I went for the camera the other evening as the sun set behind our mountains. Here you see Wanderer’s Peak with the season’s first snow, shot from our front window with reflected lamplight. You can see the shadows of the range at our back falling across the mountains at our front, and you get a …

The other night I tried to light the kerosene lamp we have on the shelf above our wood stove. It wouldn’t light. I checked the wick: trimmed. Okay. I checked the kerosene: gone! Well, who knew. Kerosene evaporates. The last time I used the lamp was last winter. So the lesson is, use the lamp …

I don’t know what’s happened, but it seems to me that suddenly canning is popular with a whole bunch of people. Or maybe it’s just that I’m trying to find extra canning jars in the middle of canning season. Whatever the cause, I’m looking for extra canning jars and not finding them. The thrift stores …

Well, it did its best. I should have had Jess hold her hand in this shot for scale, but this is actually a cantaloupe about the side of an egg. It’s actually an Alaskan cantaloupe (that’s what the folks at the seed catalog called it), so we thunk it would do well up here in …

So here’s what Jessica has canned so far this season, as of last night:11 quarts of plum sauce56 quarts of pears15 quarts of chili sauce28 quarts of apple sauce21 quarts of elderberry syrup33.5 quarts of diced tomatoes30 quarts of tomato soup79 pints of salsa91 quarts of nectarines36 quarts of grape juice11 pints of nectarine jamWe …

I came in the other day from a chilly evening outdoors and thought, well, summer’s over. I’m building a fire. And I did. I love heating our home with wood. I love every aspect of it (some more than others). I love dropping a dead tree in the forest and blocking it up in bright …

It’s a homesteading blog, so you knew that come fall, a lot of the posts would be about canning. And you were right! So last week it was pears, and here they are fresh from the orchard. (We’ve already eaten the plums, or turned them into canned plummy-garlicky sauce we eat with egg rolls). Here’s …

So much for chicks being born at Easter. So much for chicks being a cute fluffy yellow. Jess went down to the duck yard yesterday afternoon and –well, looky here! The kids are so excited they’re jumping out of their skin. We’re not even sure whose chicks these are since we have three breeds of …

Jess was stacking beans in the freezer the other night when I had to dash out for a camera. There’s nothing quite like a full freezer (or three) to boost your sense of security. Of course our root cellar is somewhat depleted, but it’s fall time and we’re working on that. Since we’re always eating …

My second-favorite thing about winter is getting firewood in the dark. (About a dozen things contend for the coveted spot of Favorite Thing About Winter, and they alternate depending on the day.) In the wintertime when I get home I always come in, drop off my Spiderman lunch box, grab the firewood tote, and head …