Lisa MatthewsJul 25, 2016canning, cooking, DIY, gardening, green beans, growing food, homesteading, preservation, pressure canning
Our green beans have been a big disappointment this year. It seems that some years are just not good gardening years, despite the best of intentions, hard work and knowledge. A friend came to our rescue and offered up some of her green beans that she did...
Lisa MatthewsJul 24, 2016canning, corn, gardening, growing food, homesteading, lifestyle, preservation, pressure canning
I home canned corn for the first time in 2014. Prior to that, we had always frozen our corn for home storage. While this is a great way to preserve corn, in the summer of 2013, we had a freezer go out, and did not discover it quickly enough to save...
Lisa MatthewsJul 1, 2016homesteading, lifestyle, Uncategorized
Over the last couple of weeks I have become involved in a couple of conversations that have really gotten me thinking deeply about my motivation for living the lifestyle that I do. I was raised on a farm in SW Missouri and, though we weren’t necessarily living...
Lisa MatthewsJun 22, 2016advice, canning, homesteading, pantry staples, preservation
I recently set about canning the first batch of blackberry pie filling of the season. I have done pie fillings for a couple of years now, and love having a batch ready to go for a quick pie, to use as topping for cheesecake, to add to cake mix for a dump cake, or...
Lisa MatthewsJun 13, 2016cooking, dehydrating, DIY, gardening, growing food, herbs, homesteading, lifestyle, pantry staples, plants, preservation, seasoning
The end of last week it was time to clip the tops of the onions. I use this process to encourage the bulbs to get larger so that your onions are bigger and better at harvest time. So, what to do with the laundry basket full of green tops? Why, dehydrate them, of...
Lisa MatthewsJun 10, 2016canning, cooking, DIY, garden, homesteading, jelly, pantry staples, preservation
Due to its simplicity, only three ingredients needed, this my favorite jelly recipe. When making jelly, only the juice of the fruit is used. This makes a beautiful translucent jelly with no bits of fruit or seeds. It requires the extra step of juicing, but is soooo...
