I hope you had a spooky and fun Halloween. Rosie the Riveter sure did!

Right after I graduated from college, I started working for the Department of Natural Resources. I was hired to teach outdoor education to visitors and campers at one of the state parks. I was so excited! I was sent to a week-long training and one of the classes I took was on Michigan butterflies. I learned how to look for Monarch eggs so I could raise the caterpillars and use them for my classes at the park. It also helps to boost the population as well. All I can say is that this is something I have done many times since. My daughter is really into it, so this summer we are going full-on BUTTERFLY!

If you are interested in raising Monarchs, it is very easy to do. You need a few things and but most importantly, commitment.  The first thing you will need is some sort of vented aquarium. Below is the set up I use.

I have a smaller terrarium inside a larger aquarium. I keep the smaller caterpillars in the small one and the bigger caterpillars move into the bigger aquarium. If you only have one, that is fine also.

The next thing you need to do is go searching for caterpillars that are already hatched or search for eggs. You will need to find a patch of milkweed to find them. Monarch butterflies are completely dependent on milkweed. That is all they eat and the only plant adult females will lay their eggs on.

Once you find a patch, you will need to start doing some investigating. Over the last few years, I have allowed milkweed to grow in my garden around all of my other native plants. It is pretty easy for me to find these little cuties. You will need to flip up the leaves of the plant and start looking. Be careful to not damage the plants. You will be looking for a tiny whitish egg on the bottom of the leaf.

It’s a little blurry, but that is what you are looking for. It is VERY tiny, it is hard to make a comparison. It is smaller than a pinhead. If you are having a hard time determining if what you are looking at is a Monarch egg, just leave it and move on to looking for a caterpillar.

So, if you think that egg is small, imagine what the first instar of a Monarch looks like. They are also VERY small. They are easy to miss. You will more than likely find a caterpillar that is a little more advanced, maybe in the 3rd or 4th instar.

The caterpillar in the paper towel is the 1st instar. It is about 1 cm long. The caterpillar above it, on the leaf, is the 2nd instar. It measures about 2-3 cm. These can be a little hard to find. The best way to find them is to start looking for chew holes on the leaves. These caterpillars make very small chew holes. If you see a big section of leaf gone, you will probably find a 4th or 5th instar caterpillar. The 5th instar is the last stage before going into its chrysalis.

This is Big Hoss, we found it in the 1st instar stage. He is now in the 4th stage. By this stage, they are ferocious eaters. You will need to change out the leave daily so make sure you have milkweed nearby. The leaves start to dry out and they can’t eat them. If you do find any eggs, you have to make sure you mist them so the egg doesn’t dry out. When the egg hatches, you can get rid of the leaf.

If takes about 2 weeks for the caterpillar to reach its 5th instar. If will then go into a J-shaped position up higher in your enclosure. It will then create its chrysalis. It will undergo a metamorphosis during that time.

Since I don’t have any caterpillars in that stage right now, I will continue this on another thread.

We are part of a citizen science Monarch group called, Monarch Watch. Through this group, we have purchased butterfly wing tags and data collection information. Before we release the butterfly, you tag it with a wing tag, and then it can be tracked. This is something anyone can do! If you are interested the website is www.monarchwatch.org

Get your kids interested in taking care of nature and being part of a bigger project! Stay tuned for the next edition on the coming stages and tagging the Monarchs.

Happy ButterFlying!

Did you know that fresh eggs are among one of the healthiest food you can eat? Eggs are packed full of vitamins and proteins that are beneficial for our bodies. But are eggs you buy from a backyard farm better than the ones you buy from the store? In most cases, I am going to say yes.

We have been raising chickens and ducks for about 3 years. We gave into our daughter’s desire to have cute little ducklings and chicks. I mean, they are adorable. Putting little ducklings in your sink and watching the swim is darling. We decided early that we wanted a 4 bird limit at our house. Today, we have 2 Rhode Island Red chickens and 2 Indian Runner ducks. They are now all currently laying eggs, so we get 4 a day. While we don’t create a whole lot of extra eggs to sell, we have a few very regular customers.

Our birds are all free-range. They roam our property eating insects, worms, greens, and dig through our compost making a huge mess. We also feed them a store-bought feed, which helps strengthen their eggs shells and gives them other vitamins and minerals they need.

The real benefits of free-range eggs are in their nutritional value. Studies show several advantages to farm-fresh eggs, including:

• less cholesterol
• less saturated fat
• increased vitamins A, E and D
• more omega-3 fatty acids
• more beta carotene

The vitamins in eggs are all beneficial to the human diet. Many people have a vitamin-D deficiency and can suffer the health issues associated with this deficiency. Pasture-raised eggs are regarded as one of the best food sources for vitamin D.

While farm-fresh and store-bought eggs have cholesterol, backyard eggs contain less. Most of the cholesterol in eggs is considered “good” cholesterol that doesn’t cause the health problems that “bad” cholesterol does. Cholesterol is an important part of humans’ diet. It helps us maintain calcium and phosphorous levels in our bloodstreams.

I was amazed the very first time I cracked open one of our chicken eggs. The yoke was so orange…not the pale yellow color that you see in store bought eggs. The shells are also so much thicker, which I associate to having healthier birds than factory farm chickens. I was so amazed by how much better they tasted. They have a much richer and flavorful taste.

When it came time to try a duck egg, I was very apprehensive. I almost felt a little grossed out since I had never had one. I expected it to have a much different taste than chicken eggs, which are the only eggs I had ever eaten. I noticed right away that duck eggs have a much thicker shell than chicken eggs. It really takes some effort to crack one of those! After cooking the duck eggs, I was very surprised by how good it tasted. They are even richer than chicken eggs. My daughter and husband actually prefer the taste of duck eggs now over chicken. I also found that baking with duck eggs produces moister cakes and desserts than chicken eggs.

I have a few people who buy my duck eggs because they have allergies to chicken eggs. The duck eggs don’t have any adverse effect on them, but of course this is something you would want to discuss with a doctor before attempting. I think it’s great they get to enjoy eggs again, which is why they are regular customers.

Next time you need to buy eggs, look around to see if you have a backyard farmer raising chickens or ducks. Supporting local businesses is always appreciated…especially when there are egg shortages! Many backyard farms will even deliver to your doorstep!

Farmhouse Blessings,

Steph

 

 

Today, we have spent the morning baking bagels! While my husband will eat store bought bagels, they don’t live up to his Jersey expectations. We have been looking for that perfect Jersey bagel recipe for a long time. We have been taking recipes and pulling out what we like and what we don’t like about them and then incorporating parts of other recipes to find the perfect bagel.

He is convinced we won’t ever make the perfect bagel because it’s all about the Jersey water. He thinks there is something very special about the water that flows from the Catskill Mountains and other reservoirs through the aqueducts to NYC and Northern Jersey that cannot be replicated anywhere…so there’s that.

This time around, we tried to make a “healthier” bagel using stone-ground white whole wheat flour. We also found a really good Everything Bagel seasoning mix for the tops of the bagels. While he is not a huge fan of whole wheat, he said these bagels turned out really good.

I am still trying to make an actual recipe for these bagels. When I have a set recipe, I will make sure to post. I am also wanting to make a pumpernickel bagel…that will be the next adventure.

Farmhouse Blessings,

Steph

There isn’t much that smells better than cinnamon ornaments. They are simple to make and make your whole house smells like Christmas! These were made by my mom occasionally when I was small. I always loved helping her. These are the memories I hold close to my heart. I miss her so much.

While I have not technically decorated for Christmas yet, I have been doing some of the little things to get ready. I decided to make cinnamon ornaments to hang on some of the small faux trees I will be placing around my house. I made up my mind last night that I was going to make these little gems. I thought it was be a nice to share this recipe with you all. It is so EASY!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of original applesauce        1 cup + 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

That’s it! Two whole ingredients! Mix them both in a mixing bowl until it creates a wet dough. It seems like it won’t happen at first and there is too much cinnamon, but keep mixing it. It will come together perfectly.

After the dough is well mixed, you want to roll the dough between  plastic wrap, as the dough is sticky. I actually have a piece of parchment paper on the bottom and plastic wrap on the top. Use small cookie cutters so you can get a handful of adorable ornaments for decorating.

When you are finished, knead the any leftover dough and cut more cookies until you have run out. Place the cut cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Before you put them in the oven, use a straw to punch holes in them so you will be able to run ribbon or sting through them when they are done baking.

The cookies will need to bake on 200ºF for 2½ hours. If you don’t want to bake them, you can also just place them on your counter for 24 hours or so until they are completely dry.  The aroma of these cinnamon ornaments as they bake has to be what heaven smells like. Just sayin’.

I am also drying oranges to use as decorations around the Farmhouse for Christmas. I will write a another post on that! I’ll make sure to show you all pictures of these when they are done. I can’t wait!

Happy decorating, Farmhouse Friends!!!

-Steph

For the first time in a few years, I am overly excited for the Christmas season. Two years ago, my dad got really sick right around Thanksgiving and his health declined rapidly after. He passed away in January of 2018. As the holidays approached last year, I realized that I wasn’t feeling as much joy or excitement as I had in the years previous. Although you never really get over the loss of your parents, you somehow learn to cope.

After Halloween, I started to feel that little spark of excitement that has been missing for a few years. I found myself excited to start planning out how I want to decorate the Farmhouse for Christmas, going to store, seeing decorations, and buying little things to add around the house.

While there is still an element of sadness lingering, I am looking forward to celebrating with my little family.

 

For many of us, Christmas is a time of great joy. For some, like me, I find Christmas to be very bittersweet. At Christmas, we spend time with our family and friends. There is something so special about having our loved ones close to us. Spreading joy and seeing the kiddos so happy. While all of this gives me such great feelings of happiness, I have a deep emptiness inside. I was 21 years old when my mom lost her 10 year-long battle with cancer. Never in my life have I felt to alone or so lost. I cried for months and still after 15 years I find myself crying several times a week because I long for her so badly. There are so many things I wish I could ask her. So many things I wish I could talk to her about. A few years after her death, I lost my brother at 24 years. Last January, I my dad passed at 60. While my dad had many health issues, his absence from my life had been very painful.

Christmas seems to intensify all of these feelings. It was my mom’s favorite time of the year. We all banned together after her passing to make the holidays still a special time for my baby brother who was 10 when my mother passed. But as time passed, our own families started to grow. But the emptiness still remained.

It was almost Christmas when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter. I thought that now that I had my own and child, maybe Christmas would be more exciting. I could create those wonderful memories for her that I had from my childhood. Maybe Christmas could be a happy time again.

We just celebrated our 7th Christmas with our daughter. While nothing on this Earth gives me so much joy to watch her on Christmas morning, I still feel that same sadness, which has been intensified by my father’s absence. I know my daughter senses it, she knows why. Is it selfish to feel sad? Maybe. Should you feel like you have to hide your emotions from your spouse and child? No, I don’t think so. Being able to share our feelings with each other is what being a family is all about.

Christmas is bittersweet. I try my hardest to make it the happiest time of the year for my family. In those quiet early morning moments is when I think of my parents and brother the most. It is my own private time for reflection and remembrance. We all deal with grief in our own way. Mine is quietly. Regardless of your circumstances, I hope you found joy and happiness this holiday season.

 

Family is something we hold close. At the same time, it is something we can take for granted. I find myself reflecting about my relationships at home with my husband and daughter often. These two are the people I love most. It’s the kind of love that can take your breath away. It’s the kind of love that when they are hurting or I’ll you lose your mind trying to make them feel better. At the same time, these are the people that you can have the reverse reaction to. You can say things that you don’t mean so easily. I find it interesting that the people you love so much are the ones you can hurt so easily.

As I have gotten older, I have learned that you can’t let the small stuff bother you. You really do have to learn to pick your battles. I find it’s just a happier place to let things go than to sit and dwell, especially when you can’t change it. Maybe this is why I always found talking with my grandma as the best antidote for my problems. She knew this already. She never said too much, but enough to help you.

In my previous post, I talked about my husband being from New Jersey. When his grandma’s home was prepping to be sold, we went out to visit. He also grew up in that very house and wanted to see if there was anything he wanted to save from his childhood. While I was down in the basement helping, I started to find a lot of old things that belonged to his great-grandmother. Being a lover of all things vintage and primitive, I asked if they had plans for these things and was told they were all mine. I was so excited to get my hands on these meaningful family heirlooms and place them in my home.

After the kitchen remodel wrapped up (mostly), I decided to place all of his great-grandmother’s kitchen ware on a shelf where they could be displayed. The best part is the story that goes along with these items. I can tell their history. That doesn’t happen when you pick up these types of items at flea markets or antique stores. Sure, those items have a story to tell, just not a personal family story. I am so glad to be able to have these items sitting on my shelf.

 

So what’s the big deal with cutting boards? I have been collecting them inadvertently  for about 10 years. My collection really started with one I found at my husband’s childhood home in Maywood, NJ. His mother was cleaning out the house in order to list it on the market. We decided to look in the basement to see of he could find anything from his childhood he wanted to keep. While looking around, I noticed a large, round, circular bread board. It looked very old and found out it was made by his great, possibly great-great grandfather. They were immigrants from Germany and owned a bakery in Manhattan in the early 1900’s. I thought it was amazing. It is now a mainstay in my kitchen. Ever since, I have been keeping an eye out for old and sometimes new cutting boards! 

I would like to welcome you to the Farmhouse. My family and I purchased this house almost 13 years ago. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to live in a farmhouse when I grew up. When we started to look for our first home, we found this farmhouse built in 1850. It needed some work, but the bones of the house were strong. Over the years, we have been working on one project after another. We have made updates that keep the integrity of an old farmhouse while providing modern amenities. Keep checking back to keep up with our farmhouse lifestyle!