From Scratch Magazine April/May 2015 by From Scratch Magazine

From Scratch April/May 2015

Spring is here Are you ready?

THINGS TO PLANT RIGHT NOW

HOMEMADE HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS

Scratch and Peck Feeds • • • • • • •

Organic Chicken Feed Organic Turkey Feed Organic Pig Feed Organic Goat Feed Organic Grains Supplements Non-GMO Meat & Eggs

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR & PUBLISHER It’s Spring time -- Finally! It’s 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 we’re itching to get to it! We’re working on getting seeds in the ground, growing transplants and already waiting eagerly for those baby plants to show their adorable little heads. Hopefully, you are too. Whether it’s 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. It’s 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 matters now is the work you set in front of yourself and since the weather’s gotFROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

ten warmer and the days have gotten longer, you don’t have any more excuses. So dust off those plans and get to it! Do not worry, we are here to help. We’ve got pieces in this issue on raising flowers, saving money, building up your soil and more. So peruse these pages and see if you can get a little inspiration. Here’s your homework: Try something new this Spring! You can try out a new variety of vegetable to put in your garden. You can make some kale kraut (it’s a thing, honest). Make your mother an herb garden for this Mother’s Day. And don’t worry about doing it wrong. The best thing about homesteading is this: It’s 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

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FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE: Contributors

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Contributors

CHRIS MCLAUGHLIN Associate Editor Laughing Crow Company

Steven Jones Editor

CASSIE LANGSTRAAT

CAROL J. ALEXANDER Homeschool Editor/ Everything with Carol

Melissa Jones Publisher

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6 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE: In this Issue

IN THIS What we are ISSUE planting now Spring is here

homemade household cleaners

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Deschooling your homeschooler

eat the weeds

kale kraut Carolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Canning Tips

3 Ways to hugelkultur succeed at german raised beds homeschooling FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

photos from our readers

The windmill at One Ash Farm & Dairy

Meredith sent in this photo of the baby birdies FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Sally sent a photo of Peach Blossoms from Southeast GA

Spring ducklings. “Cheese & Quackers” ~ Livin Lovin Farmin

Mindie sent in the photo of a cute little baby.

Cozie Nook Homestead’s valley in Western Mass. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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

Mindie candling an egg.

A Spring Day on the JHP Ranch

Daffodils from Janelle

Karlie sent in this double yolker FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

HelloSpring we’ve missed you

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During this time of year we convert the egg surplus into beautiful â&#x20AC;&#x153;egg arrangementsâ&#x20AC;? all place them all over the kitchen and dining room. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

You can find beautiful dishes to display your “egg arrangements” at thrift stores or antique malls. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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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Melissa’s Picks My Mother’s Day Wish list

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

Family Physician Kit- The Herbal Homestead - $150 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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

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

How do I not have a gnome?! - Amazon - $25

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

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

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WINDY WILLOW in HOMESTEAD Windy Willow homestead was created by Nicole See to share her love of crafting with others. She creates handmade soaps (left), fabric flower ornaments (middle), coiled fabric baskets and more.

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What we are growing now FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

ever), fermented into kraut and even sprouted like wheat grass. It’s incredibly easy to grow, and can be grown just about all year long, as long as you’re willing to employ row covers during the winter months (excepting Arctic Blasts, of course). It’s 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 considered a cool weather crop, I love Kale. I love to eat it, I but it can be grown in the sumlove to grow it, I love everymer. The leaves of the summer thing about it. crop will turn out tougher and Kale is a member of the Brassica family, which means more bitter, which puts off a it’s related to cabbage, collot of people. I ferment it into lards, broccoli, cauliflower and kraut during those months or use it raw (lightly massaged to the like. It’s an incredibly versatile plant. make it a little more tender) It can be eaten raw, sauted, in salads to add texture and a more complicated flavor than blended into a smoothie, fed to most forms of livestock (not you’d normally get from salad your daughter’s tortoise, how- greens.

t’s 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, I’m pretty sure most of the country had a delayed start to their growing season also. Still, now that the weather’s shifted, I’m jumping on my chance and planting everything I can. Here’s my Top Five Favorite Crops to Plant now!

Kale

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Victory Garden Starter Kit™ Includes 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 saving money, growing pure food for your family’s table or declaring independence 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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Lettuce

I wasn’t a big fan of lettuce, until I started growing it. As a younger man, I found lettuce to be bland and pointless -- empty calories designed to take up space with a tepid flavor -- mainly because I’d been raised on the ubiquitous iceberg 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 varieties: Lettuce can be grown as greens or as head varieties and they come in all manner of colors and textures. They aren’t hard to grow usually (although I’ve 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. It’ll be the best salad you’ve ever had.

Rattlesnake beans

I don’t grow any other variety of beans, other than rattlesnake beans. I’m 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 don’t want any of your lackluster lima beans crowding up my rows, give me the humble, yet vibrant, rattlesnake bean. I like this variety of pole bean because it’s the Swiss Army Knife of beans: You can harvest 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. There’s never a bad time to pick these things. In my experience (in this particular ecosystem, anyway) they tend to be hale and hardy, producing well throughout the bean picking season. The only trouble I’ve ever had with them is a little caterpillar damage, which is easily comFROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Blue Popcorn FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

bated with semi-regular bursts of Bt. And if you wind them up corn plants, ala the Three Sisters method, then you don’t even have to worry about staking them.

Popcorn

The last time I grew sweet corn was in Saint Granny Jones’ garden (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. I’ll have to give him a call and thank him for that as soon as I’m done with this article. After experimenting with popcorn this last year, I seriously doubt I’ll grow sweet corn again. I grew a hybrid blue miniature popcorn from NE Seed last year. And I’m growing as much as I possibly can this year. No only do the four-feet-tall

stalks make for great trellising for beans and cucumbers, but because it’s a cereal crop (popcorn is processed and sold as kernels instead of cobs like sweet corn) it requires a lot less maintenance than it’s better known cousin. Instead of spending the season fighting the worms and bugs, I actually just let them eat their fill, handpicking insects off whenever 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 kernels for myself. This approach meant I didn’t have to spend any time spraying my corn like I would with sweet corn. It didn’t seem to impact my yield all that negatively either: I planted a hundred corn seeds and I’ve 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, there’s still plenty of time left in April to plant this fantastic crop. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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Homemade Household Cleaners By: Melissa Jones

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Household H o m e m a d e 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, there’s better ways. We’ve collected a list of our favorite recipes and concoctions for household 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, they’re probably cheaper. So you can save your health some unnecessary damage and save yourself a pretty hefty chunk of change in the process.

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. (dōTERRA is the recommended oil) 1 teaspoon borax FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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

WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?

ANTIBIOTIC

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

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

ANTIBACTERIAL

ANTI VIRAL

ANTIFUNGAL

eucalyptus, 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

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Fridge-microwave Spray Ingredients: • • • •

directions:

Combine the ingredients in glass 1 cup white vinegar spray bottle. Spray mixture inside 2 cups hot water 15 drops of Lemon essential oil fridge or microwave, then scrub and wipe using damp cloth. 1 teaspoon borax FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Furniture Polish Ingredients: • • •

directions:

Mix and apply. Wipe clean. ¼ cup olive oil ¼ cup vinegar 10 drops essential oil (try orange or lemon)

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Dish Soap

Ingredients: • • • •

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 concentrate. Add essential oils. Shake bottle before each use. Just add 1-2 tablespoons to dish water for use FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Everything you need to know to get started with Essential Oils

The first Five people to take advantage of this offer will receive a Secret BONUS gift PLUS the following: • The Getting Started Kit • FREE Essential Oil Classes • One-on-one Coaching • Access to a Vibrant Community

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Ways to use Essential Oils in your life

Are you ready to change the way you manage Email me at: your familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health? melissa.nelson.jones@ gmail.com for more information.

www.theherbalhomestead.com

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Eating the Weeds Erika G Galentin, MNIMH, Medical Herbalist and Assistant Director of Course Development, Herbal Academy of New England

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steps to enjoying wild edible leaves, roots, and flowers FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Eating the Weeds The organic produce aisle…of all places to have an epiphany. There I was, wrestling with the guilt of feeling bored with the canned veggies from my garden, 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 (albeit 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.

one actually buy dandelion greens, especially at this crazy price?” And then it dawned on me. Not everyone is as comfortable as I am walking out into my yard, a fallow pasture, or the forest 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 wandering through the grocery store is super interested in testing out the infamous dandelion greens of their granny’s dinner time stories, 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 I stood there slightly bewildered weed kingdom, I would like to and thought, “Why would anyFROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

welcome you to an enlightening and satisfying way to build relationships 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 tremendous 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 medicine. Not only are these edible weeds nutritious, they are also free of charge, costing only the energy 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 reducing 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 nature’s bounty. In practicing the ethos of ‘eating local’, it is so important that we remind ourselves and our children where our food actu-

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ally comes from. When learning to harvest and eat the weeds, we create mindfulness about respecting and honoring the life, the death, and the resources 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 intention in your cooking.

Steps to eating the herbs

Step 1: Do your homework When I find a new subject that I am uber excited about, I want to jump right in. However, in order to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;eat the weedsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, 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 (itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a terrible way to end a dinner party). Needless to say, getting a handle on basic botanical identification 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 information about the properties of plants, but any good book on

medicinal plants will cover edibility, what the plant is capable of inside the human body, and whether or not it may be ill-advised to consume it. The caveat is this: always cross reference 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 reference books. We also need to understand which plants are both edible and abundant. Many edible weeds also valued for their medicinal virtues are in danger 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

growing next to roadsides due to likelihood of residue from gasoline and diesel engines and the salt, fracking wastewater or coal cinders used for deicing. 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 Step 2: Find a fresh location Like vegetables grown in a farm- herbicides to discourage plants er’s field, edible weeds absorb from growing too close. everything they are exposed to in the water, soil, and air. The use of pesticides and herbiTherefore, it is important to con- cides can also be an issue with sider the growing conditions. public parks, as can excrement It’s generally good practice not or urine from pets (or even peoto harvest edible weeds that are ple!). Be wary of immaculate or about these things, check out the United Plant Savers ‘At-Risk’ and ‘To-Watch’ lists (www.unitedplantsavers.org) and the USDA Plant Profile database which will provide information about the vulnerability status of the particular species you are interested in eating.

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highly manicured lawns, parks and gardens, which are not likely to be pesticide-free. Know the history or maintenance 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 dumping ground. Your local county auditorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 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 anything from their properties, and federal lands like the national forests might require special permits or have specific rules about what you can and cannot take.

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and when you expect to return â&#x20AC;&#x201D; getting lost or injured in Step 3: Harvesting fresh plant the deep woods when no one knows where you are can be a material Before harvesting fresh plant terrible and frightening experimaterial, get in the right head- ence. space and be prepared with the necessary equipment. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll There are also some ethical need a magnifying glass to assist issues to consider. Bottom line: in proper identification of flow- do no harm and leave no trace. ering plants, clean and sterilized Be gracious and caring about scissors or pruners, a trowel or your foraging practices, never hori-hori for digging roots, col- harvesting more than 10% from lection bags with labels, and a the plant itself or from the plant pair of gloves (for harvesting grouping. If you are collecting species with thorns and stings). roots, remember to be mindful It is also a good idea to bring of the damage you are causing along a first aid kit. If going out to the surrounding area, includalone, be smart and let some- ing other plants and the soil. one know where you are going If significant damage is likely, FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

tools that make gardening easy Click here for more info

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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 donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let wild foods go to waste. There are real benefits for harvesting with the seasons. In the case of flowers this is pretty straightforward, but the nutritional (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 definitely good times to harvest leaves and aerial parts, where late summer 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 season long. Get to know the growing season to help you decide when, and where, to forage. Avoid collecting material that is damaged, diseased, infested by bugs, or pooped on by critters. I personally prefer to keep my weeds separated by species when I am harvesting (hence the multitude of bags and labels). Keeping edible weeds separated will help with the final stages FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

of preparation when you are removing non-edible material or undesirable tag-alongs. Step 4: Preparing the weeds for consumption Proper rinsing and cleaning of your weeds is straightforward. Dispose of any damaged, buggy, or rotten material that you may have overlooked when harvesting 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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Hard Cheese Making Kit

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to avoid spoilage. Some edible weeds, like dandelion leaves, nettle, chickweed, and red clover all make wonderful weedy vinegars 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

assists the body in assimilating them. For further lessons in drying and preserving edible and medicinal plants, check out the Herbal Academy of New Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s online Introductory or Intermediate Herbal Courses. They are chock full of solid information, how-toâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and delicious 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 others, a little will go a long way. A whole mouthful of dandelion greens may make a different 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 properties 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

whose nutritional value and palatability can be completely annihilated 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 sometimes it can take a while to incorporate new things into our lives and wild foods are no different. Be patient with yourself, and with those whom you share food. It may take some convincing or stealth weed-eating tactics, but eventually everyone will likely come around and enjoy eating weeds with you. Good luck and happy foraging!

Chickweed FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Dandelions

Latin 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Woodland nettle

Latin Name: Laportea canadensis A close relative to the more commonly cultivated Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let its name fool you as it still has a good sting to it! Commonly found in moist woodlands, our

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native nettles are furiously delicious 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

Latin 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 magnesium and selenium.

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Ramps

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Ramps

Latin name: Allium triccocum Another woodland species, Ramps are a member of the garlic family traditionally harvested 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 devastating. 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 wonderful addition to pesto and dressings.

sauces, marinades, and desserts 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 rancidity. REFERENCES

Bartram, T. (1998). Bartram’s 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

Spicebush berries

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

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

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

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

Peterson, L. A. (1977). A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Eastern and central North America. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Thayer, S. (2006). The Forager’s 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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Your Herbal questions answered and food co-ops, and are wonderful ways to get hands-on instruction and meet the plants in person. Take careful notes of a plant’s 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 Q: I am interested in harvesting type of habitat - these are all edible herbs, but I am not familhelpful clues for not only ideniar with what they look like. How tifying plants, but for finding do I get started with identifying them! There are many field plants accurately? guides for identifying edible plants, and four that are A: There are several different particularly helpful are: ways to learn the information • Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide required to feel confident in your by Lawrence Newcomb abilities to accurately identify • Peterson Field Guide to wild edibles when foraging or Eastern/Central Medicinal wildcrafting. One of the best Plants and Herbs by Steven ways is Foster and James A. Duke to take a wild edibles walk with a • The Forager’s knowledgeable herbalist or Harvest: A Guide to edible foods expert. These types Identifying, Harvesting, and of classes are often offered in Preparing Edible Wild Plants the spring and summer through by Samuel Thayer community education centers FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 It’s always a good idea to con- plant by holding the top of the sult more than one source until leaf stalk with one hand and snipping the stem with the you’re comfortable with your other; then drop into your bag identification skills. or basket. Once back home, Q: I found a big patch of sting- you can either use the nettle immediately or dry it for later ing nettles in a field down use. Nettle’s sting is caused by the road and would like to try cooking them or making a tea formic acid and histamine contained in tiny hairs that cover with them, but really have no the stems and leaves. When idea how to harvest and eat these hairs touch skin, they them without getting stung. penetrate the skin, What do you recommend? break off, and release their chemicals, hence the “stingA: Most importantly, a good ing” sensation. If the plant is pair of gloves! While you can dried, cooked, or left to wilt pick nettle barehanded if you work carefully, gloves and long for a day or two, the sting disappears. So you can lay nettle sleeves make the task easier. to dry on a screen, hang it in You’ll also need a knife or a bunches to dry, or cook it by pair of sharp scissors or clipsteaming or sautéing and its pers and a bag or basket. Approach the nettle patch with ability to sting will be gone. One final tip: a pair of kitchen awareness and respect and gloves is helpful when washing, take a moment to say thank chopping, or otherwise preparyou for the gift of its green ing fresh nettle for cooking. nourishment before you start harvesting. Nettle is best •

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

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Ramps

Nettle

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Nettle Risotto ingredients

½ pound nettle 12 ounces Arborio rice 1 leek, finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 2 Tablespoons olive oil ½ cup dry white wine 6-7 cups of vegetable broth 2 ounces of grated Parmesan cheese ½ teaspoon fresh chopped parsley ¼ teaspoon fresh crushed oregano leaves A pinch of nutmeg Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a medium size saucepan. Wash nettles, 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, sauté 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 ½ 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 ½ 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!

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Simple W

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to save money on g

by: Karen Lynn at Lil’ Subur

Ways

groceries

rban Homestead

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t 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 supplement 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 couponing a couple of years ago when we realized the couponing was steering us to mostly processed 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 processed foods was the direction we wanted to go in!

tips to save money on your grocery bill FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Cut your bacon in half

Cut your bacon in half – I’m not joking whether you buy turkey 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 don’t 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 won’t really notice that they had less apple or banana. Again, this is

for most people, not for 6’4” of tuna! Also, there are a lot of gluten free pastas at the groathletes like my son ;) cery store now a days they are not necessarily priced low so you may have to look for deals!

dried milk

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.

meatless monday

Start adding a Meatless Monday meal to your family’s 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 can’t 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 don’t forget the good ole’ standby

veggies as the star

Make the veggie the star of your meal! I have a favorite recipe 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. It’s 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!

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5 6 Beans, beans, beans

Beans really are “Big Value” for your buck! They are a great source of complex carbs and they are not only a great addition 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 difference! I often will make chili in the slow cooker on Friday’s in the winter and I will eat chili for lunch the following week. I just pre-measure it into 1 or 2 cup containers the next week depending on everyone’s appetite. Delicious lunches make the day go so much better in my opinion. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Cook now, eat later

Cook a turkey or whole chicken at the beginning of every week! If you have a large family 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 processed foods and putting some change back in your pocket at the end of the week is a good thing!

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KALE kraut We love fermenting foods. This year, we’re planning on fermenting everything we can from the garden: Green beans, okra, green tomatoes, you name it. Fermenting, as we’ve 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.

Kale is a bit tougher than cabbage, so we’re expecting the resulting kraut to follow the same pattern. I like crunchy kraut, however, so I believe I’ll enjoy this. Check our blog and social media accounts to get a full accounting of the taste.

Here’s the recipe and method we’re using, so if you’d like to try and make your own kale First on the list for the season’s kraut, then have at it! fermenting is kale. where it doesn’t get too hot. If Kale kraut isn’t such a big leap you use a mason jar, you’ll have from sauerkraut. Cabbages and to “burp” the jar at least once kale -- along with broccoli, cauli- a day to let out all the accumuflower and collards -- are all part lated gases. of the brassica family of plants. After about three days, taste Which means they’re pretty your kraut. If it’s tangy enough for you, stick it in the fridge, identical in a lot of respects. preferably on the shelf on the So why not make some kraut door. Eat it as often as possible. with it? FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

The Recipe Ingredients

Enough kale to fill whatever container you’re using two-three tablespoons of salt, (any kind will do, we’re using Pink Himalayan salt) several cloves of garlic, peeled, to taste.

Instructions

First chop up your kale. A lot of people like to shred their kraut, but I like it to be nice and chunky. It’s up to you. Place the kale in a bowl and cover with the salt. Squeeze the kale, mixing 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

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kale, with all the juice, into your container (we’re 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 ziptop bag filled with water. Any clean, heavy material will do. Then cover the container with a cloth or paper towel. If you’re using a mason jar, put a lid on it. Then put the container in a corner somewhere out of the way where it doesn’t get too hot. If you use a mason jar, you’ll have to “burp” the jar at least once a day to let out all the accumulated gases. After about three days, taste your kraut. If it’s 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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insects you should beg to be in your garden

by: cassie lang straat

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 don’t think saying a few om’s and quietly asking the little buggers to leave is going to work either. The magical answer: other insects! Boom. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Let’s 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, let’s shift the conversation to which ones we DO want to come around and how to get them to do that! FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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ladybugs

1.Parasitoid Wasps

3. Spiders

These bad boys are downright ruthless in the insect world. They cause trembling fear in all those aphids you’re 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 host…see? Ruthless. To attract parasitoids, plant things with tiny flowers and try to create a cool micro-climate for them because they can’t withstand extreme high heat.

Back on the frightening track, let’s 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.

2. Ladybugs

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

Now, let’s reel in the scary organdevouring talk and switch our gaze to an insect a little more friendly looking. The ladybug! Well, they aren’t necessarily kind or anything. They still feed on pest insects like aphids and 5. Spined Soldier Bug mites but hey! at least they look pretty doing it! To keep This guy is going to prey on ‘em around, try planting chives, some pesky hairless caterpillars cilantro, dill, or fennel. and pest beetle larvae. He also FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

likes to be kind of protected so grows, it basically strangles the shelter via mulch or ground cov- ant, eventually squeezing the ers are ideal for him. head off. Then the larva eats the ant’s brain for breakfast, and settles inside the cozy head 6. Bees capsule to pupate. So yeah, Let’s just take a second to talk ew. But yay for no ants all over about the SUPER important everything! non-predatory insect that we need to have in our lives. Bees! They obviously won’t 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 Flies Back 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 ant’s neck. It infiltrates the exoskeleton and takes some ant hemolymph to feed its growth. Then, as it FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

8. Tachinid Flies These are from the same family as phrorid flies but they’re quite a bit different. Tachinid Flies are more interested in caterpillars, and more importantly getting inside of them. They somehow 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. Lacewings The lacewing also has quite the hefty appetite. These guys will snack on whiteflies, mealybugs, aphids, caterpillars, spider mites, and thrips! To attract them, try things like sweet alyssum, coreopsis, and angelica.

lacewings

10. Aphid Midge I thought weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d 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 certain 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 gardens and everything around us! FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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Stainless Steel Pail Milkplan Chillers / Holding Tanks

Cream Separator

Butter Churn

Stainless Steel Pasteurizer

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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 doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t 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. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

Processing Chickens

Flippin’ Chicken Style FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

ree 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 it’s head, just above the bird’s 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 ain’t easy. Joe and Bree Zamora are chicken keepers in Swansboro, NC. They slaughter dozens of birds every year and process the animals into healthy, wholesome carcasses for their freezers. They also raise, slaughter and process turkeys and pigs. For them, it’s a personal mission. “A lot of people don’t understand where food comes from anymore,” Bree said. The Zamoras want to make sure as many people as possible understand that chicken fingers, FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 people to actually produce their own food. That’s why they started teaching classes on how to process chickens. The steps are simple (see the accompanying list). Like any form of butchering, it’s got it’s gross parts, sure, but overall, butchering your own chicken is a clean, humane process, that -- as the Zamora’s teach it -results in a pretty solid product when it’s all said and done. There’s nothing in the process as demonstrated by Joe and Bree that you wouldn’t want to see. No images of industrial abattoirs. Nothing dirty, no disgusting smells. In fact, even after killing and processing 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 wouldn’t FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 understands, if you want to eat bacon, it’s got to come from somewhere.”

Basic steps for processing a chicken:

Step 1-Kill the chicken Hang the chicken head down in a “kill cone.” You can make a kill cone from metal, buy a professionally 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 chickens, 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 bird’s neck (you’ll 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 manner of minutes. After you’re sure the bird is dead, you can move on to step two.

Step 2-Scalding the bird Dunk the bird into boiling water with a little bit of household dish detergent in it. This loosens 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 bird Either pluck the bird by hand (which is admittedly time consuming) 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.

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

Step 4: Remove the oil gland and innards

Flip the carcass onto its stomach and look for a small, yellow looking bump near the tail. That’s the oil gland. Slice that off without cutting into the body cavity (Just shave it right off). Then under the tail, find the bird’s vent. The vent of a bird Step 3: Cut off the bird’s head is it’s catch all exit point. It is where the colon empties into. and feet then loosen the esoph- You’ll cut around the top of the agus vent (with the bird on its back) This is probably the grossest leaving the vent attached at the part. With a cleaver or sharp bottom. Open that hole that FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

you’ve 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 downward, 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, now’s the time to set that aside. Remove the neck (set it aside if you want to keep it) with a sharp knife or cleaver. Using your hand, or a lung scraper, remove the lungs from the inside of the bird. They’ll be bright pink and shockingly hard to remove.

Step 5: Finish up Wash 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 utilize a vacuum sealer (which is a much better option) then stick FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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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Click here to read now! read it

The ultimate guide to raising chickens FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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Nature’s Guide to a Rhythmic Life

By Amy Fredland, Oak Meadow teacher

I’m still pretty young, as a parent that is. My oldest son is 5 1⁄2, which makes me a 5 1⁄2-year-old parent. When I look at it that way, I don’t feel so badly that there is a laundry list of things that I’m still puzzling over and experimenting with. I’ve certainly had moments and extended periods of time when things move along with ease.

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

I’ve recently been wondering what it is that happens to offer our family those “ease” times. I’m 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 Then there are other times when bring to our days. it’s all I can do to provide my family with the bare minimum (basically Rhythm. What exactly is that? I food and some clean-ish clothes), can think of the rhythm of a favorFROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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“

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

“

ite song, the sweet sounds of a sleeping baby’s breathing, the ins and outs of the tides. Rhythm. It’s 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 it’s 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,

and out of the home at previously decided times. The rhythm of a weekly playgroup for my youngest and the school days for my oldest. It’s 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 can’t miss it: crocuses are emerging and the Mamma and Dadda working in snow recedes as it does every FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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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.

days and thunderstorms. The humidity of August will give way to a crisp autumn, and we’ll then be blessed with the quiet snugglieness of winter again. It’s comforting knowing what will come next, don’t you think?

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 we’ll bring out our jeans and sweaters again. Winter will blanket us with snow and ice, and we’ll dream of hot cocoa and flickering fireplaces.

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

Nature is the essence of rhythm. In its changeable yet predictable movements we can find inspiration for our family’s lives. The predictability of nature’s events quietly keep us going from day to day. When it seems like we can’t go another day in the cold winter we know that the melting days always lead to blooming flowers. When we can’t stand the muck of mud season, we can remember that the heat of summer will bring forth sizzling

Amy Fredland is a K-8 teacher for Oak Meadow who has a background in both Waldorf Education and Wildlife Management. She guides outdoor nature explorations for parents and their young children through Sophia’s Hearth Family Center. Amy and her family enjoy following nature’s rhythms in the beautiful hills of southern New Hampshire. Originally published in Oak Meadow’s free educational journal, Living Education, Fall 2014 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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Ways to succeed at homeschooling on the homestead by: Carol J. Alexander

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 you’ve 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.

didn’t 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 discovered 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 When we bought our homestead practices into your already in 2001, our oldest son was 13. It natural lifestyle, there are three FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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things that, if you implement, kitchen garden, not a U-pick will help you. field of vegetables. Trust me, you have time.

Start Small and Simple

If you aspire to live off your Our family spent nine years in land, growing your homestead the city dreaming of moving to at a slower pace will save you the country. We watched the time, money, and stress. movie “The Wilderness Family” over and over again—gear- Maybe you’re not that far. Maybe ing up for that day when we you just want to grow a garden would be doing all those things. in the back yard, teach your Fortunately, our move was not a kids to live simply and eschew sink or swim proposition like in the waste that is prevalent in the movie; because if it were, our society. Starting slowly not only helps with the work load we would have surely sunk. involved, it helps those kids get used to the idea that things are What does small and going to change. 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.

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 Once we figured these things matter. Suddenly throwing a out, we added one project at bunch of new chores their way a time. We got one goat, not will only bring on a mutiny. a pasture full. I planted a small FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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Assess your expectations

watching videos and filling in workbooks?

What are your expectations for your green lifestyle and what are your expectations for your homeschooling?

Now, ask yourself if your expectations for your homesteading lifestyle support the expectations you have for your homeschooling, and vice versa.

Let’s say you have your heart set If you are driving your children on selling whole-grain, baked to debate, drama, sports, and goods at the farmers’ markets. music several days of the week, who is going to stay home to mill You need a source for buying the flour and bake the bread? If grains and a wheat mill. Then Johnny and Mary have to fill you need to make the breads, in worksheets to turn in to their cakes, and cookies. Have you correspondence school, will ever baked with whole grains they have time to knead dough, before? Do you know how long watch an oven, or plop cookie it takes to bake 50 loaves of dough on the baking sheets? bread? Who is going to do all Can you physically, realistically, the baking, anyway? accomplish both? What do you expect from your homeschooling?

Integrate

A classical education complete with logic and Latin? A Charlotte Mason approach with frequent walks along the countryside, nature journal in hand? A correspondence or umbrella school where the children are expected to fulfill someone else’s requirements—spending their day

Integrate the homesteading and the homeschooling into one cohesive lifestyle, so that everything 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 FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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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 morning, 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, compost 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 living 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, â&#x20AC;&#x153;When am I ever going to use this in real life?â&#x20AC;? because they are using it. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 shuffling 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 homeschooling and involved parents. To begin integrating your homesteading and homeschooling lifestyles, visit www. LessonsFromTheHomestead. com.

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steps to deschool and start your homeschool journey

by Bianca Rose Neill : Lark Hollow Homes

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

lies though, who havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t 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 beginning a healthy homeschool environment is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;deschoolFROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

create “Tailor the atmosphere of

learning that best suits all of you! Get out there and homeschool there is so much world to experience!

“

stead ing” period. Here are a few pointers to take off the edge and create a peaceful atmosphere of learning!

the desk....but to completely get rid of the desk! Don’t spend the first few weeks of your new homeschool experience creat1. Do not run out and buy ing “tiny private school”. There a flag, a school bell and is so much wealth of learning losing the confining nature of desks! the traditional classroom, read outdoors with the animals, do With homeschooling its imporsome home economic math at tant to not just think outside FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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the kids have at your family chat, let them go crazy with unit studies on anything that interests them and watch their love of learning and passion for self 2. Discuss with the kids study come alive! the feed store but do not create “little public school on the prairie.“ You can do this! get out of the box!

-- Let your children guide 4. Don’t sweat it, be their education. Have a family sit down and dis- patient. Don’t get frustrated! 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 everything that happens in the course of the day can become a deeper area of concentration or study.

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 feeling 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. Don’t sweat it! Give yourself and the kids time to tailor create the atmosphere of learning that best suits all of you! Get out there and homeschool there is so much world to experience!

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

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

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visit the library

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Click Here to Order Your Copy! You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t 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 dyerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s garden and create beautiful dyes. FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE

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 using them in craft projects.

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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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