A blog about home craft. Well.....certain aspects of living at home: home cooking, food preservation, gardening, budgeting and the like.
28 Mar 2021 1 minute read 0 comments CDBeck
It’s national Respect Your Cat Day today! So take some time to show your cat how much you appreciate them for… Reminding you that it’s time to take a break. Cat on a laptop Keeping you company and helping with the garden chores. Garden Cat Your ca...
21 Mar 2021 1 minute read 0 comments CDBeck
So you've roasted your whole chicken turkey-style and maybe gotten a few meals from the leftovers and you're left with the carcass to dispose. Not so fast! Get the most nutritional bang for your chicken buck by making your own chicken stock. Vitam...
12 Mar 2021 1 minute read 0 comments CDBeck
Usually ordering vegetable seeds in early March is not a problem. But this year I got more "Out of Stock" notices than usual. No Bragger Hybrid cucumber, no Bush Early Girl Tomato, and no eucalyptus seeds nor lemongrass seeds. Come to think of it,...
28 Feb 2021 1 minute read 2 comments CDBeck
Spring starts and stops here depending on if the polar vortex is in town or not. I've watched these early daffodils for a few weeks and now they are finally blooming. Daffodils! The cats are happy that the catnip is putting out fresh leaves. Catni...
22 Feb 2021 1 minute read 0 comments CDBeck
Photo by Luke Bender on Unsplash "1 part Cointreau 2 parts tequila 1 part fresh lime juice" Photo by YesMore Content on Unsplash "Put all ingredients in a shaker. Add ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a salt-rimmed glass. Garnish with...
19 Feb 2021 1 minute read 0 comments CDBeck
Map image courtesy of BeeCounted Citizen Science In earlier posts I used my Seek Thermal Camera to show the heat coming off each of my two bee hives before and after I added insulation for the winter. So far the bees have survived the winter – they...
10 Feb 2021 1 minute read 2 comments CDBeck
Spring is coming! Buds are swelling, spring bulbs are coming up, the garlic is putting on growth. But winter’s not through yet and there’s one winter chore that still needs to be done. Pruning the neglected grape vines. Any pruning needs to be done...
4 Feb 2021 1 minute read 3 comments CDBeck
Winter keeps hanging around with a new storm system blowing through every week. While waiting for spring to spring, I go out into the yard every morning to see how my outdoor plants are doing. The outdoor succulents are surviving! I planted this gh...
26 Jan 2021 1 minute read 3 comments CDBeck
There’s nothing like hot comfort food to warm you up when a polar vortex comes your way. This quick fish stew recipe is one dish we had growing up to chase the chills away. I never saw my mother following a cookbook or recipe card when she made this...
18 Jan 2021 1 minute read 0 comments CDBeck
As a newbie hobby beekeeper, I was devastated two years ago when I opened the hives for the first time in the spring. I found the bottom boards of both my hives covered with dead bees. There was lots of honey stored - I still have about a gallon of...
