I planted a small

kitchen garden, not a U-pick field of vegetables. Trust me, you have time.

If you aspire to live off your land, growing your homestead at a slower pace will save you time, money, and stress.

Maybe youre not that far. Maybe you just want to grow a garden in the back yard, teach your kids to live simply and eschew the waste that is prevalent in our society. Starting slowly not only helps with the work load involved, it helps those kids get used to the idea that things are going to change.

Take changing your diet, for example. How do you think your peanut butter and jelly on white bread addict would fare if you gave him hummus on a whole wheat pita? Mine would go hungry.

Kids need time to adjust to change. Adults do too, for that matter. Suddenly throwing a bunch of new chores their way will only bring on a mutiny.

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Assess your expectationsWhat are your expectations for your green lifestyle and what are your expectations for your homeschooling?

Lets say you have your heart set on selling whole-grain, baked goods at the farmers markets.

You need a source for buying grains and a wheat mill. Then you need to make the breads, cakes, and cookies. Have you ever baked with whole grains before? Do you know how long it takes to bake 50 loaves of bread? Who is going to do all the baking, anyway?

What do you expect from your homeschooling?

A classical education complete with logic and Latin? A Charlotte Mason approach with frequent walks along the countryside, nature journal in hand? A corre-spondence or umbrella school where the children are expected to fulfill someone elses require-mentsspending their day

watching videos and filling in workbooks?

Now, ask yourself if your expec-tations for your homesteading lifestyle support the expecta-tions you have for your home-schooling, and vice versa.

If you are driving your children to debate, drama, sports, and music several days of the week, who is going to stay home to mill the flour and bake the bread? If Johnny and Mary have to fill in worksheets to turn in to their correspondence school, will they have time to knead dough, watch an oven, or plop cookie dough on the baking sheets?Can you physically, realistically, accomplish both?

IntegrateIntegrate the homesteading and the homeschooling into one cohesive lifestyle, so that every-thing you want to do meshes or supports each other. How do you integrate?

If it takes three hours to make a batch of bread, and you can

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make eight loaves in one batch, how many loaves of bread can you make in an average day? If your market is on Friday morn-ing, and you want to have 75 loaves to take, when do you need to start your baking? That, is arithmetic!

If anthracnose, which is a blight that grows on tomatoes, berries, and other things in the garden, is a fungus, which is the best choice for spray: sulphur, com-post tea, soapy water? That is science!

At our place, when an animal is giving birth, biology moves to the barn yard. When the corn needs planted, math is found in the garden. We use a lot of lessons from the homestead. In fact, our kids learn more from liv-ing a life on the homestead than from a textbook because the homesteading lifestyle assists them in having something to link their lessons to. It provides a connection that quashes the oft-heard question, When am I ever going to use this in real life? because they are using it.

They are living it. And they are linking the two together on a daily basis.

The priority for our family is not a classical education complete with Latin, debate, and logic; it is not spending our week shuf-fling from music lessons to sports practices; it is not even to complete our Saxon math books in 180 days. Our first priority is to instill Godly character. After that, we want to show them that learning comes from living. To integrate our homeschooling with our homesteading brings about a completeness that no textbook can ever provide.

Carol J. Alexander is a freelance journalist and author of Lessons from the Homestead, a series of unit studies for homeschool-ing and involved parents. To begin integrating your home-steading and homeschool-ing lifestyles, visit www.LessonsFromTheHomestead.com.

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steps to deschool and start your homeschool journey4by Bianca Rose Neill : Lark Hollow Homestead

My children are second gen-eration Homeschoolers, my husband and I both grew up homeschooled. While we both had very different types of homeschool atmospheres, the decision to teach our chil-dren was not a complicated one, but rather very natural and expected. For many fami-

lies though, who havent had exposure to homeschooling the idea sounds daunting and fearful especially if you are pulling older children out of school. You withdrew the kids from school....know what!? An important first step to begin-ning a healthy homeschool environment is a deschool-


steps to deschool and start your homeschool journeyby Bianca Rose Neill : Lark Hollow Homestead

ing period. Here are a few pointers to take off the edge and create a peaceful atmo-sphere of learning!1. Do not run out and buya flag, a school bell and desks!

With homeschooling its impor-tant to not just think outside

the desk....but to completely get rid of the desk! Dont spend the first few weeks of your new homeschool experience creat-ing tiny private school. There is so much wealth of learning losing the confining nature of the traditional classroom, read outdoors with the animals, do some home economic math at

Tailor create the atmosphere of learning that best suits all of you!

Get out there and homeschool there is so much world to experience!

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the feed store but do not create little public school on the prai-rie. You can do this! get out of the box! 2. Discuss with the kids -- Let your children guide their education. Have a family sit down and dis-cuss what everyones goals and interests are. Do the kids want to raise a market hog? Start an online business? Or maybe a band? The sky is the limit! The beauty of homeschooling is that EVERYTHING is school: So remember that math can be helping with the homestead budget; history can be a visit to local landmarks; science can be vaccinating animals and every-thing that happens in the course of the day can become a deeper area of concentration or study.

3. Exhaust the library Go crazy at the library! You have discovered interests

the kids have at your family chat, let them go crazy with unit studies on anything that inter-ests them and watch their love of learning and passion for self study come alive!

4. Dont sweat it, be patient. Dont get frustrated! Even though traditional school can be counter-intuitive in many ways, it is a difficult thing to feel safe climbing out of a traditional school philosophy without feel-ing like all the ideas you ever had about learning are being shaken up and thrown out! Some families need more down time deschooling than others. Dont sweat it! Give yourself and the kids time to tailor cre-ate the atmosphere of learning that best suits all of you! Get out there and homeschool there is so much world to experience!

With homeschooling its important to not just think outside the desk....but to completely get rid of the desk!

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visit the library

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You dont have to have a degree in chemistry to create your own natural dyes. It just takes a garden plot and a kitchen.

A Garden to Dye For shows how super-simple it is to plant and grow a dyers garden and create beautiful dyes.

Many of these plants may already be in our cutting, cottage or food gardens, ready for double duty.

This is the book that bridges the topic of plant dyes to mainstream gardeners, the folks who enjoy growing the plants as much as us-ing them in craft projects.

Click Here to Order Your Copy!

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visit the libraryI got to grow up with a mother who taught me to believe in me. -Antonio Villaraigosa

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I got to grow up with a mother who taught me to believe in me. -Antonio Villaraigosa

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On April 28, 2012, the Missionary Church of Kopimism held their]