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Homestead Stories: The Monkey Orchid
If my Insteading readers have been following the orchid stories, youβll know how much I love this charming plant. Thereβs my general, informative article on orchids, the unusually-shaped bat flower, and the swaddled babies. I keep finding more orchid varieties as I browse the local nurseries or share my discoveries with friends. I want to […] More
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Homestead Stories: A Colorful Mosaic Of Nasturtiums
“I love my nasturtiums,β Mom declared years ago as she led me on a walk through her extensive garden. The nasturtiums were everywhere. Every color imaginable — from solids pinks, reds, yellows, and oranges, to multicolored mixes. The long stems wove through and around the other plants, cushioned by the large umbrella leaves that served […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Purple Passionflower
βDid you know there are hundreds of varieties of passionflowers?β I thought I was talking to my husband, but he had wandered off to another part of the nursery while I studied the array of color in front of me. Glancing around, I realized I’d been talking to myself with others giving me wary looks. […] More
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Homestead Stories: Swaddled Babies Or Baby In The Cradle?
βI have a swaddled baby to show you,β a friend said over the phone. βLike a baby in the cradle. Want to come over and see?β The words caught my curiosity. My friend was too old to have a baby in her arms — at least, not one of her own. And since she never […] More
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A Guide To Organizing A Log Cabin
After moving to our mountain cabin, it took us over a year to find the best ways to organize it. We had to learn how to get creative with our space and think about storage in new ways. How you organize the space is key. If you do it well, you can maximize small corners, […] More
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The Brazilian Grape Tree
I had spent another morning doing battle with the proliferous wild grape that grew across my rock wall border. I had nothing against grapevines, especially when they bore fruit (which these vines did), and I’d collected bunches to make into jelly. But once they climbed my rock wall, took aim at my lush tree line, […] More
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Homestead Stories: I Love My Birds, But…
Several years ago, my daughter informed me (with great excitement) there was a mourning dove nesting in my hanging fuchsia on the front balcony. βNo way,β I declared. βCome see,β she insisted. Sure enough, in the center of my prized fuchsia was a mourning dove, packing things down to make a nest. I wasnβt too […] More
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5 Tips For Raising A Baby In A Tiny House
Raising a baby in a tiny house has both challenges and benefits. When we moved to our tiny house, I was seven months pregnant and incredibly nervous about how we would fit into the space! The Stuff Our first challenge was fitting all of our new baby items into our home. When you add a […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Kudzu Monster Plant and Other Invasive Species
βWhat are those creepy figures?β my youngest asked. We were driving the back roads to Florida for a family vacation. βI believe thatβs what they call kudzu,β I explained. βThey look like monsters.β βYes, they do.β I had read about kudzu years ago but had never seen the plant this close. It was downright eerie. […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Spider Flower
βYou know I donβt really like spiders.β I scowled as my friend led me around her garden. Large or small, spiders really do give me the creeps, and sometimes they bite. Yuck! I do know they have a purpose. Just as long as that purpose does not include me. My friend stopped in front of […] More
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Lessons Learned From Our First Year of Cabin Life
Last year, my husband and I moved from Austin, Texas to a little log cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We changed our entire lives over the course of 20 days: quit our jobs, sold most of what we owned, and moved across the country. Not to mention, I was seven months pregnant at the time. […] More
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Homestead Stories: Glass Gem Corn
βOh my! That is colorful. And itβs really corn?β I was flabbergasted. I loved growing and eating corn on the cob. Usually the standard yellow corn or the peaches-and-cream which is a combination of a deep yellow and a pale yellow. I have eaten, though never grown, white corn, loving its tiny, sweet taste. I […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Tulip Tree
βOh my! The flowers on those trees look like tulips.β I was taking a walk with my grandmother along a country road just north of Lake Erie. It was spring and the weather demanded some outside activity. βThatβs why people call them tulip trees,β Gran said. βTheyβre also called poplars. In fact, other than in […] More
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A Green Rose for St. Patrick’s Day … Why Not?
βWhatβs wrong with your rosebush?β I asked. We were standing in front of my motherβs profuse garden of rosebushes. She loved her roses and was always adding a new color to the collection. βThatβs a new one, isnβt it? Why is the flower all green?β I was convinced there had to be something wrong with […] More
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Moving from City to Country: The Long-Term Transition
When we moved from a city of 200,000 to a homestead in a hilly, Ozark town of 2,000 residents, my husband and I fully anticipated there would be an adjustment period. As I wrote in my first article for Insteading, there are many moments of βculture shockβ that could affect this urban-fled, aspiring country bumpkin. […] More
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Morel Mushroom Hunting
It’s spring in Minnesota when the trees are sporting their new green leaves and the ground is warm and damp. It’s also time to get into the woods and look for morel mushrooms. Morel hunting has become one of my favorite springtime traditions. My husband Adam, introduced me to morels several years ago. I still […] More
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Caffeine-Free Coffee Substitutes That You Can Forage In The Backyard
Coffee is something I really used to enjoy. In my memories, that roasted, dark liquid is synonymous with warm cafes, good conversation, and air perfumed with delicious aromas. But now that I’m more than a decade past college, I’m finding that my appreciation for the flavor of this ubiquitous American beverage is quickly being eclipsed […] More
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How To Get Rid Of Yellow Jackets
My young son was playing with some rocks and sticks nearby while I was pulling weeds from our perennial herb garden. I kept his small frame in the corner of my eye while I worked, smiling to myself as I saw him lean close to the ground in curiosity. He was apparently studying something fascinating. […] More
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Homestead Stories: How Dumpster Diving Made Me a Better Cook
The first zucchini I ever ate came from a dumpsterβor, rather, from a cardboard box next to a dumpster, also filled with various greens, peppers, and hummus. Many of the foods in the box were foreign to me, at least from a culinary standpoint, but they were free and I had a family to feed, […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Balloon Flower
βItβs a balloon flower, Mom.β My youngest jumped up and down with glee. βA what?β I asked. I have to admit, Iβve heard some pretty strange names for flowers but balloon flower was a new one to me. βA balloon flower,β my oldest confirmed. βThatβs what the flower looks like when it blooms. A balloon.” […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Outhouse Flower
I have fond memories of the outhouse at the family cottage. Years ago. When I was a youngster. Dad had built it far enough from the cottage that it didnβt project its noxious odors into the place where we ate and slept. Mom planted tall, bushy flowers around the outhouse in an attempt to beautify […] More
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Bee Balms Or Bee Bums?
βMom,β my six-year-old called from the front walk where he had been riding his bike back and forth. He had paused in front of my display of red and purple, firework-like flowers and admired them. At an age where he wanted to know everything, it wasnβt unexpected that he would ask about the different flowers […] More
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Homestead Stories: The Holly And The Ivy
βThe holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown. Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.β I hummed the tune happily as I dialed my parents’ number. I would be going home in a few days to spend Christmas with the family. I was excited and […] More
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Frugal Living: Everything You Need To Know
Itβs no secret that modern living is a bit of a morass of consumerism, waste, and debt. In a world where the latest smartphone debuts less than a year after its previous iteration, where the Joneses are always one step ahead of you, and where mountains of plastic are clogging up waterways and oceans, the […] More
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Jack-In-The-Pulpit: A Beautiful Flower With A Weird Name
Growing up in the 1960s, just about everyone in my class at school went to church, and most churches were similar in layout, including, at the front by the choir, a pulpit. So, when the lessons turned to studying the wildflowers of Ontario, the one plant which captured our attention was the Jack-in-the-pulpit. The teacher […] More
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Homestead Stories: What’s False About False Solomon’s Seal?
βFalse Solomon’s seal? Whatβs that? And why is it false? Whatβs the real thing?β Questions. Always lots of questions. Each new discovery on my country property opened up a new page of learning, understanding, and appreciating. I had been studying the knee-tall foliage that arched over my flower beds. With oval-shaped leaves draping along the […] More
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Homestead Stories: How I Accidentally Grew Trout Lilies
When I first moved to the country, I was amazed at the bounty of both wildlife and wildflowers. I had a big job ahead of meβtidying the forested part of our property. I wanted to clear out the brambles and remove the garbage that had been randomly dumped in a place the previous owners believed […] More
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Making Homemade Soap
I started making my own soap out of necessity, but eventually it became one of our farm products. Around 2000, I started having severe rashes. I had combination allergies, which made me allergic to soaps, shampoos, laundry detergent and even toothpaste! I started out making my soaps with melt-and-pour glycerin, but that proved to be […] More
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Why You Should Keep Your Dandelions
Yellow, yellow everywhere. Interspersed with the yellow, were just as plentiful white puffballs of fluff. Hardly any green. It was a dandelion haven. As a child, I recall picking dandelions as a flower bouquet for Mom or Gran. They loved them, or so they claimed, and made a big deal of placing them in water […] More
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Lighthouses For Sale
Buying a lighthouse is more than a real estate transaction. It’s a lifestyle change that links you to a proud American tradition. The best way to find lighthouses for sale is via a US Government lighthouse “property disposal”. These happen sporadically. When one is going on, the General Services Administration lists available lighthouses on this […] More