Just when it seems like the garden is beginning to wind down, goldenrod steals the show. Its bright golden plumes stretch across fields, fence lines, and roadsides, bringing color to a landscape that is slowly getting ready for autumn. While many summer flowers are dwindling, goldenrod is just ge...

Making fruit syrup isn’t anything new in our farmhouse kitchen. We make it frequently, whether it’s elderberry syrup as part of our traditional herbal routine, blueberry syrup sweetened with maple syrup, or batches of marionberry and cherry syrup that find their way onto breakfast foods and into ...

I still remember those bright little boxes of gelatin tucked into the refrigerator growing up. They always seemed to show up at potlucks and holidays, sitting alongside everything else on the table. It was familiar, colorful, and usually the first thing the kids reached for without a second thoug...

It’s not every day a marshmallow has a backstory, but this one starts with Lent, seaweed, and learning to cook from scratch. Years ago, we went vegan for health reasons, and thought Lent was a great time to do that. What started as a Lenten fast turned into four years of plant-based living. Duri...

I will be the first to admit it. I used to have a love-hate relationship with baking soda scrubs. On one hand, I appreciate a non-toxic home. On the other hand, I grew tired of chasing the chalky film that often followed my cleaning. Once I understood the simple chemistry at play and the fallacy ...

    If you’ve ever walked down the cleaning aisle at the grocery store and felt an immediate, raging headache coming on, you aren’t alone. For years, I struggled with my body overreacting to all the chemicals we have around us in our modern world. Between lymphatic stagnation and a liver that...

  Last summer, while driving across the country, we stopped at Lehman's Hardware. If you’ve ever been there, you know exactly what it does to you. As a homesteader, you feel right at home. And then there’s the soda wall. Hundreds of bottles in all shapes, colors, and labels. It pulled at somethi...

  Every once in a while, a question starts showing up again and again in our inbox. Recently, several readers wrote after reading a book titled The Biblio Diet, asking about what the authors call “the healing leaves.” The question usually sounds something like this: Can I make tea from the lea...

When we flew to Bulgaria to adopt our oldest daughter, rose oil was everywhere. Bulgaria is well known for its rose production, and that reputation was impossible to miss, even in the international airport. The scent filled gift shops, hallways, and luggage, so strong that it drowned out nearly e...

Violet leaf is one of those plants that’s easy to overlook because it grows so commonly and without much attention. While the flowers tend to draw the eye, it’s the leaves that have traditionally been used for external herbal preparations meant to calm and support the skin. In the rhythm of a slo...