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Preparing for Winter on the Homestead- Dehydrating Food
This time of year is an especially busy one for homesteaders as they prepare the homestead. As winter closes in, there is a lot of prep work to make sure your family and animals have what they need for the coming months of cold weather. While supermarkets remain open, most homesteaders pride themselves in their ability to remain self sustaining through the long cold months ahead. Here at Hackett Hill Farm, we are partnering with fellow homesteaders to bring you a new series to the blog, focused on preparing the homestead for winter. This week we have Emily from Halfway to Homesteading joining us to talk about how her and…
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Easy Zuppa Toscana at Home
It’s Fall Y’all! That means it’s soup season, which is my favorite food season of all. Soup is one of those warm you from the inside out kinds of foods, and this easy Zuppa Toscana will have your family full and happy in under thirty minutes! Soup is my go to dinner when I am not sure what to make or I’m pressed for time. It is so easy to just chop up some veggies and throw them into a pot with some liquid and maybe a meat and Voila! Soup!! Okay well maybe it is a little more than that, but it’s pretty dang close. Check out our…
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Easy SPAM Breakfast Skillet Recipe
If you are looking for a hearty breakfast that doesn’t break the bank or have you spending hours in the kitchen, look no further than our SPAM Breakfast Skillet. This one skillet dish is filled with hearty simple ingredients that will keep your family full long past lunchtime. Weekends are for big breakfasts here at the farm. We usually have a laundry list of things to do around the farmhouse between cleanup, construction, animals, and garden; so we know that a hearty breakfast will keep us going! During the week, the kids usually grab a bowl of cereal before school and I head off to work with my coffee in…
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2021 Downloadable Fall Bucket List
Fall is here with its crisp mornings, warm days, and chilly nights. The leaves are starting to show up in grand colors here in Virginia, and the air smells like winter is just around the corner. While the temperatures are still lovely and we don’t have to hide inside for the winter, get outside and start knocking some items off of the traditional Fall Bucket List! It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (I’m talking Fall Ya’ll) Fall is hands down my favorite time of year. It is busy with harvesting the summers hard work for sure, but it is also a fun time of year with so many…
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How to Care for Your Flock of Chickens
Chickens are a joy on the homestead. Their clucking, scratching, and funny antics bring so much joy and peace to the farm yard. They are also relatively easy to take care of and they serve a very important purpose on the homestead, supplying food! If you are new to chickens or just want some extra tips on how to care for your flock of chickens, you have come to the right place! We will walk you though at a high level how to take care of your flock and help them thrive. Chickens are perhaps my favorite animal on the homestead. Shhh, don’t tell the others! They are just so…
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Pawpaw Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pawpaw Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies are so delicious you will be dreaming of pawpaw season every year. Pawpaw lends its uniquely citrusy banana notes to a classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that is to die for. Pawpaw Season I look forward to pawpaw season every year. I carefully monitor the four small wild groves that we have found on the farm for spring blooms and the tell tell signs of fruit formation. As summer starts to wind down, I visit the groves weekly to check on their progress and start planning how to use these delicious treats. This year my goal was to preserve the pawpaws that I found so…
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Preserving the Pawpaw Fruit
The Pawpaw fruit is a highly perishable fruit native to North America. It can be found up and down the East coast and as far west as Nebraska! Once on the ground, the fruit only lasts a day or two. However there is a simple method for preserving the Pawpaw fruit to have access to it throughout the winter months. Today we will talk about preserving the Pawpaw Fruit, but before we get started, a little history. What is the Pawpaw Last fall we discovered a small Pawpaw grove just inside the wood line at our home. Once we figured out what it was and how delicious the fruit is,…
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Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeño Poppers
Jalapeño Poppers are a go to appetizer recipes. The combination of salty crispy bacon, creamy cream cheese, and spicy jalapeño makes the perfect bite. We have perfected that bite even more with these Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeño Poppers. Date Night Occasionally my husband and I will get a much needed date night. Mawmaw and Poppie come grab up the kids and then my husband and I try to figure out how to function without kids for a while. The first inevitable question that is asked is always, what are we going to make for dinner. While our kids are great eaters overall and will eat nearly everything, they do…
