Sadly, I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends. I hate cancer and can't wait for Revelation 22.

My Beautiful Friend Flew Away

On cancer, grief, and second moms.

Can you guess what spice blend I am making? Dry roast and then grind! Star anise, fennel seed, clove, peppercorn, cinnamon.

Added to our popcorn along with plenty of salt and butter for nutrients and immune support. My kids only *think* they don't like mushrooms 😜 #herbalist #feedthemwell #grownostr

"Ping therapy" today. #grownostr #homesteading

Have you ever tried making your own garlic powder?

Garlic

An underrated (and tasty) fighter

I'm glad for all of the happy plant surprises today, because also today our van got ripped into AGAIN 😖

This property continues to surprise me. Today we found feverfew, yucca (that feels out of place!), and a kiwi, a chestnut, and a persimmon tree. It's going to take me years to restore them all but I am game.

Our new babies. We decided to raise heritage American guinea hogs this year as they are (supposedly) lighter on the land and although slower growing, are very family friendly as well. Just in time to help us start off apple season.

Deep breath. Even though we homeschool year round, my cultural default is to reset (mentally at least) in September. This is my 22nd year homeschooling 😱 It has never been just "plug and play". Circumstances change, and not every child is going to thrive on whatever you did with the last one. Every person is unique and has their own interests, abilities, talents, and work ethic--and that includes our children. My advice (not that you asked): * Enjoy your kids and work to maintain a good relationship with them. That doesn't mean being their friend and not their parent; it means not purposefully driving them nuts. * Let them have a childhood. They don't need more screen time, they need more outside and boredom time. * Your kids are never too old to be read to. * Academics is not the be-all end-all of a life well lived. Make sure to balance physical exercise, creative pursuits, animal husbandry, cooking, and all sorts of real life skills. If you'd like more helps, consider reading my book Slow Schooling.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Happy educating! #homeschooling #homegrownkids #grownostr

From the garden for lunch today, to be piled underneath ground beef and kimchi. The light is odd today; probably another forest fire in our area (declining my soap box at this moment). My keets are growing nicely. They're a love em or hate em kind of bird; I happen to really enjoy them. Most of them will get sold, I like a smaller flock of 3-5. And I found my eggplants growing 😍, well hidden in the massive tomato jungle.

Snapshot from my day: inviting my little boy's friend to come over for a play date and having his mom put him in his Spiderman costume...and then asking my own son to put on his. Neither was expecting to be greeted by another Spiderman 😂

Figs are ripe and it's time to pick huckleberries. Apples are coming on fast. I don't mind sharing with the deer that come by because they tend to leave my garden alone with their bellies full of fallen apples.

Nice little harvest this evening for supper sides.

The down side of being gone so long is that I have no idea when (if) my bioreactor hit higher temps. I'm assuming the best and am going to find and add worms.

Finally home after adventuresome and long travels. My adult kids did awesome and kept the gardens alive, even if they did let the cucumbers grow to small footballs and I found more than one small infant sized zucchini 😂. They did quite a bit of harvesting and even did some unexpected canning! So happy my kids know what to feed themselves and how to put food by.