Author: Kathleen Marshall

Chicory: Uncommon Uses for a Common Weed

/ Kathleen Marshall / 1 Comment

chicory

You have probably seen it all over the place and never gave it a second thought. Chicory grows wild along roadsides and in fields all over the country. Albeit pretty, it is considered a weed. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

I am sort of in the “If it’s green, let it grow” camp. I am okay with weeds all over the lawn. I don’t need that perfect illusion of civilization where we have to control Nature itself. I find all plants fascinating. So when I found tons of chicory plants all over our fields, I had to find out what I could do with them.

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The Great Egg Hunt

/ Kathleen Marshall / 2 Comments

Our Flock 2013

No, not for Easter. This is sort of a year-round thing on the homestead. Currently, we have 14 layers, and even though my husband built them a beautiful nest box, they seem to like laying eggs in odd places.

We have found eggs in the bushes and in the other barn in an old… um… I don’t know what it is. It is some sort of contraption that should probably be in the trash.

My husband even found some in a box of stuff for electrochemical bore cleaning. (Do NOT ask me what that is. I have no clue. I asked Jeff what it was. That’s what he told me. It belonged to his dad so I assume it is related to guns. That’s all I can tell you.) Not necessarily a great place to lay a pile of eggs.

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Bountiful Burdock: Benefits and Uses

/ Kathleen Marshall / 2 Comments

Burdock is more than just a weed. It is a useful herb with a variety of uses, which is good since we have tons of it growing around the pastures. If you are not sure if what you have is burdock, Edible Wild Food has a great page to help you.

Bees love burdock
Bees love burdock. Image from Homer Edward Price

If you’ve ever walked through a field only to end up picking burs off yourself or your dog, you may think of this plant as an annoying weed. And you’d be right. It annoys the heck out of me when I have to clean burs off the goats and dogs.

But would you be surprised to learn that burdock is actually a useful herb? More than just natural Velcro, it offers several health benefits.

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Bye-Bye Piggies

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Tyrone and Petunia, er.. Pete.
Tyrone and Petunia, er.. Pete.

Another really busy day today. I didn’t sleep much last night so I was less than pleased when my alarm went off this morning. But sleeping in was not an option because someone was coming to buy our potbellied pigs today, early.

Our original plan was to breed them and sell or butcher the babies. Yes, potbellied pigs are actually a meat breed, not a house pet. So first we got Tyrone, a solid black piggie who loved having his belly rubbed. Later we added petunia, a black piggie with a white belly. Petunia was very shy with no interest in belly rubs.

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Typical Mondays

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It's Monday

It’s Monday

 

I saw this on Facebook and thought was very fitting. It’s Monday, which means my big work day. Lots of editing and not much time to be outside. It’s only supposed to get up to 33 degrees today, so I won’t want to be outside much, but I do want to see how the new goats are doing. I also want to get some seeds planted in my sunroom. We shall see. Right now I am still waiting for the coffee to finish brewing so I won’t get too ambitious.

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Spring on the Homestead

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It’s spring on the homestead! Well, according to the calendar it’s Spring anyhow. I am not sure I’m buying it though. There are still piles of snow in places, I still have to wear four layers in the house to stay warm, and we are still getting freezing temperatures.

Spring on the homestead means new chicks

Oh well, I guess that’s Spring in Wisconsin.

On the other hand, I can see the grass, even if it is still brown. And, one of the first signs of Spring on the homestead for me – we have chicks!

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