Just Checking In

Yes we are still alive and this blog thing is still happening. It's just happening a little slower and less frequently than initially intended. However, I think we are finally at the climax of our hectic situation. So it has to get better right? Here's the thing we will be moving a homestead for the second time on short notice in 60 days. It's a mess I feel like we have livestock strewn over half the county and what's with us is ummm a little cramped. I like to think of it as efficiently positioned. Haha whatever it takes right? So basically we are in a limbo state waiting for our new place to be ready. We already have horses and some stuff there but we have everything else crammed into a very small space with us.

Delicious Garlic Dill Pickle Chips

 Well Folks, now that we have what we need for water bath canning, I think we are ready to try a simple recipe. This recipe is a small batch, fresh pack Garlic Dill Pickle Recipe. I am excited to try these pickles out as they seem to be a pretty simple and low ingredient way to fill the pickle quota for our larder.  Now I understand that the appeal associated with a myriad of subtly married spices caressing the palate like a thousand silk butterfly wings; however my little family thoroughly enjoys simple yet well rounded flavor profiles and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a whole big bunch easier on the wallet.  Anywho! Onward with our Garlic Dill Pickle Chips!

To Can or Not to Can? You May Have Few Questions.

When I was younger I remember canning summer harvests with my grandmother.  I remember tons of tomatoes, pecks of peaches, spicy salsa, gallons of green beans... You get it. A lot of produce went into beautiful Mason Jars and then we got to chow down on it all year long.

Returning from the trip down memory lane. I don't really remember recipes or cautionary tales of Clostridium Botulinum more lovingly known as BOTULISM! Oh yeah! The big B! But seriously botulism is terrible and has horrendous side effects and isn't a hard thing to can if you don't follow tested recipes, instructions, and safety guides to the letter. So enter "The National Center for Home Food Preservation!!! This nifty site allows you to look up the stringent safety guidelines for canning at a very basic level. I purchased my first canning book "The Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Food Preserving" I feel like it's a solid foundational canning book with many tested and confirmed recipes.

Hi ya'll

Welcome to our Unexpected Homestead!!!  This is going to be a blog/record of our triumphs and failures as brand new homesteaders. I grew up riding horses, hunting, covered in dirt, and working on our farm in Tennessee. We raised our own beef, pork, chickens, and a huge garden; however it's been a while. It's the kind of life some people were born to live and even though it's been quite some time since I've lived this way it never left my system.My husband was raised in Tampa, Florida and has always wanted to farm and be self sufficient and now that we have found each other we are taking the initiative together. Come join us on our Unexpected Homestead Adventure!