Project Homestead

handmade? check. simple? check.

Struggling for gift ideas for grandparents, aunts and uncles, I was so, so glad I picked up four sheets of beeswax and a small bit of wicking. The boys (ages 2 and 5) and I rolled these beauties in less than an hour. And they smelled wonderful all the while. My holiday mantra: Keep It Simple.

(almost) homemade toys

We're busy at work rolling beeswax sheets into candles, sewing felt dolls and ornaments, and scavenging for fallen wood with which to make our family's homemade presents* this Christmas. If you have children, and you haven't yet whittled their wooden tractors or ponies yet, don't fret. (Neither have I.) Homesteading wisely is knowing when to pay others for their skills—and when to do it yourself. 

Lately, I’m enamored with Etsy, the on-line home of artisans who sell their well-priced handmade wares directly to you (just search for what you seek). It seems like the kind of creative cooperative my family and I are trying to build for food, services, you name it. Below, though, is my tried-and-true toy team, the group whose catalogs I send to the grandparents to spark their imaginations. They’re all independently or family-run businesses that believe deeply in simple living, parenting and play. Visit them often, and tell them I sent you.

The social worker who owns Three Sisters Toys offers a fine explanation of how simple, open-ended toys foster imagination and well-rounded children. Case in point: The photos above show a couple of handmade felt puppet dolls my little ones love to pose, and then strap onto a kitten-drawn "sleigh." Magic Cabin is a perennial favorite, and it breaks down its vast offerings in an-easy-to-use gift center page, with categories like “active kids,” young artists, and by price. Look for age-appropriate suggestions, too, if you’re shopping for kids 9 and up. The Wooden Wagon may be my favorite source of all for naturally inspired wooden gear from Germany and America. Countless charming, handmade, folk-art decorations, games and puzzles, plus wonderful, wonderful toys. Palumba is the on-line home for a collective of organic, green-built, handmade toys, art supplies and musical items made from all-natural materials—down to the beeswax finishes. Their wooden play kitchen is so beautiful, it’s my favorite piece of furniture in my, um, living room. Last, but certainly not least, Nova Natural is the cool Vermont granddaddy of gorgeous wooden toys, crafts, art supplies and organic woolens for all-natural families. Their printed catalog will make the crunchy grandparents of creative kids everywhere swoon.

Happy creating ... and supporting other people who do, too.

{ * I'll write more about the projects soon. Promise. }

ah, applesauce

The apples we'd picked from our old trees were starting to soften in the fridge (apparently they're not great keepers). Given my irrational fear of pie crusts, I opted to make applesauce with Caleb the other morning. Natural applesauce is as uncomplicated as it gets, of course, but it's even MORE FUN when using the world's most charming apple prep tool ever invented. LL Bean calls it the apple-peeling gizmo. 

And, as you can see from these pictures, it doesn't just peel. It slices and cores them apples, while you're at it. The result: a never-ending ribbon of peel, great, uniform slices (unless your apples are lumpy, like mine, which can derail them), and happy, happy helpers.

which came first?

The chickens, of course (they arrived five months ago, to be exact). But, lo and behold, those dear girls gave us our very FIRST HOMGROWN, ORGANIC EGG this week! Like most things worth waiting for, our sense of pride is significantly greater than the grocery store value for, say, eggs, would indicate. We find ourselves blurting out the news to anyone we think might occasionally eat eggs. As if this news will make them swoon like we have. For days.

When I told our raw milk dairy farmer, Kate, our big news, she asked, "are the yolks bright orange?" As I considered my answer, I had to admit that, in fact, they were a mild yellow—nowhere near as bright golden orange as the eggs Kate's silver-laced Wyandottes (a.k.a. "peeps") provide us every week. From what I've learned, that has to do with the fact that they're not eating freely of grass and bugs and anything else they can scrounge. (We lost two to the wild this summer; since then, they've taken supervised furloughs to a chicken "tractor" in our backyard. They get to scratch the earth and take dirt baths every day, but they aren't out foraging for their food. If a worm peeks its head up beneath the oak leaves, I suspect it's a very good day.

Even so, the omelet our first home-grown egg made, split four ways, was the most tender morsel I've ever consumed. The girls have left us one egg—nestled in their straw-filled nesting box, no less!—every morning for the past four mornings. By the time they're all up to speed, I think we can expect between 3 and 5 eggs for our six hens EVERY DAY. 

While the ground is preparing for it's long winter's sleep, a glaze of ice has appeared across the pond, and life outside feels slowed, this new burst of energy, life and productivity is so very welcomed.