Category Archives for "southern homestead"

Can I Really Raise Chickens?

By Holly Giles | Simple Living , southern homestead

Can I really raise chickens? Yes, you can really raise chickens at home. For twelve years our family has had a blast with a small backyard flock in our suburban neighborhood. Knowing a few things in advance will help you be successful from the start. Let’s start with the coop. Is a homemade chicken coop […]

7 Simple Tips to Start Seeds Indoors Today

By Holly Giles | Simple Living , southern homestead

How to start seeds indoors in 7 easy steps Starting vegetable seeds indoors is a great way to extend your gardening budget and growing season. However, starting vegetables from seed can be tricky for many novice gardeners. Fortunately, the seven simple steps outlined below simplify this process and make it much more fun and easy. […]

Storing Flour for Long Term Use

By Holly Giles | Recipes , Simple Living , southern homestead

Dry Canning Flour Dry canning flour has been around since my grandmother’s time. I read up on canning flour when I got a 50-pound bag. At the time, flour was hard to come by due to a shortage, and I needed to bake bread for our family because it was not available in our grocery […]

Florida’s Modern Day Milk Maid

By Holly Giles | Family , Florida , Simple Living , southern homestead

Florida Milk Farm I met Shanna Rae Horstmeyer and her two young boys during a homeschool field trip last year. I heard she had her own Florida milk farm. She recognized my feed-sack purse and introduced herself. She said she had been saving feedbags to work with but had been too busy moving onto their […]

Broody and Molting Hens

By Holly Giles | Simple Living , southern homestead

Broody and molting hens Henrietta is in broody chicken jail. However, I assure you it is for everyone’s benefit! Broodiness happens to hens when they decide to sit on their eggs and hatch young. If you would like more information on the subject check out My Pet Chicken. In our hen house, there is no […]

Fowl Fun Friday with 4H

By Holly Giles | Field Trips , homeschooling , Simple Living , southern homestead

4H Fowl Fun The Volusia County Fair is in 2 months and we are gearing up for our entries! The fair association and 4H were offering a “Fowl Fun Day” to teach you about entering chickens. The flyer I received sounded too good to pass up. They would teach anatomy, breeds, disease, and pest control. In […]