Farm & Family

Square Foot Gardening: How to Construct Sturdy, Economical Trellises for Climbing Crops

As you may know by now, we’ve undertaken two key experiments in our organic vegetable garden this year. Our first experiment revolves around a concept called Square Foot Gardening.  (See book recommendation at the end of this post.)  After installing the raised boxes and special soil mix, we needed trellises for climbing crops like zucchini and…

All Things Bright and Beautiful: Easy Way to Add More Nature-Appreciation to Your Kids’ Lives

Want to add more nature-appreciation to your kids’ lives?  Not sure where to start?  Try this! It’s a poem!  It’s a hymn!  It’s a book!  It’s a great way to teach kids about our Creator God. When a friend and I started a (sort of) formalized nature study emphasis with our four kids, we began with…

Another Great Folk Album for Families

We love folk music here at the Yankee Homestead, and have amassed quite a collection of Family-Friendly Folk Favorites.  Here’s another album we’ve recently added to our list:  

Honey for a Child’s Heart: How to Choose the Best Children’s Books

Children and books go together in a special way.  I can’t imagine any pleasure greater than bringing to the uncluttered, supple mind of a child the delight of knowing the many rich things God has given us to enjoy.  Parents have this wonderful privilege, and books are their keenest tools.  Children don’t stumble onto good books…

Loving the Little Years: motherhood in the trenches

Loving the Little Years: motherhood in the trenches by Rachel Jankovic has been on my To-Read list for some time. At just over 100 pages, it’s a quick read.  Which is just about perfect for a book written by a mom-of-littles (five kids, five and under!) for other moms-of-littles. I have to say that I’m…

How to Re-label Ex-Library Books for Your Personal Library

We own A LOT of children’s books. Those of you who know us personally recognize this to be, perhaps, a major understatement.  I’ve often thought it would make a fun experiment to clock how long it takes first-time guests to our home to reach this casual observation.   “You have a lot of books,” they say.  …

Got Wisdom?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about wisdom. In my role as a mother, I often feel inadequate.  There are situations that, on my own, I have no idea how to handle.  Well, actually, I can usually think of several ways to handle those situations, but the trouble is that I’m not sure which way…

Pack a Plastic-Free Lunch with LunchBots Stainless Steel Containers

Remember the stainless steel, divided lunch containers I mentioned in My Ongoing Household Detox Resolution, Phase Three: Kitchenware?  In my efforts to pack a plastic-free lunch, we invested in a set of LunchBots containers.  We’ve been using them for several months years now, so I thought I’d do a little review… The verdict: We really like…

7 Ideas for a Spring Nature Walk

Scavenger Hunts and Nature Walks are a great way to get everyone outside.  After the novelty of spring weather wears off and you find yourself in need of ideas for enjoying the great outdoors with your tribe, try a few of these fun ideas!

Mud: The Hills Will Remember Their Colors

We’ve discovered another great book to add to our Favorite Books for Spring: Mud!  What could be better than reading about all the ways to use and enjoy mud?