Most people are aware of the health benefits of olive oil, but many Americans don’t realize that there are a lot of fake olive oils on the market. Studies have suggested that olive oil is high in antioxidants, has strong anti-inflammatory properties, has been shown to help with blood sugar control, is antibacterial, and may help to prevent cancer. Olive oil has been a great substitute for vegetable oils when it comes to dressings, salads, and low heat cooking on our farm.

My husband and I have always known that we could significantly improve our egg production if we would feed highly processed organic layer feed to our laying hens. There are several reasons we want to avoid this feed. A few of these are that the cost is significantly higher, there are always synthetic vitamins added, it doesn’t produce flavorful eggs, I can’t find a local source, and it’s not as natural (just look at the color).

In the last couple years, I have seen a lot of excitement over the idea of making butter by shaking cream in a jar until it turns to butter. While that will produce butter and might be fun for the first few minutes, I would probably only do it once (if I even finished the first time). Let’s be real, that would be a lot of work and take a lot of time! I’m so thankful for modern technology that allows us to put good quality food on the table without so much physical labor and time. While I love physical work, I also enjoy accomplishing a lot of tasks in a day, and I that’s why I love making butter with my Bosch mixer. It’s quick and easy.

Did you know there is a significant increase in the risk of bacteria invading eggs when they are washed? You would think the opposite would be true. People have asked me how our eggs that we sell are so clean when we don’t wash them with water, and I thought I would explain our routine and what we have learned about producing safe eggs.

Hey Friends! We have had a lot of people reach out to us over the years about sharing our homesteading skills. We are hoping to share more of what we are doing this year, Lord willing and as time allows. We are certainly not experts, but we have learned a lot through our mistakes. Hopefully you can learn from us, so you don’t have to make them.

Since we make almost all of our food from scratch, we go through a lot of salt! To save money I started buying our salt by the 25-pound bag. This bag lasts about 4 to 6 months in our large family. Salt will not go bad, but over time it can collect moisture (especially if it’s not stored properly) and may get clumps in it. This is why a lot of companies add unnatural anti-caking agents to their salt. One of the reasons we use Redmond’s, Celtic, or Himalayan salt is because they don’t add anticaking agents.

Most of us have been taught that all salt is bad for us, and I used to believe it. The more I learn though, the more I realize that chemical laden, processed salt is harmful, but natural salt like Celtic, Himalayan, and Real Salt are good and necessary. The salt that most of us are familiar with (white table salt) has been stripped of most of its minerals (besides sodium and chloride). One of the minerals that is removed is potassium, which can protect our bodies from potentially negative effects of excess sodium by helping the kidneys process it more efficiently. White table salt also contains unhealthy additives like sugary dextrose, anti-caking agents, and bleaching compounds.

For over ten years I have welcomed people out to our farm and had many conversations with others over the phone and through email, because they had heard or seen what we were doing and they wanted to learn more. In order to help more people, I started “Get Your . . . Right” back in 2022. I shared a lot of the changes we have made in the last several years to improve our health, energy, focus, and flavor of our food. The feedback from this has been better than I expected.