its_brittanyford Add us as a preferred source on Google

Don’t toss that leftover candle wax! Caution- hot wax can burn! Always practice safe handling with wax. You know that little bit of wax left after a candle’s wick has burned down? Save it! With a new wick, a jar and leftover wax, you can turn them into another candle. I used a double boiler, but you can also use hot water to help get wax out of an old candle jar. Here’s how! You’ll need: • Leftover candle wax:preferably the same wax type. 
• A clean, dry container made for candle making or a ma

I just need a day to spin ❤️

So I took my wheel and my wool on the road with me to Front Royal, VA to a homesteaders conference. I was there to teach the younger generation all about wool, spinning and felting! 50 kids seems like a lot but they are smart and absolutely love this craft idea. We used soap samples to create a felted soap block in which the kids learned the felting process, what wools microscopic features are and how that fluffy roving gets turned into yarn - all with the spin and twist!

I was up in the trees picking wild fox grapes! I’ve been foraging these little fruits for years. They taste wonderful after the first light frost. The best way to identify them is by their leaves, three lobed with aerated razor edges. They also have tendrils to help them climb up the trees. Woody vines. They also grow in grape-like clusters. If you break one open, they should have 1-4 oval shaped seeds - the smaller fox grapes only have 1-2 seeds. Wild grapes will also have a cloudy bloom on th

Let’s make this old Appalachian dish together. My grandmother was a coal miners daughter in Raleigh West Virginia. I imagine she made these beans often along side her mother when she was younger. When my great grandma passed away during childbirth, my grandmother took over the matron role to help her siblings and her father worked in the mines all day long. Rehydrate those beans: Remove the beans from their string by cutting the ends and pulling them off. Cover them with boiling or hot water in

Apple butter is such a country autumn treat. Fresh apples cooked down until it’s a rich, smooth and thick, it’s perfect to spread on biscuits, toast, used as fruit fillings for pastries or as a unique food gift. Instructions and Ingredients 8-12 pounds of apples cooked down- any variety 3 cups water 1 cup of apple cider vinegar (or 1/2 cup lemon juice) 2-3 cups of brown sugar 1/8 cup cinnamon 2-3 teaspoons of allspice, nutmeg or ginger (optional) Food mill Immersion blender 2 large pots

It’s sunflower picking time! #sunflower #autumnaesthetic #homestead

Leather britches are an old-time Appalachian method of preserving whole green beans by stringing them on a thread and air-drying them for the harsh winter. The name was given to the beans because of how the dried, shriveled pods look like wrinkled leather pants hanging on a clothesline. Long before this method was adopted by European settlers, the Cherokee people of the region had been drying beans in this fashion long before anyone else. They would string their beans whole and place over slow b

Apple picking is an all time favorite tradition of ours. This time, I spent some time hiking through the woods on our property to find this old grandfather Apple tree. It’s been here for decades and it’s still producing apples, maybe not the prettiest apples but tasty apples at no cost to us. We don’t spray this tree and we often forget about it until apple season rolls around. I can’t wait to make apple butter and juice with them. It will be so good!