Introducing my (micro)Homestead Notebook
Since I’m no longer homeschooling, and I no longer have little boys who need the entire backyard to fight play in, and we expanded (and poisoned) the garden, and we got chickens, my friend suggested starting a Homestead Notebook. It’s kind of like a bullet journal, but with all the things I’m learning and doing on our small suburban micro “homestead” (which sounds way cooler than saying “in our backyard”).
And since I love bullet journaling and sketching and I’m definitely learning a lot, I thought what the heck–and I have an excuse to buy a new sketchbook! It’s a cheap, basic bound sketchbook that has no annoying spirals, and is big enough to have fun in.
Here’s what I’ve done in it so far:
I had very little tomatoes this year due to the poison, and the few I had didn’t amount to enough to make it worth doing a pressure canner load. So I tried dehydrating the few tomatoes we got and then blending them into powder. And I was super happy with the results! It is a compact way to preserve the tomatoes, and after a bit of digging around the internet I found some excellent recipes to use it in! These all came from thepurposefulpantry.com.
I am so thankful that the squash and a few other plants survived the poison. We actually had a great harvest of our sugar pie pumpkins and butternut squash. There were even a few spaghetti squash that made it!
And sourdough. I tried making my own starter when everyone else in the world was doing it when we ran out of all the yeast in the nation at the beginning of the pandemic. I failed quite a few times and gave up. But it’s always bugged me that I have yet to master it, so I thought I’d give it another go. So far, so good!
And I was super curious if gourds would grow in the Pacific NW, and to my surprise they did! I only got two this year, but I’m going to try again next year too! (Sorry the grammar on this one is all messed up. That’s what happens when I write in pen without editing my thoughts first.)
So that’s my new homestead notebook. I hope to keep adding things I’m learning, recipes I’m trying, and how it all goes here on the “homestead.” (Which, by the way, we’re now calling Treefell Farm. I’ll share the story behind the name soon!)
I absolutely love “Homestead”! Your writing and pictures are perfect.
Thank you for sharing!
I love these pages!!! Keep doing them and sharing. They are so informative and beautiful.
BTW – I could sit and watch homesteading videos all day long! – Kathy
Awesome. Love the simple watercolor drawings.
Love your writing and your drawings! . . how in the world do you get so much done? Does your drawing ability come natural or did you take classes? Keep it up, please . . .
This is truly a blessing, thank you for sharing. This is an amazing way to store memories.
I love this Kari! I’m going to do this in Texas as I will have so very much to learn. Doug showed me these YouTube videos which I think you would enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnDeSOkwUD0
This could be a book and I would buy it 🥰
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing,
I love 💕 this. Thank you for sharing this.
This is SO SO neat. Sunshine
Your journals are always an inspiration! And thank you for the dried tomatoes recipe and uses! It may be worth getting some tomatoes from the local Amish (if they still have any) and drying them! I have dried tomatoes to use as sun-dried tomatoes and they are so good! I will definitely try this as soon as I can get some tomatoes! Thank you, Kari!
Kari, just thought of this. Have you seen this recipe? Sounds like something that you would enjoy doing!
I am going to try it soon!
https://www.briana-thomas.com/blender-applesauce/
Kari, this is so awesome. Great instructions and graphics!
saving the tomato powder recipe and the sourdough starter recipe. I need these! I love this idea, but with a 10 yr old and a 5 yr old and homeschooling, I don’t have the time to draw and doodle, or so I tell myself. Maybe I need to change my self-talk.
Thank you so much for sharing. It is very encouraging!
I wish I had known the dehydrating tomato trick. We had SO many this past year that we couldn’t keep up. I’m writing that down to remember in 2022. Thanks!!
Yes! I’ve been using it in soups instead of tomato paste and it’s wonderful! Works perfectly, no canning, way less room to store. I’m going this way for sauce and paste from now on!