Essential oils are a big thing today. Everybody is doing it. Mmmm, the wonderful scents that remind us of delicious foods, fireside fun, and sometimes acrid events. Healing properties, soothing elements, pain relief – all are part of the mystical powers of essential oils. Yet, very few scientific studies are done to verify the claims. …
Spring rains are here. The garden and pastures are excited. 
The weeds and grass are soaking up the moisture and inching their way skyward. Sigh. It has been a busy start to this two thousand and sixteenth year. The goats basically exploded on us. What was I thinking? Oh, right. The asparagus is doing…
March third. Already. Two thousand sixteen. How’d that happen? I may have blinked. Polly and her new baby are doing well. Peso’s eye is slowly beginning to look better. I’m thankful that no one else is having a problem. That indicates that she probably poked something in it. Rosie and Opal are so rotund. And….
So much happens in our lives and we loose track of time, things, people, ideas, and dreams. Since my last post, I have doubled the size of my goat herd, nearly doubled the size of our cattle fold, and aged. I have made quick judgments that had to be adjusted. I’ve made new networking contacts. …
As a youngster, I grew up “in the country.” Grandma’s 40 acres was our playground. We had dogs and a few random cats along the way. Occasionally, there might be a flock of chickens around doing bug patrol. BUT, there were no goats, cows, ducks, geese, turkeys, hogs, horses, alpacas, or donkeys. So, who would…
Today’s plant has made it’s home on the west side of our workshop. This location is shaded in the morning and has full sun in the afternoon. This location receives no additional irrigation, fertilizer, or herbicides. Stem Leaf image on Instagram.Fruit and flower images on Facebook. Yes, I know what this plant is… do you?…
I’ve decided to do a weekly plant identification activity. Please join me for … WEDNESDAY’S “WHAT WEED is this?” Each week I’ll post pictures of a plant I want to learn to identify. If the information is available, I’ll post it’s leaves, stem, flower, fruit and seed as clues. However, they’ll be posted on various…
Ever wonder if you could help a local homestead farmer and the environment? There are some things that we can use on the farm that others might not want. For instance, if you are planning on replacing your kitchen or bath towels in the near future, we could put those to use out here. Most…
Happy New Year! Perhaps it is a tired old greeting used to identify the birth of a calendar year yet it still works. With the hanging of the new calendar came thoughts of what might lie ahead. Perhaps it will be new animals. Perhaps it will be new plant varieties. Perhaps it will be all…