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In an attempt to have a clear course for learning soapmaking, I bought this book to be my textbook and to follow along with her recipes and lessons. I really liked the book for its clear instructions, and great looks and layout. Get the book here: http://amzn.to/2mesWFw this is an affiliate link, shopping with it…
It’s time to order the seeds for the garden. The seed catalogs have shown up in the mail, and the fun is about to begin! But wait! Before you even think about buying anything, you need to have a plan for the garden, and take stock of the seeds that you already own and can…
Wondering what going crazy ordering supplies for natural cold process soap making looks like? Well, here it is, as I unbox some of the materials that have ordered from Voyaguer Soap and Candle Co. I was surprised at how much the raw materials for making a batch of natural cost, but can see the savings…
With too many berries, and not enough ways to preserve them, I started my journey into ferments with this rumtopf. And now with a few things under my belt, I am excited to pull this Christmas treat out and start enjoying it. Its a fairly simple recipe combining equal parts fruit and sugar in rum,…
Well, we sucked at making videos about things that we were doing around the house to make Christmas more sustainable. But we did try and be more conscious of the waste that we were creating over the holidays, and put effort into making some small positive changes.
Ian is home, and we sit down and have a chat about how he feels about trying to be more zero waste over the holidays and the rest of the time. We are focused on trying to live a more sustainable life overall, and reducing our waste, and plastic consumption seems like an important step,…
I bought a fake tree a couple years back, but as I sit here and think about the way that I can make my Christmas more sustainable, it feels like committing to not purchasing a fake tree again would be a great way. I don’t mention it in the video, but the obvious best way…
I promised my grandpa that I would make quince liquor for Christmas when he gave me my quince. So 6 weeks ago I chopped up the quince, add sugar and alcohol. And because I need an excuse to try it because I am getting too impatient for Christmas, lol, I’m making a second one with…
I am loving the look of this simple Christmas garland made out of oranges and pinecones. And my favorite part is that when the season is over, I can throw it into the compost, making it a great zero waste Christmas decoration, and keeping me on track for my more sustainable Christmas theme. I was…
I need none breakable Christmas ornaments this year! And to make sure that things are a bit more sustainable, I am thinking about the different ways that I can have handmade ornaments so I don’t have to buy anything. Either DIYing ornaments out of things I found around the house, or crafting together something with…
Well, there really isn’t too much going on out there today. But both the garden and I have something in common, and that is that we are getting prepared for the new year and the garden that will grow in it! The perennials are getting prepared for their early spring debut, while all the annuals…
Well, that literally took 24 hours to make, but it is good enough to make up for all the stirring. If you have quince, then I highly recommend trying to make membrillo or quince paste. I had to do some trouble shooting to get this to work out, so if you are having any issues…
Over the holidays, I always end up with a few half or quarter bottles of wine that I have no plans to drink, so rather than pushing them into the back of the fridge, I decided to mix them all together into a jar of wine vinegar. Vinegar is an easy ferment, it just takes…
Who doesn’t like a fun and fizzy bath bomb? And when they are as simple to make as this, the whole family gets them for Christmas presents. This recipe really is simple enough that even a toddler could make it. The hardest part is finding the citric acid, but in my town it is very…
Don’t I look beet-utiful, lol. I’m making homemade beet root powder with some of the beet harvest, to be able to make some DIY lipstick for Christmas gifts, as well as having a natural food coloring on hand. It takes some time, but is really simple, and I am super happy with the results. You…
Thanks so much everyone for watching our videos and subscribing to us! It means so much to us (Serina and Ian) and we just want to say thank you. We are also going to be beginning to create some Christmas themed content, so we wanted to give you a heads up so we don’t freak…
The snow has melted and it has even got dry enough for the kids to be able to go and play in the leaves. Lia has been waiting impatiently for months for this moment – jumping in the leaf pile. She was less excited about the cleaning up of the leaves though, lol. Daily Beetle…
Step by step clips of my 2 months of trying to make this apple cider vinegar, leads to a funny ending, in this Fermentation Friday video. I grew a couple of great mother of vinegars that will be very helpful for the future, but I didn’t ferment the tastiest vinegar. But you can get a…
You’ve hunted everywhere and have finally found some quince! Now begins the timeless struggle of man vs fruit, where rock hard quince does its best to try and get you to cut off your hand while trying to prepare it. Don’t let it win! And follow these simple tips that I have discovered to make…
I like to say I grow jerusalem artichoke, or sunchokes, but the truth is they grow themselves. These sweet roots are so simple that it is more of an issue to learn how to not let them spread, than how to grow them. As I clean up my patch and do some harvest on this…
I timelapsed the couple hours it took me to dig up, and then clean, all of my root crops that survived the winter snow. Come spend a couple hours homesteading with me, as I fill my fridge with a couple of months worth of work. Some of my veggies were super tiny, so I baked…
After a week of snow and overnight lows down to -10c it has warmed up enough to have the snow start to disappear. Serina is out in the garden, excited to see what has survived. With temperatures getting so low, there is a good chance that the large fall root crop of beets, carrots and…
Are you making more kombucha than you can keep up with drinking? Do what I did, and forget about a batch for a month or two – and tada, you have vinegar. I’m really excited to start making vinegar because I buy a lot of it, for clean and cooking. And the idea of having…
With the end of the 2017 garden season, Ian and Serina are getting excited for next year and all their new plans. We have a lot of construction jobs on the books for spring, and a front yard food forest makeover. Also a raised bed garden extension, and best of all – CHICKENS! So, if…
We may be experienced gardeners, but we still have plenty of fails every year. Failures and mistakes are one of the best ways that we learn about our garden, and what works best for us. Serina and Ian go over 5 big failures in the 2017 garden, and look forward to the way that they…
Since the garden is still covered in snow, it seems like a good time to admit defeat, and officially call it an end to the 2017 garden. Ian and Serina think back over how the season was, and celebrate some of their wins. After a bunch of years, we have started to narrow in on…
Moldy kombucha is a complaint that I hear about all the time, so I am experimenting to find out ways that can cause issues for your kombucha culture. So I try out 3 different ways to get mold growing, including using a crazy mold culture that I going to say I grew on purpose, lol.…
It’s only November 2, and it is snowing! What is up with this weather. I know we are Canadian, but come on! And as I sit here uploading this, and the day gets later, it is even starting to stick. Serina and Ian can’t believe it, so come and join us as we complain about…
Around here right now, you can’t walk down the sidewalk without tricking over buckets full of horse chestnuts. So I was very excited to learn that you can make a laundry soap out of them exactly like soap nuts. Since I love free, I packed the kids up and we brought home a bucket full…
Gardening is about thinking ahead, and with the freezers full of food for Christmas, I’m starting to think about decorating, lol. Lia and I weed out our nasty weed – Virginia Creeper vine – and transform it into a pretty and useful wreath. And it is so easy, that you could do it too! After…
