DIY Fruit Press For Under $100
A complete guide to the supplies needed to build your own fruit press, along with free downloadable fruit press plans for easy construction!
How To Remove Rust From Cast Iron
I broke the holy grail of cast iron sins and let my pan rust! See how I remove minimal surface rust from cast iron for when those water + cast iron accidents happen.
Water Glassing Egg Preservation
Looking to preserve your eggs for use thorughout the winter season? Water Glassing Eggs will keep your fresh eggs for up to 1 year!
Temperature Blanket
Visualize your homestead temperature data with a crafty, year-long project: A Temperature Blanket.
Canning Green Beans using the Cold Pack Method
Green beans are one of the most consumed vegges here at the Henstooth Homestead and we prefer canning green beans using the cold pack method. Learn how today!
Grilled Rhubarb Crisp
With spring quickly warming to summer, my oven from the 50s decided it was time to throw in the towel. I didn’t think much of it with the temperature rising outside, but then rhubarb season hit and I knew I needed to find a way to make Rhubarb Crisp, stat! So, I...
Spring Chickens
The countdown to Spring is well underway for farmers, homesteaders and all those anticipating a new batch of chicks! If you’re new to raising baby chicks, most choose to purchase them in the Spring when temperatures begin to rise. This period makes brooding easiest...
A Letter To Our Homestead – 2018
Dear Homestead, Reflecting on 2018 is an arduous task. Our word of the year was coined early on as Mornicopia. It’s that weird place between mourning and coping -- you can read more about that here. In fact, I contemplated not writing our year end post, but it’s only...
Sunflower Season
The end of sunflower season unofficially marks fall for the Henstooth Homestead. We pull our sunflowers from the garden and prepare them for roasting, a treat we’ll enjoy into the following Spring! There are a million sunflower roasting recipes out there, and they all...
Hog Wild
Our first year with hogs has been a wild ride, starting with the day we brought them home in feed sacks. I’ll spare you the nitty gritty, but when we found a local breeder, we jumped on the opportunity to raise three little gilts. When I mean jump, we didn’t even have...
Apple Orchard: Thinning
Remember that time we cleared a whole barn in a day during a 90 degree heat wave and both suffered heat exhaustion? Remember when it has hitting 70s in March and we were roasting while planting our first garden? Remember when we had to thin thousands of apples and the...
Egg Labels Explained
Before we started the Henstooth Homestead, I bought from grocery stores without a care in the world. I know I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say that this place of ours has completely changed my relationship with food, and for the better. I find myself fact...
3 Ways To Preserve Zucchini
Squash season is here and everyone's counters are over flowing with zucchini, yellow squash and summer squash! When you feel like you can't possibly saute another slice, try one of our three ways to preserve your summer bounty so it can be enjoyed all year. ...
Pickled Radishes
The Henstooth has changed my perception of food tremendously, but I’ll save that story for another time. I will tell you though, it started with...Radishes. Radishes had always been those half dried pink slivers served on salads at weddings or special events. I always...
Aunt Heather’s Famous Freezer Jam
Strawberries are here which means so is canning season! Are you ready?My canning experience started at a young age watching my grandmother in the kitchen, but my first hands on experience started with freezer jam. I was in college, craving my Aunt Heather's famous...
Honey Bees Are Here
If anyone actually keeps tabs on our crazy story, then you’d know I surprised Rich with his first nuc of honey bees for Christmas. Since I’d have nothing to physically give him, I also bought a bee suit and a couple books to get him started (If your interested in the...
Apple Orchard: The Debut
When we bought this property, I hardly took notice to the orchard tucked into a back field next door. At the time, it was the furthest thing from our minds, now a little more than a year later we’re standing knee deep in a pile of brush. So how did we get here? ...
Sweet Sap
If you’re not careful, sap season sneaks up on ya and before you know it, it’s spring. Sap starts flowing when daytime temperatures are above freezing and night temps dip below freezing. This causes the tree to expand and contract, allowing sap to flow freely. You can...