Char’s Chicks

09/28/2024

It’s the odd part of the year where produce season and deer season have intermingled. Mom is elbow deep in tomatoes, while dad trims the deer he shot earlier in the week.

Taking a short break to go buy some canning apples. I have several local sources but unfortunately lost motivation before they were all on the ground in cattle pastures. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Off to the orchard we go for some #2’s.

Time for an afternoon full of grinding and packaging venison meat and canning tomatoes and apple pie filling (+ applesauce)!

Continuing to feel blessed by the harvest and the homestead! ❤️🙏

09/13/2024

🧈 Butter on my mind 🥛

With the garden booming, I am simply “over” the volume of veggies and am ready to move on. We have a friend whose garden didn’t do so hot so we traded her veggies for whole milk!

After letting the milk sit for 24 hours, we separated cream and made butter! And of course finished off the leftover buttermilk with Clay Hayes Bear Grease biscuits! 🤤

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08/10/2024

Stock Your Pantry Canning Workshop is complete! We made roasted tomato sauce, pasta sauce, and canned dry beans (chili and black) while discussing the basics of both water bath and pressure canning!

Here’s a few samples of our work. The biggest lesson of today is to always stock your pantry- for nutrition, for sustainability, and for self-reliance.

Cheers to hopefully more canning classes! 💪🏻🫙❤️

08/02/2024

Let’s take a second to recognize two things here:

1️⃣ Thank you Lord for the bountiful harvest this year. We’re harvesting this much or more per evening.
2️⃣ You all see the “easy” process or the beautiful finished product - but I don’t always mention the sacrifice. Several evenings my husband has had to entertain the kids this week so I can preserve this harvest.

You see, marriage is an incredible partnership. This is my season to harvest, to preserve, and to nourish our family. In 45 days, Missouri deer season opens and for the next 4 months, it will be his season to nourish and mine to enjoy more evenings with the kids. I’m so thankful for him and our little life ❤️

07/30/2024

Me! I snap green beans with grandma still. Yesterday! ❤️

07/21/2024

Going live at 2:30PM today with a quick lesson on canning green beans!! 🌱🫙

07/19/2024

Let’s honorably discuss my canning fail. Earned a nice gold star by wasting my pints of pasta sauce. ⭐️🫙

• multi-tasking and unsure if I forgot to screw the rings on?
• water bathed both pints and quarts together, could that have been an issue? (I think not)
• I did hurry and didn’t warm my jars first. Hot sauce into room temp jars?

Who knows 🤷🏼‍♀️ BUT, still got 3 quarts 💪🏻

07/18/2024

1️⃣ spot left in my Stock Your Pantry Canning class on August 10! Only $75 for an introduction to water bath and pressure canning with 2 canned goods to take home!

If we have a full class, somebody will have the chance to win a free set of canning supplies! Valued at $30!

Who wants to can with me? Drop a comment for details! 😍🫙💪🏻

07/17/2024

There is a reason that this lifestyle is so empowering. As a wife and mother, the joy of having the ability to homestead with them and watch them learn and grow is priceless.

Trends, technologies, toys, etc will forever wax and wane. But the simplicity of homesteading, gardening, and sustainability will always be a necessary component of survival. I’m so blessed and thankful to have this life. ❤️

Homesteading and homemaking transcend trends because they are rooted in a lifestyle of self-reliance, sustainability, and intentional living. The ability of homesteaders to capture the beauty of their harvest or don thrifted dresses for a photo does not diminish the depth of their commitment to this way of life. Behind those picturesque moments lies a daily routine of hard work, resourcefulness, and dedication to nurturing both family and land. Homesteading involves cultivating food, raising animals, and preserving nature’s bounty, while homemaking centers on creating a warm, well-cared-for home environment. These practices are not about fleeting popularity but about fostering resilience, tradition, and a meaningful connection to the earth and home.

That is all 🥕