At Ease Homestead

At Ease Homestead At Ease Homestead, a small veteran managed homestead. Two old Marines At Ease living our best lives! Leonard has been our home for just over ten years.

Hello and welcome to the At Ease Homestead (previously known as Clucks and Quacks)

I’m Toni and along with my husband Bob we have a small homestead in Leonard, Michigan. Prior to that we lived in Oxford for thirteen years. We're both from the east coast. I'm from NJ and he's from PA. The Marine Corps brough us to Michigan in 1995 where I completed my last tour of duty. We have two grown children

and two beautiful granddaughters. The eldest makes occasional appearances in my posts. I love gardening, food preservation, cooking and raising poultry- chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, turkeys and a sole goose. I have a running joke that after becoming an empty nester I had to find a different kind of nest. I started raising poultry in 2017. A dozen birds has grown, and I have loved every minute of it. In 2022 we added forest raised pork to the homestead as well. We thoroughly enjoyed having pigs and plan to continue raising them seasonally. Eventually we plan to add dairy goats and other small livestock. Here you will find posts and updates sharing critter shenanigans, a bit of gardening, home food preservation and pantry stocking information along with general small scale homesteading that prioritizes stewardship. The At Ease Homestead is our little holding that sustains our family, provides us an opportunity to learn as we grow and connect with simple things that bring us joy and a bit of good healthy dirt under our nails.

One dozen available.
06/19/2026

One dozen available.

The biddies are getting big! I have been moving these little girls inside their tractor 3-4 times daily but they need mo...
06/19/2026

The biddies are getting big!

I have been moving these little girls inside their tractor 3-4 times daily but they need more leg room.

In the next day or two their chicken tractor will be close to the main henhouse. Last week we set up a large area with poly fencing for them. I'll give them a week of free ranging inside the netting to introduce them safely behind a barrier to the flock.

If everything goes well, I'll let them begin free ranging outside the netting with the big girls a week or so later. I'm hoping to move them into the main henhouse soon. 🤞

When the chicken tractors are no longer housing pullets, I can pick up this year's turkey polts!

I'm pretty sure that when the Lord created sage (plants on day 3) He did so intending it for pork (land animals day 6). ...
06/19/2026

I'm pretty sure that when the Lord created sage (plants on day 3) He did so intending it for pork (land animals day 6).

We had homegrown grilled pork chops dry salt brined with butter and garden sage tonight.

We also had Japanese sweet potatoes filled with a blend of goat cheese, butter, cranberry & freeze dried smoked jalapenos and a side of asparagus cooked in schmaltz.

Last call for garlic scapes until next year. :(If you would like a bundle or two set aside for you please let me know be...
06/18/2026

Last call for garlic scapes until next year. :(

If you would like a bundle or two set aside for you please let me know before Friday ($5 each bundle). I will be processing this final scape harvest sometime on Friday.

More information about scapes if you're curious -

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1D5pZkzzah/

I have one dozen from today's collection available.
06/18/2026

I have one dozen from today's collection available.

Thank you Judy AlmerantiI love this sweet vintage piggie calendar! ♥️I decided to display it inside of my apothecary cab...
06/18/2026

Thank you Judy Almeranti
I love this sweet vintage piggie calendar! ♥️

I decided to display it inside of my apothecary cabinet. Keeping it out of direct light should help preserve it but I will be able to see it daily when I get tea or my "snake oils".

I might be a biased Sicilian but stracciatella is much tastier than egg drop soup.Traditionally stracciatella is finishe...
06/18/2026

I might be a biased Sicilian but stracciatella is much tastier than egg drop soup.

Traditionally stracciatella is finished with parmesan but I currently have pecorino (and I prefer the saltiness pecorino offers for this application).

I used one goose egg to prepare my serving. The rich yolk of a goose eggs makes a decadent bowl of soup. This serving of homemade bone broth and one goose egg offers just over 30 grams of protein in a single serving!

Y'all know how much I love my bone broth. I usually have a cup with mineral salt in the mornings just before coffee. I c...
06/18/2026

Y'all know how much I love my bone broth. I usually have a cup with mineral salt in the mornings just before coffee.

I can't emphasize enough to keep a scrap bag. Those veggie/herb nobs and bones from any meat can be tossed into a freezer bag until the bag is full.

I always toss in a few poultry feet and a big glug of vinegar to draw the minerals from the bones. Yesterday mid-day I started the pot on the back of the stove until it barely simmered and let it go overnight.

This batch is just over a gallon from what would have been trash. It has a mild fennel, thyme and oregano aroma bc that's what I picked yesterday.

The meaty neck bone was a barn kitty treat this morning and the strained scraps will be welcomed by the flock.

Now to decide what version of chicken based soup to make. What's your favorite warm weather soup?

This broiler weighed in at just over 9 pounds! It's going to feed us for the rest of the week. Tonight I grilled the bre...
06/17/2026

This broiler weighed in at just over 9 pounds! It's going to feed us for the rest of the week.

Tonight I grilled the breast meat (we shared one breast) and made a garden salad with freshly harvested baby butter lettuce, fennel and radishes. I made sourdough croutons, a simple Italian dressing and sprinkled on goat cheese.

Now I need a plan for the leftover breast. Hubby requested bbq chicken for the dark meat. The scrap bag and the carcass are already on for soup with a glug of homemade vinegar.

I have one and a half dozen available.
06/17/2026

I have one and a half dozen available.

Address

5395 Rochester Road
Leonard, MI
48367

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

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