Early May 2023 In Pictures

Works in Progress

When I started this substack, I planned it as a behind-the-scenes look into the things we’re working on here on the homestead. Many of the projects are “works in progress” that I won’t write about on the blog for weeks, months, or even years.

There’s always something in the works, but here’s what’s on my camera reel this month:

A honeybee visiting the blossoms on our Toka Plum.

Plum trees do exceptionally well here, even in heavy clay soils with lots of shade everywhere. The picture above is of a Toka plum, which is supposed to be a “pollinator” variety that helps all the others set fruit.

It goes absolutely nuts each year, blanketing itself with flowers and releasing an unbelievable fragrance. The bees love it more than any other plum type, so there’s no wonder it’s good for making sure all the others get pollinated.

(It blooms early too, right alongside dandelions, so the bees get their meals early.)

As luck would have it, it also produces some of the best plums I’ve ever eaten. It doesn’t set heavy crops, especially considering the effort it goes through in flowering, but the fruit it does set are by far my favorite.

Three gallons of Dandelion Mead, made last year, and finally ready to be bottled this year. We’ll be drinking it next spring…three full years in the making.

This dandelion mead (honey wine) was started last year about this time, and it’s been in the works for a full 12 months. It takes about a quart of cleaned dandelion petals per gallon, so this was the better part of a gallon of cleaned petals.

It’s been conditioned in my basement for a full year, then bottled…and then another several months (to a year) before it’s ready to drink.

Making mead, at least making good mead, takes a lot longer than making simple country fruit wines.

Marshmallow Root, harvested for herbal remedies, and unsuccessful experiments into making marshmallows the old-fashioned way.

Marshmallow is actually a plant, or really a genus of many plants, that are used for medicinal purposes. The root has a lot of soothing properties, as well as natural mucilage, and when mixed with sugar and whipped…it turns into marshmallows.

Or, really, a confection with marshmallow flavor that’s a lot softer than modern marshmallows made with gelatin instead. It’s more like fluff.

Anyway, it was originally just a sweet way to take your medicine.

Dandelion Blossom “Honey” (or Dandelion Syrup)

Dandelion petals have a honey-like flavor (or, I guess, honey has a dandelion-like flavor, depending on how you look at it). If you make a simple syrup out of dandelion petal tea, the result is a sweet treat that’s basically vegan dandelion honey.

We’re going to use it to make some dandelion baklava later this month, and see how it holds up to baking in place of honey.

For the most part, these dandelion projects are just a fun way to get the littles engaged with nature…and sweet treats help a lot with that =)

A pint of eggshell powder, as a concentrated calcium supplement for gardens and chickens, made from the shells of 100 eggs that we freeze-dried.

Last month I did a big project freeze-drying eggs, and this month I turned the shells into eggshell powder for use in the garden and as a calcium supplement for the hens.

I was kind of amazed at how much they powdered down.

We cracked 100 eggs from our hens to fill the freeze dryer…and all of those shells became one pint of eggshell powder.

Sauteed ramp greens with bacon

I’m working on an article on ramp recipes from wild foraged ramps, and this one above was one of my favorites. It’s just simple sauteed ramp greens with bacon.

All in all, it’s perfect, nothing else added, and on the table in minutes.

Our big old Bielefelder rooster guards our ladies, but he’s gentle as a puppy. This breed was specifically selected for temperament, and he comes when called and snuggles into my lap when I’m watching the littles play in the yard.

By far, Bielefelders are my favorite chicken breed, beautiful, friendly, and excellent layers. They’re also heavy-bodied, which means they’re a dual-purpose breed.

Freeze drying candy

I’m honestly not a huge fan of candy, but freeze-dried candy is immensely popular, and I’ve seen many homesteaders say that they paid off their freeze-dryers quickly by selling freeze-dried candy online or at local craft fairs.

When you freeze dry candy, it puffs up like crazy, and the flavor/texture changes completely. Gummy candies become crunchy, and completely transform. Some people really love it.

It’s so popular that Harvest Right programmed a special “candy mode” that works in just 2 hours, to save electricity since it dries much faster than fruit.

A single pack of skittles, once freeze-dried, sells for 5 to 10 times the original purchase price, and you can net quite a bit on a single batch.

Anyhow, we tried just about every candy under the sun, for science.

The verdict is, if you like a particular candy, you’re going to love it freeze-dried. If you don’t like a particular type of candy, freeze-drying it isn’t going to change that.

Everyone likes things a little different, and there’s a market for this stuff for sure. As for me, I’ve had a few bites, and I feel like I’m set for life and don’t need to ever make freeze-dried candy again.

I’ll stick with strawberries, thank you.

Pickled Ramp Bulbs

I’ve had this recipe for pickled ramp bulbs up on the blog for years…but the pictures are absolutely atrocious. I made them again this year, now that I’m a little bit better at taking pictures.

We all have to start somewhere, but pretty or not, they were just as tasty when I made them the first time.

Cold process goats milk and oat soap that my daughter and I made together

My daughter is really excited about DIY body products, and wants to make ALL THE THINGS. We’ve made salves and creams in the past, but this was her first homemade cold-process soap.

Came out beautifully…but it’ll be curing for 6 weeks before we get to test out the lather.

Dandelion Greens Pesto

We’re months away from fresh basil, at least in any quantity, but dandelions make a truly excellent pesto. They actually taste remarkably similar, both with a hint of spice and bitterness, along with loads of “green” taste.

Once you mix all that with enough oil, pine nuts, and parmesan, the result is pretty darn similar and extra delicious.

Recipe coming soon (or just replace basil with clean, fresh dandelion greens in any pesto recipe).

An absurd boatload of pressure canners

Yes, that is my kitchen table covered by more than half a dozen pressure canners. Why, you ask?

I’m working on an epic review of every pressure canner on the market, and the pros and cons of each. Stay tuned. And, I’ll let you know which end up with a permanent home on my shelf, and which are re-homed as “redundant.”

A tray of freeze-dried milk

The freeze dryer has been running non-stop all month, and while candy wasn’t my favorite… freeze-dried milk was a big hit with my kids. Maybe it’s because you can rehydrate it a bit stronger than it was when it went in?

Or maybe it’s just the novelty of it?

Anyhow, when you buy milk powder in the store it’s dehydrated with intense heat in a process known as Spray Drying, where aerosols of milk are flash dried in hot gas. Kinda crazy, and it really changes the flavor of the milk.

Freeze drying, on the other hand, just powders it without really changing the flavor at all, and it dissolves easily back to its original state. (Normal grocery store milk powder tastes “cooked” and clumps when you try to rehydrate it.)

Still, is it worth it? Not really.

A gallon of milk took 30 hours in the freeze dryer…and that’s a lot of electricity.

Cheese, yogurt, and the like are much better ways of preserving milk. The only reason I can imagine doing this is to have a few gallons on hand for emergencies, but it’s not a practical way to preserve milk.

Hyperinflated paper currency, and gold and silver hard currency

What’s that above? Strange hyperinflated currency?

I know, that’s a weird one, but my beautiful and talented husband is a history and economics buff, and he recently wrote an article on the site about preparing for hyperinflation. I’m trying to get more preparedness content on the site, and at least in the current inflationary environment, it seemed relevant, even if hyperinflation isn’t all that likely in the end.

Forsythia Blossoms in a Jar

Finally, I’ll leave you with my daughter holding foraged forsythia blossoms in a jar.

I was truly surprised by how delicious these flowers are. They have a flavor that’s like peachy apricot with a bit of tropical citrus or pineapple. When made into tea or flower jelly, that flavor comes through wonderfully.

Honestly, it was the best tropical “peach jelly” that you can make this far north.

Forsythia Jelly

How is May going in your neck of the woods?

Until Next Time,

Ashley at Practical Self Reliance