This is the time of the year our family pays close attention to our bee hives. We are regularly looking for swarms so we can add additional bees to our homestead. Today, we had one but before we could

Over the last 4 weeks we wanted to create an area for our kids and families to play. Stephanie and I felt strongly about doing this as our kids continue to get older and have more friends. So to create

I have been to beaches across our country and it is the same on all of them. Trash just seems to accumulate. Some of it is from people visiting the beach but the majority of it seems to be washed up on

We decided to take a family vacation before the busy gardening season catches us. It was a tough decision based on all we had going on but this short clip of Joel makes it all worth it. I just wish I could

Here are some pictures of the herb garden and the list of things growing Sage Parsley Thyme Oregano Basil Stevia Mullin Spear mint Lemon balm Rosemary Comfrey Chives Chocolate mint and several rose bushes.

Today we had a great harvest of strawberries so it is time to start preserving them. We simply cut the end off the strawberry them place them on cookie sheets. Then we place them in the freezer. This makes

Not only did they have a large variety of plants at the Baker's Creek Festival they also had a bunch of birds on display including these peacocks. This is our first time going to Bakers Creek Festival

Please join us and @mericanhomestead at Baker Creek today and Monday. Both days start at 10am and have multiple speakers planned each day. Pictures of our booth. Come on out if you are close to Mansfield,

Today has been full of surprises! Soon after I posted on pecans and grapes I heard peeping in the incubator. We have some friends that are wanting replacement hens so we added some eggs into the incubator

Today, I was walking around checking things out on the homestead. The extended cool weather has slowed things down by 2-3 weeks but overall things are looking pretty good. Two things excited me on my walk:

More work from the hail storm we had 6 weeks ago. Four windows were damaged in the storm so we are replacing them. We have never replaced windows so we were a little nervous about doing the work. So we

I am writing this post to thank my son, Luke (randomstuff). In the past 12 days he has been working not stop to help me get things done plus working on replacing all our deck boards. He just tells me when

Best idea to date on the homestead! For the last 3 years we have been working hard to get our garden and animal needs fully met. This has been my passion and the passion for the entire family for the last

Our Tom's are out strutting it up for the hens. Spring maybe here? Currently we have about 60 eggs in the incubator. We plan to sell some and keep some for the homestead. They are excellent at controlling

Why would I talk about Boron for your garden? Many people are adding "Rock Dust" to their gardens for additional minerals but why? I get it we need to have good stuff for our plants to grow but

Today I was working on a lighting project when I saw our first rise strawberry of the year. It is a smaller one but I'm sure it will taste wonderful. I typically let our youngest family member enjoy the

Today, our Chinese Chestnuts arrived in the mail from Gurney's. We ordered the 1-1.5 feet trees which made planting a little easier (smaller root ball so smaller hole!) and more cost effective for our

It has been over a month since planted the Yukon Gold potatoes. I was getting worried since we have had 9 inches of rain during this time! Despite the challenges they are coming through the straw. Not

It won't be long and the strawberries will be coming in. It looks like it will be a good year based on the amount of blooms. We hope your gardens are thriving. Happy spring!

In one month, the ground temperature will be warm enough to plant sweet potatoes. So if you would like to grow some slips of your own this is one technique. We simply take several small sweet potatoes