A former supermarket cashier turned rocket scientist, I now spend my days seeking adventures of all sorts. I love to cook, eat, meditate, do yoga, create jewelry, sing, listen, and write. A big fan of art and music and really good books, I'm looking to create a life for myself (and for my family) that we don't want a vacation from.
Countryside Network •

How Long Does Homemade Jam Last?

Have you ever wondered, how long does homemade jam last? In the summer during rhubarb season when there are copious amounts of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries growing in my part of the Adirondacks, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen making homemade jam to last us through the winter. We use a couple of different cooking techniques for making our homemade jam, and each one has a different shelf life, depending on how we process and store our homemade jam. When answering the question
Countryside Network •

12 Natural Home Remedies for Toothaches

In my experience, a toothache can pop up when you least expect it or when it’s most inconvenient. That’s why having a few options for home remedies for toothaches can come in handy. A toothache can be some of the worst pain you’ll ever have to endure. When you have to wait to see the dentist, you’ll be happy to have something to help make you or someone in your family more comfortable by relieving the pain of a toothache. A toothache can be caused by many things: gum disease where the gums beco
Countryside Network •

A Guide to the Best Greenhouse Plants

After years of putting our gardens in the ground, we decided to build our own greenhouse and pick out the best greenhouse plants for extending our growing season. Our three large outdoor gardens this year were dedicated to potatoes, onions and sunflowers. Because we used some clever low-cost construction techniques, we decided to splurge on seedlings from a local nursery. We stocked it full of the best greenhouse plants we could think of – tomatoes, leafy greens, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, s
Countryside Network •

SCOBY Uses: More Than Just a Healthy Brew

Did you know that there are dozens of SCOBY uses that don’t involve brewing a batch of kombucha? Once I learned how to make kombucha at home, I found myself with a rather crowded SCOBY hotel. After all, each batch of kombucha I brewed in my half-gallon glass jugs created a new SCOBY. After a couple of months, I found myself with a rather large collection of healthy SCOBYs – and had to find some fun SCOBY uses that didn’t involve making more kombucha. A couple of my friends who make herbal remed
Countryside Network •

The Magic Greenhouse: How to Make a Cheap Greenhouse

For as long as I can remember, my husband has wanted a greenhouse. But we weren’t sure how to make a cheap greenhouse — all of the greenhouse plans we had seen online and in books called for lots of expensive materials, and being on a budget, we just didn’t have the cash for something like that. While we have lots of room to spread out in the gardens, growing seedlings indoors was always a problem because our tiny 1,000-square-foot house didn’t have much space for hundreds of plants every spring
Countryside Network •

Naturally Bug-Free: Natural Pest-Controlling Methods That You Can Make At Home!

Natural pest-controlling methods are becoming more popular as we learn about the detrimental effects of chemical sprays and poisons on the environment. Do you cringe at the idea of spraying yourself or your kids down with chemicals to prevent bug bites during the warmer months? As a mother and a natural health practitioner, I certainly prefer to use natural pest-controlling methods for my family when we’re outside whether we’re hiking a trail, working in the garden, or simply enjoying a beautifu
Countryside Network •

Treat a Sore Throat with Turmeric Tea and Other Herbal Teas

When cold and flu symptoms start to show up, the first thing I do is reach for a mug of hot turmeric tea. Turmeric tea is a natural anti-inflammatory that is also a powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial remedy for colds and flu. With more and more people seeking out natural cold remedies, turmeric is becoming a staple in the home herbalist’s apothecary. If you don’t have turmeric, you can also get relief from a nasty sore throat using other kinds of herbal tea recipes using more common ingredient
Countryside Network •

Using Herbal Plants: The Herbal Home Remedy Book by Joyce Wardell

My personal journey with herbal plants began years before I realized I was interested in making herbal home remedies. After nearly 13 years living in the same place, I spent one memorable summer walking my land and getting to know almost every single herb, plant, and weed growing there. Before that summer, I had always thought that being able to make my own herbal home remedies with the herbal plants growing on the land was something that would be difficult and require a lot of expensive equipme
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How to Make Essential Oils At Home

Have you ever wondered how to make essential oils from your own plants? With new research into the therapeutic and medicinal benefits of aromatherapy, knowing how to make your own essential oils can give you another natural remedy in your home apothecary. Many of our favorite culinary herbs are also good for using to make essential oils—my favorite peppermint plant uses include both flavoring my cooking year-round as well as using it to make essential oils using a steam distillation technique.
Countryside Network •

Home Remedies for Gout: Herbal Medicine, Diet, and Lifestyle Tips

When my husband suffered his first attack of gout, we decided early on that we would look for a good home remedy for gout to treat and prevent follow-up attacks. More than 8 million people in the United States suffer from painful attacks of gout, leading to lost time from work and school as they wait for the flare-up to subside. My husband’s attacks of gout have been so painful in the past that it’s impossible for him to put a sock on the affected foot, not to mention the side effects he had to
Countryside Network •

3 Natural Home Remedies for Fleas

Home remedies for fleas don’t have to be expensive, smelly or toxic. When I was a veterinary technician 20-odd years ago, the number one query of most of our clients was if we knew any good home remedies for fleas. Flea and tick control in the suburbs was difficult enough, but once my husband and I moved up to the mountains, it became a real priority. Fleas and ticks on cats and dogs can cause all kinds of skin irritations and trigger allergic reactions that can not only make you and your pets m
Countryside Network •

Beat Colds and Flu with this Fire Cider Recipe

My eight-year-old son seems to bring home a new cough or cold from school every other week. Since busy moms and dads don’t often get sick days, I make sure that I make up plenty of my favorite fire cider recipe to keep on hand. We do our best to keep ourselves healthy by washing our hands frequently, getting enough rest, and spending a little bit of time outdoors in the fresh air every day. What is fire cider? Fire cider is an old home remedy for the runny noses and sniffles before they develop
Countryside Network •

Home Remedies for Headaches Using Essential Oils & Herbs

Home remedies for headaches can be lifesavers when you find yourself coming down with a headache and don’t have any over-the-counter painkillers or can’t take a painkiller for whatever reason. As a lifelong sufferer of headaches (I had my first migraine at age 6!), I’ve found that very often I get better relief from my headaches when I use essential oils and herbs rather than over-the-counter painkillers and without any of the nasty side effects. Over the years, I’ve tried lots of home remedies
Countryside Network •

Stuffed Grape Leaves Recipe Using Fermented Grape Leaves

When we planted a dozen grape vines on our backyard homestead 10 years ago, we weren’t thinking about ways to use them in a stuffed grape leaves recipe. Our original intention was to grow enough grapes so that my husband, who was already accomplished at making his own beer, could start making his own wine. We even sought out grapes from a specialty mail order vineyard that were hardy to -40o F so that they could withstand the long, cold winters in this part of upstate New York. We were more focu
Countryside Network •

Making Natural Clothing Dye From Beets, Onions & Black Beans

My mother was always fascinated with using vegetables for natural clothing dye, and some of that interest must have rubbed off on me. While she was primarily interested in using vegetables like beets, onions, and black beans for creating natural colors for things like Easter eggs, wool and other fibers, I’ve been using these vegetables to create natural clothing dye for t-shirts, leggings, pants and other articles of clothing. It doesn’t hurt that we have a steady supply of these vegetables from
Countryside Network •

DIY Pole Barn to Chicken Coop Conversion

When we moved into our house back in 2003, we had seen plenty of DIY pole barns, and the one that was located on our new property was wonderfully built. But this pole barn had been built to cover a large recreational vehicle, complete with a concrete pad. We had no idea what we were going to do with it, and so it sat vacant for the first five years after we moved in. Getting backyard chickens wasn’t part of the plan when we bought our house. We were more interested in using the heated workshop
Interweave •

Easy Wire Wrapping Techniques for My Favorite Gemstones

After watching my yoga teacher’s 9-year-old son start whipping up amazing wire-wrapped gemstones last year, I decided it was time for me to give wire wrapping a try once more. My first attempts at wire wrapping were, shall we say, less than successful, but after a few years of learning about wire and getting to know how to work with this fabulous jewelry-making material, I’m feeling more confident in my wire jewelry-making skills. I bought this striking piece of black tourmaline from one of my
Interweave •

Boring Bead Crochet?

My least favorite part of bead crochet has always been stringing all those seed beads on the thread before I start to crochet. There's just no getting around it — no matter what I try, it always feels like a chore to me. Thankfully, bead crochet expert Judith Bertoglio-Giffin understands my pain. I asked her if she had any tips for getting my seed beads strung on my crochet thread for bead crochet, and she had some great advice, which I am happy to pass on to anyone getting started with bead cr
Interweave •

Can Beadweaving Reduce Stress? | Beading Daily

I've been interested in things such as yoga and meditation ever since I took a stress management class in college. (I tend to be wound rather tightly at times!) For years, I used writing as my primary practice when I was looking to do something meditative, but I always had some kind of craft project sitting around, too-knitting, crochet, jewelry making, or handmade papers and books. When I started learning how to do beadweaving during my last two years of college, I felt like I had suddenly fou