Blog · The Farhner Homestead

29Mar 2018 by Arielle Farhner 1 Comment

Bone Broth: A Homesteader’s Liquid Gold

Bone broth has made a resurgence in recent years for its numerous health benefits, to the extent of being termed "liquid gold", but to me, it's mostly just an amazing base for the perfect soup... and we eat a lot of soup, hence the need for lots of amazing broth! I haven't gotten to the point of drinking a glass straight, but I'm sure this stuff would be as good of any to start with! We posted this week on our Instagram that we had suddenly run out of the first batch of broth we did following the butchering of our first pig in December. So our roughly 30 quarts of broth lasted us nearly 4 months! I know lots of people who aren't huge fans of soup, but for…

02Feb 2018 by Arielle Farhner No Comments

Fermented Garlic

Food Preservation, Recipes

Until that day that we can source all our food straight from our garden, we are huge Costco addicts. Buying in bulk is more economical, and we are blessed in our region to have many organic and non-gmo options for produce! The problem with buying in bulk is that often the food goes bad before you have a chance to use it all! This has been the case with buying the whole bulbs of garlic. We do our best to eat what we have and not waste anything, so when I needed more garlic this week, I decided to peel and ferment half the bag of garlic rather than wait until they're mushy and unusable. It's probably a lot more work to peel each clove, and I'm aware that Costco…

29Jan 2018 by Ben Farhner 1 Comment

January 2018 Garden Prep

Garden

As we gear up for our first year in the garden, there's still a lot of cleanup to be done. This month we've heavily pruned the existing grape vines, which had climbed up the nearby curly willow and some of which were in excess of 20 feet long! This past fall, we had grape clusters throughout the willow tree and even on the power line; this next year we should have a much more accessible grape crop. [caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] The Glenora grape vine after a lot of pruning. There's still one large vine going up into the willow that needs to be pruned, and the trellis is in poor shape.[/caption] There's also still a lot of trash that needs to be pulled out of the garden area. There…

12Jan 2018 by Ben Farhner No Comments

2018: Year of the Homestead

Beer, Food Preservation, Garden

It's been too long since we last posted. The last 3 years were very long and hard, but in the summer of 2017 we purchased our first home, a 1922 farmhouse on a third of an acre, and after some remodeling, we're moved in and ready to work on all our long dreamed-of self-sufficiency plans. In 2018, we have several goals we want to accomplish: The Garden We were blessed to find a home that already had a substantial garden space. We've spent some time cleaning it up and laying down wood chips to prep it for the spring, and our long term goal is to expand the garden even more and grow as much of our own food as we can. This year we'll be growing some vegetables, herbs,…

26Jul 2017 by Arielle Farhner No Comments

When the going gets tough

Uncategorized

A few kind souls have asked for a house update, so here goes...June 14 we became home owners. Today is July 26. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd still be living sporadically without running water or a proper lavatory. But that's the nature of home remodels sometimes, especially the DIY kind!With the help of our family, we've done a LOT of work on the house to get it as close to our dream home as possible. More work than we originally planned to do prior to move in, in fact. We are incredibly thankful to have encountered as few snags along the way as we have (no asbestos, no active mold, no infestations), which is amazing given our house is 95 years old! And while we're still…

13Jun 2017 by Arielle Farhner 3 Comments

Hey, it’s been a while…

Uncategorized

As I write this, a handful of unpublished posts sit in my drafts. It's been a while since you've heard from us as we've struggled to write much over the last 2.5 years. When we started this blog and began documenting our vision, our dreams and our goals, we were in the preparation process; honing our skills, gaining more knowledge, and preparing to be able to hit the ground running once our dreams of land ownership and self sustainability became realized. Over the last 2.5 years, however, much of that was put on hold. Our first daughter was born, we moved into an above-garage "apartment" with Ben's family to save up a down payment, Ben began working a second (third?) job, and life overall became way too full, too chaotic,…

21Jul 2016 by Ben Farhner No Comments

The Long Road

Uncategorized

It's been quite a while since we posted anything, and that's because the past year has been very busy. The little one turns 2 in just a few short months; she's been more than a handful for Ari, of course; and I've had my nose to the grindstone working to build up our down payment. It has been a long year, and now that year is behind us. And yet, it will be approximately one more year before we become homeowners. More grinding, more hustling, more saving, and more waiting. But hey, you can do anything for a year, right? ...One more year? Sometimes it feels a bit bleak, but right now I see a really bright light at the end of the tunnel. I see a wonderful dwelling place at the end…

27May 2015 by Arielle Farhner 1 Comment

Debt: a Free Spirit’s Perspective

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I'm positive if you read my husband's latest post on debt, you might think him insane and a little too polarized on the subject of debt and finances. Goodness knows we've encountered plenty of people along our journey who can't seem to understand why we live the way we do. However, our seemingly offbeat perspective is actually not without balance. If you have ever listened to Dave Ramsey or taken his course, you will have heard him describe two kinds of people: Nerds and Free Spirits. The nerd is the one who, while he or she may have debt, is more thoughtful before making purchases, will weigh pros and cons, acts more rationally toward money, and is the cautious decision maker. The free spirit, on the other hand, spends money on a…

26May 2015 by Arielle Farhner No Comments

Traditions: Babywearing

Traditions

You will probably find that most of my hobbies and interests lately revolve around being a mom and having a baby. For a little while I was nearly obsessed with cloth diapers (can you say, "stalking online diaper stores with limited-edition diaper releases at 3am?!"). I've read lots of books and articles on breastfeeding and where and how and why, and I've researched the heck out of when to start babies on solid foods. Ask me any question about parenting and I've probably read something or formed some opinion on the matter! However, for our first installment of our Traditions series, I would like to focus on my newest baby-related passion: Babywearing. The term "babywearing" was first coined by notable baby-guru Dr. William Sears after he discovered the Ring Sling, first invented by…

21May 2015 by Arielle Farhner 1 Comment

Tradition

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"And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: Tradition!" ~Reb Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof If you've ever had a serious conversation with my husband, you will surely have heard him say "It's a balance!" a phrase which seems to always land him the last word in any discussion. As is evident by our silence these past few months, I have obviously struggled to find the balance of maintaining our home while learning how to be a new mom and keep up with our blog! (As of this week, our thriving little 7 month old is a joy and has us absolutely transfixed, in a good way! I promise to update more on her later!) What's on my mind now is this matter of balance and its…