Not all of the information we get comes from books so it only seems appropriate that we include a section dedicated to internet links. We’ll add new links as we come across them. Enjoy….
Cooking Related
Water Glassing Eggs: Our girls started laying more eggs than we can use or eat in a week so I started looking around for ways to preserve eggs. I found this YouTube video to be very interesting and well done.
The Homesteading Family:WATER GLASSING EGGS: PRESERVE YOUR EGGS FOR WINTER!
Canning Chicken: Colleen and I are getting ready to can some chicken. In her research Colleen found these to YouTube links that she thought were very useful, so here they are.
This one is from the Utah State University
This one is from Homesteading Ways
A Very Old Cookbook
Plain And Easy by Hannah Glasse: This is actually the link to an eBook cookbook from 1747. In the process of doing a little research on cooking and food during the Revolutionary War Era Colleen and I happened on this. Being how the book is over 250 years old the odds of getting a physical copy that is not a reprint are not real good. Colleen has used some recipes from this book but to use them requires a god bit of cooking knowledge and detective work. This cookbook is a real history lesson and definitely worth checking out. The apple pie is a real treat and I guarantee you’ve never tasted it’s like before.
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Art_of_Cookery_Made_Plain_and_Easy.html?id=xJdAAAAAIAAJ
Making Your Own Vanilla Extract
After Colleen suffered a severe case of price shock when she wanted to purchase some vanilla extract the other day and the ensuing discussion about the matter with friends we decided to look into making our own. After a little research, we came across this website. Not only are we considering making our own vanilla extract, but now, we are considering making different kinds based on the alcohol being used. This really is a good link if you are looking to make your own.
https://www.beanilla.com/blog/homemade-vanilla-extract?
A little more good information in vanilla beans!
http://www.vanillareview.com/vanilla-information/
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Homesteading Odds and Ends
Acorn Coffee
Two years ago we had one heck of an acorn drop around here. Out of curiosity I started poking around to see what I could do with acorns. I ran across this website that tipped my off on making acorn coffee. I used a little bit different process, the nuts and bolts of doing are here. And for the record, we blended the roasted acorn coffee with regular dark roast and got a very pleasant coffee blend from the experiment.
https://wolfandiron.com/how-to-make-acorn-coffee/
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Good Coffee From the Deep South
There’s nothing better than starting the morning off on the back porch with a good hot cup of coffee. Over the years, I’ve traveled back and forth across this country a good bit. I always took advantage of my location to sample the local coffee roasters. One of my favorites and now one of Colleens favorites is a Louisiana roaster. For a lot of years I could only buy their coffee if I happened to be in Louisiana. Thanks to the internet you can get this wonderful coffee shipped to your door now. If you’re lucky enough, you can even find it in stores now as the company has started to expand its reach. A particular favorite of both Colleen and me is their chicory and coffee blend which ultimately lead to use making our own acorn and coffee blend. If your looking for something special, I highly recommend Community Coffee.
https://www.communitycoffee.com/
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Gardening
Starting Celery From Cuttings: We just recent discovered we could grow celery from the base of a bunch we bought at the store. I had heard it was possible but never tried before this winter. This is the most useful link I found on the subject.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/replant-root-end-celery-38121.html
Planting Zones: It’s always helpful to know what planting zone in which you live. Here is the link to the USDA Hardness Zone Map.
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
Pruning Tomato Plants For Better Harvests: For years we’ve struggled with tomato vines growing too tall to stack and too tall to reach. A friend recently suggested pruning the vines to get shorter bushier plants. I did a little research and sure enough it can be done. Here is the link I found the most useful and informative.
https://bonnieplants.com/library/how-to-prune-tomatoes/
Seed Catalogs: Like most folks that garden, this time of year means we are looking for seeds. In my online search I ran across this sight that lists 59 different FREE seed and plant catalogs. I see no point in re-inventing the wheel so here is the link.
https://www.thebalance.com/free-seed-catalogs-1357756
Powdery Mildew: Like so many gardens, ours ran into a powdery mildew issue this season. I was lucky enough to come across a very descriptive sight that gave me a lot of deyail and options as what to do. I also found a link to a YouTube video that seemed to have a good explanation on one of the techniques for contrilling powdery mildew. I just thought I’d share them because the made sense to me.
This entire website looks pretty good so you may want to check it out.
https://www.growingagreenerworld.com/controlling-or-eliminating-powdery-mildew/
This is just and quick and easy to follow video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4LOHItzP28w
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Friends’s Blogs
The homesteading community is more tight knit than most. Everyone freely shares their experiences and it provides one of the best sources of information and support. This section of links is for the blog links to our friends and fellow homesteaders who share the same dream that we do.
Karla and Brian in NH:
www.theclampettsblog.wordpress.com
Story D Burke In WA:
https://homesteadingwithaview.wordpress.com/
This Week In The Garden:
https://thisweekinthegarden-roland.blogspot.com/
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Magazines
Magazines can be hit or miss when it comes to have useful information in them. Nonetheless, they can from time to time prove to be a valuable resource. The following links are the magazines are the ones I tend to check more often than not.
Countryside is my personal favorite. It’s actually a network of different magazines.
https://countrysidenetwork.com/
Grit is pretty good most of the time so I usually do pick up a copy of the newest edition.
Mother Earth News can have some good stuff in it but I usually check it out at the news rack before I pick up a copy.
https://www.motherearthnews.com/
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Other things
Wine: I can’t say this is too terribly homesteading related, but I found it interesting none the less. I like a nice wine with a nice dinner and this website does a very nice job of reviewing wines primarily from Arizona.
Cigars: Finding good cigars is not as easy as running down to the corner store. Good tobacco shops aren’t common place either. I order my cigars online from JR Cigars, usually. They have a great selection and their service is second to none. I would also recommend you enroll in their premium service which provides you with free two-day delivery.