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Journal

Categories:  Homesteader  //  Homemaker

A little back story for y’all…

My husband, Oresti, and I met in Greece. He’s from Albania but had moved to Greece in the late 90s after his communist country opened up. I traveled to Greece from the US to work as an aupair. We met at church. That’s the very short story of that! Anyway, when we got married in Greece, we talked about one day living on a little farm with chickens and sheep and a milk cow….

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Permission to get Messy

Permission to get messy.. My boys are often messy, dirty and even downright filthy!!

But there are times when they know they’re going to get extra dirty and they’ll come and ask for permission to do something that isn’t in their normal play…

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Irish Acres Homestead

It was March, 2020. I was 7 months pregnant standing at the window of my beautiful suburban home and a deep knowing swept over me. It was time. My husband Joe and I had talked for years about becoming more sustainable, growing our own food and raising animals…

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Squirrel: Forgotten Tablefare

When most people think of squirrel hunting, they think of a pastime reminiscent of the south and days long gone. However, squirrel hunting isn’t a thing of the past…

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Cider Pairings

When we first started selling cider in 2002, almost no-one even knew what it was. When Americans heard the word “cider” they thought brown unfiltered juice in a plastic jug. A lot has changed in the past 2 decades– cider now regularly makes national media…

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Marco Polo Topic Groups

For HM Members Only!

Here is the list of Marco Polo Groups you can join as a member! Get ready to laugh, cry, and make some life-long friendships here! Don’t be scared to join!

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Work Life Balance

It’s ironic in a way, to be writing a guest blog post for Homestead Mamas in the homestretch of harvest while I’m absolutely not manifesting any type of work-life balance what-so-ever. I’m writing to you while multitasking on cider production on what is probably my 40 straight 10 hour day of work. But it will be winter soon and things will ease up and over the past 20 years I’ve gotten used to the fact that folks are going to be thinking about apples, and ciders, and the people that grow and make them in the fall– when the apples are ripe!…

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Misconceptions of the Homestead

My motivation to start homesteading sprouted many years before I spent any amount of time on social media.I’d never even spent much time on a farm! Oh, how I was so naive. I loved the idea of becoming self sustainable and growing/producing my own food. At the time I mostly wanted a garden and laying hens. I thought both would be romantic and magical…

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Homestead from Scratch

Hey homestead mamas! I am so excited to be here with you all and to get to share a glimpse into our homestead and family life.

I’m Stephanie, Registered Nurse turned SAHM. Wife to Andrew of 13 years. We have a unique and fun story that I love to share. We met on a blind date, we weren’t each others date. 3 weeks later we were engaged. 2 months after that we were married. I was 19 he was 22. People thought we were crazy to be getting married so young and so quick but we couldn’t deny that we knew we were supposed to be together…

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The Best You Can Do

Do the best you can with what you have. If there was ever a life mantra I try to live by, that would be it. My husband, Joey, and I live on a small cul-de-sac with our three daughters about 20 minutes from the city…

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Go Out and Hunt, Mama!

For this blog post, I wanted to go into a little bit of the nuances of hunting. In previous takeovers and posts I have spoken about why we hunt, both from a conservation standpoint and a personal standpoint, but I’ve said very little about how to actually go about hunting!..

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Cooking with Real Pumpkin

I have been a fan of all things pumpkin my whole life. A friend of mine once bought me a shirt that said “you had me at pumpkin spice” and while my husband teased me relentlessly about it, the fact remains: it was true! Whether you are a pumpkin fanatic or you prefer the seasons definitively stay in their own lane… now what it’s October, I think we can agree: it’s time for some fall baking!

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Cold & Flu Season Supportive Herbs

We are heading into the time of year where it seems like everyone has a pot of elderberry syrup simmering on their stove. And while I am a big fan of elderberry, There are so many more options out there for cold and flu support. My son isn’t a fan of elderberry syrup, so I have gotten creative with how I can sneak herbs into his diet for preventative health or for when a sickness inevitably makes it way into our home…

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Farm Stories from the Alps // Slowing the Pace

My dear friends, it’s been quite a long time I haven’t been here with you. Life has been hectic during summer (I think you know what I am talking about). Sometimes it feels kind of overwhelming having to manage the farm from Monday to Wednesday and the restaurant Thursday to Sunday. We practically never get a day off….

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Food Freedom

In 2001, two months before 9/11, I swore an oath to protect our country’s freedom. And while I
was not a front-line fighter, I quickly grasped the importance of freedom from both training and
experience. It’s a paradox when serving in the military because on one front you are fighting for
your country’s freedom, and on another front you lack much of your own personal freedom…

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Pie Math

There are so many kitchen skills that a Homestead Mama would do well to develop— whether you live in the city or country, on acreage or in an apartment, we talk here all the time about the ways we can put food on our family’s table all year long…

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Making our own Pectin

Canning season is coming to an end here. Autumn is rolling in to our small corner of Scotland and it will be wool socks and frost around here soon. Apples are one of the last things that make an appearance here, with most of our soft fruits coming ripe months earlier. One of my last canning tasks every year is making pectin for next year’s jams and jellies that need the additional help to set…

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