Holly is an author, storyteller, and Florida Master Naturalist who loves to share heritage skills taught to her by her grandmothers. Florida has been her family home for generations and preserving that lifestyle for the future is her goal. Holly enjoys coming alongside women to share skills and help them discover their own natural gifts and talents.
By Holly Giles | Kitchen , Simple Living
Homemade Blueberry Syrup Blueberry Syrup is a wonderful concoction that has many purposes. At first, you might wonder why you would want to discard the blueberry pulp and only use the juice? This method a way to use up berries that are just about spent and still put food on the table. Uses Blueberry syrup […]
Continue reading
By Holly Giles | Home , Kitchen
Wild Game Burgers Having wild game in my freezer what never on my grocery list. I have always bought my meat pre-packaged at the grocery store. I grew up eating venison here and there, quail on occasion, and frog legs. None of which I ever thought would be on my table again as an adult. […]
Continue reading
By Holly Giles | Handmade , Kitchen , Simple Living
Iced Coffee Iced coffee is a relatively new term for this generation. My grandmother just called it cold coffee. She had been making it for years before it was cool. Basically, when her morning coffee got cold because she was too busy to drink it, she just threw a few ice cubes in it and […]
Continue reading
By Holly Giles | family , Home , Simple Living
Investing in Food Investing in food can have many meanings. Time into gardening at home, cooking from scratch or sourcing your food from local places. It was about 1979 when I had a vivid memory of going to Long and Scott Farm for Zellwood corn. Each year my grandparents hopped in my papa’s pick up […]
Continue reading
By Holly Giles | Home
Garden Goals Have you ever thought about setting garden goals? If you are like me, you are motivated by simply getting outside and connecting with nature. I love to get outside in beautiful weather and that makes me want to grow something. Gardening is a way to squeeze in some physical activity into a busy […]
Continue reading
By Holly Giles | Home
Victory Garden The victory garden of the 1940s has made a comeback with full force. Families are looking to food sources they had not thought of before which is exciting news for gardening. During world war II the government was reverting large manufacturing to war efforts and supplies. In turn, the government asked citizens to […]
Continue readingBy Holly Giles | Kitchen
Cooking with Blueberries Blueberries bring back memories of going wild blueberry picking with my grandparents in the backwoods of Alabama. Every summer I would go stay with them on their property and live the country life. I learned how to forage for different foods and visit neighbors who were growing big gardens. Those are some […]
Continue readingBy Holly Giles | family , Home , Simple Living
Our Backyard Chicken Story Our chicken story began twenty years ago. My husband, Curtis, and I have gone back and forth about having backyard chickens. He would want to get started, and I didn’t want the responsibility. Then, I would get excited about it, and he would not. We never got serious about it until […]
Continue reading
By Holly Giles | Home , Kitchen
Easy Strawberry Jam A beginner can make easy strawberry jam with great results. It was the first jam that I ever tried to make with my boys at home. Grayson and Grant can get overzealous when it comes to picking strawberries. I have been known to pay thirty dollars for the buckets full of juicy […]
Continue readingBy Holly Giles | Home , Simple Living
Living Simply from a Pioneer Perspective The idea of living simply from the pioneer culture and Laura Ingalls Wilder has a lot to teach us modern-day folk. Pioneer times may be pushing 200 years old, but the lessons we can learn for living today still apply. Laura Ingalls Wilder was fascinating in that she lived […]
Continue reading