Home canned cucumber pickles are great, and I will happily eat them, but in my humble opinion, the best pickles are not canned. Quick pickles, also known as refrigerator pickles, are not even really cooked let alone canned. And they stay wonderfully crisp for months in the fridge.
Even if you don’t yet have the time or the space to grow the homestead-sized garden of your dreams yet, you can start right now learning how to eat the vegetables that you will grow in your someday garden. It sounds easy. Of course, if
This recipe is as old as this photo. The soft squishy toddler has since grown into a scrappy 10 year old boy. I don’t have to try to disguise vegetables as other things any more. But I still open my recipe book to this page regularly,
My tomatoes just started cranking. Last night when time came to make dinner, there was the harvest basket on the counter, waiting to be dealt with. I felt a wave of relief that my standards are low, I have never felt the need to skin
We’ve had a good summer for kale, relatively cool (up until this last two weeks). I am trying out a few new varieties this year and am especially pleased with Madeley. I got this variety from my favorite seed company because they raved about it’s
It’s been hot lately. Really hot. And we don’t have AC. My kitchen is often 83° by dinnertime. Our meals have given over to salad, salad and more salad, mainly following this simple formula: leftover starch + leftover protein + greens from the garden +
Have you ever finished a batch of jam, and then tasted it and been disappointed? Like you can’t really taste the fruit flavor under all the sweetness? It’s happened to me more times than I care to remember. But last year I made my first
Store up summer’s goodness, in a jar!
Have you always wanted to learn how to preserve food, but felt too intimidated? This free workshop series will get you started!
Through eBooks, recipes and live online classes, these workshops will cover super simple beginner techniques, step by step, to give you the knowledge, skills and courage you need to fill your kitchen with jars.
How to Make Jam – October 3rd
Quick Pickles – October 10th
Freeze It! – October 17th
Meet Calamity Jane
Allow me to introduce myself. I am a mother, gardener, and educator. I live with my family in Eugene, Oregon, where our ¼ acre homestead is an abundant tangle of vegetables, fruit trees, flowers and herbs. I am a Master Gardener and Certified Permaculture Designer, but I don’t believe that these titles mean half as much as my 25 years experience of making mistakes in the garden.
I am also the homemaker of our home. I started baking my own bread when I was 14 and it sparked a lifelong love of cooking from scratch. My kitchen is a jungle of jars, with every kind of food inside. Perhaps most importantly, I spent 7 years as a full-time mama, and understand the unique challenges of trying to maintain a productive home and homestead, while also wiping up spills and breaking up fights for 12 hours a day.
I love the beauty of a handmade life, and still get a thrill of pleasure when I bring in a basket of eggs or a bunch of freshly pulled carrots. But I value authenticity even more, and I don’t like to hide the dirt under my nails. Years ago someone jokingly dubbed me Calamity Jane, not because I’m a cowgirl but because I’m a rule-breaker. Join me as I topple the edifice of Pinterest Perfection and get right into the nitty gritty details of real life homesteading!
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