BN 20: Apples, DIY & Homesteading

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posted on

September 14, 2024

Hello from TF!!

[sorry, a bit long, since this is Tuesday & today's emails in one. 😬]

We originally purchased this property because we wanted to grow some of our own food and become self-sufficient.

As we tried finding ways to leave the day jobs and generate some income, we started selling some of the excess, like meats and soaps and then decided we much preferred bringing folks to the farm instead of the farm to the city and that's when Burger Night was born!

So while we may not exactly be homesteaders right now like we originally envisioned, we strongly encourage others that are interested in learning anything about anything and to do whatever they can!

Live in a tiny city apartment? Make sourdough!

Anyone can go to the farmers market and get to fermenting!

Make your own apple cider vinegar (seriously, nothing could be easier and Bragg's is no longer good, another food lost to corporate control).

We were crazy overwhelmed trying to learn every single skill (we even had a milk cow) so the more you can learn now, before you have the land or the farm, the better and easier it'll be!

Currently on your property and already doing it? Keep adding more and more skills to your repertoire! Maybe it's time to see if there are things you don't know....have you fermented your own hot sauce to enjoy on all those eggs yet?? Or, have you made your own mead from all your honey?? What do you know about knots?

And, no matter what, you can start compiling or growing your library of resources now.

Remember, the Internet is dead. AI has killed it - you can trust nothing your eyes show you on there now and forget googling for answers, the answers are all bought and paid for, it's a "good ol' boys club" now and finding answers will require some work.

Good ol' books. Knowledge and experience written down for you to learn from. By folks actually doing it (not an algorithm).

What do you want to learn?

(also, we're thinking about winter workshops so hit reply and tell me what you would prefer to learn in-person!)

The problem is that these authors are not you, we all have different resources, abilities, etc, but you don't know what you don't know, so you just gotta start. Kinda like how our steep hills throw most of the pastured pig stuff right out the window but we didn't really realize that until we started doing the things.

Just do it. (ugh, corporate even took "just do it".)

If you lose your house, the stock market crashes, your car is repossessed, you WILL sill HAVE your knowledge and your skills.

You can't lose what you know. Even if the wifi is off.

I mean, not that any of those things are going to happen but learning new skills is very empowering.

Even if you don't become a homesteading hero and never own a square foot of ground, it will help you appreciate the folks doing it even more!

Suddenly $10 for a loaf of sourdough is worth every penny, driving to get a gallon of A2/A2 milk in the afternoon? wow. how easy life is. $20 for a quart of health-creating sauerkraut? why so cheap? $10 for happy beyond organic eggs? I was paying more for artificial multivitamins I peed out! $20 for a lb of organically raised 100% gf/gf beef delivered to my door with a few clicks....I'm not sure life can get any better. 😄

Food making kits!
Not pictured: drink making kits: beer, mead, wine and more!
(Also, make an awesome gift!!)

Think you can't make your own loaf of bread? Wrong. Andy makes amazing bread with almost zero effort! (He got his recipe from Laos at Lazy Monk Brewing, so see? It's all about spreading knowledge and encouragment!)
You can definitely do it too. 🥖🤩

Farm Store Sales

For the readers or library-builders we've got books for sale on:

fermenting
chickens
canning
sourdough
raising bees
raising chickens
general self-sufficiency
homesteading how-to
and more!

For the doers, we've got the following kits and supplies on sale:

Sourdough
Seed kits: flowers, herbs, salsa, pizza, veggies
Quick pickles
Fermented pickles
Kombucha starter kit (will make enough for the rest of your life!)
Fermented hot sauce
Cheese making: Italian or Mexican
Wine making: pinot grigio or cabernet sauvignon
Beer making: IPA, Ale or Oak-aged ale
Hard cider
Hard seltzer
and more!

And finally, for the person who is a little bit of both and also wants to TRY what others have done, we have this week's Bundle of the Week! (Also great if you like saving as much as possible.

8 products homesteaders produce (pork sausage, sauerkraut, tallow skin cream, sourdough crackers, honey, beeswax candles, apple pie jelly, maple syrup
2 DIY kits (seeds & pickles)

Over 20% off at just $74!

Shop the Sale

Homesteaders Sampling Kit is the Bundle of the Week!
We would be able to ship or deliver this, just hit reply that you'd like to order one since it's not listed in the online store.

AVEnue Orchard is back on our farm Friday AND Saturday, slingin' their amazing homemade products and this week's BOTW will feature their Apple-Jalapeno jelly, along with fresh apple, pepperjack and more. 🍎🍏🍎🍏

Burger of the Week: Applejacks Burger

Avenue Orchards Apple-Jalapeno jelly
Apple slaw
Pepperjack cheese
Smoky bacon
100% grassfed beef patty
A toasted ciabatta bun

The Applejacks Burger is a another new one, so no picture yet, but check out how productive one of our little apple trees was this year! Not too bad for literally doing nothing except cutting off a branch every couple years. Well, we did plant that comfrey around it a long time ago, but that's it.
Don't know why there's comfrey everywhere? Ask me! (or grab one of those aforementioned books. 😉 Also, feel free to take some!)

Thursday, September 12

Save 20% on the Burger of the Week

Trivia is over for the year. :( :( :(

Andy still has that gosh darn day job and there is SO MUCH we want to get done this fall so I'll be bartending so he can work.

I'm always happy to ask you some questions whilst pouring beer though so maybe I should say "organized trivia" is over, the questions can go on.

Friday, September 13

Meet the Makers! 5ish-8ish

Bring your questions and get ready to try some unique products you didn't know you loved & needed! 💚

AVEnue Orchard

Try their infused syrups before committing to a bottle, be sure to try the savory ones too, like the black umami garlic and they have drink mixes!! (Reminder about upcoming holidays!)

LIVE MUSIC from "Q" aka Quenten Brown, 5-8pm

Singer, songwriter, art teacher, artist, and landscaper, ”Q”, aka Quenten Brown, has spent the last 20 years running the ridges, playing every bar, front porch, beer garden, private event that he can, and enjoying the experiences that each unique venue brings along the way.
The result is an engaging uplifting experience for both performer and audience. Songs are delivered with a wink and a nod, ensuring that all are ‘in’ on the curious experiment that is a live performance.

This is our first time having Q at the farm!
You can expect to hear music by the Black Crowes, Mellencamp, Stevie Ray, Tom Petty, and Springsteen and a few originals too!

Saturday, September 14

LIVE MUSIC from TravAce, 5-8pm

TravAce is a seasoned singer-musician with a voice that will warm your soul. He has kept the party alive across the Tri-State Area for 25+ years. He plays everything from Classic Country to Classic Rock and sprinkles Party Anthems in between. His voice and guitar will bring the energy wherever he plays solo or with his band.

Another first-timer! TravAce is a seasoned singer-musician with a voice that will warm your soul. Let's warm his with a warm welcome!

Sunday, September 15

Family Day! Buy one get one FREE kids meals all day!

Speaking of kids....

Save the Date

Family Fun Day, Sat, Sept 28

Every day is a family fun day, but the 28th will be a little extra special with some help from our friends. Hope you can join us!

UPDATES & REMINDERS

The "ish"s are back on Friday and Saturday night closing times since it gets dark early and can get very cold early. We may close at 8:30 if the weather and darkness lead us to believe no one else is coming, so if you are coming after 8pm, call or text to make sure the kitchen will be ready for you!

The bar and fire keep going until everyone's had enough though. So no hurry there. Just one more. :)

End of the season is coming ❄

Sunday, October 6th is our official last Burger Night of 2024.

We may do pop-ups on the weekends if the weather is nice, depends on how the pre-winter projects are moving along. Let us know if you want to help!

Now get out there and make something!! (and we'd love if you came to enjoy the music, food and beer others are making on our farm soon too.)

Your farmer & project-loving friend,

Stephanie Schneider

p.s. Only 3 more weeks after this one!

Off the Hook Fish Sale is LIVE! 🐟

Our 1st Annual Off the Hook Fish Sale is LIVE and it really is Off the Hook!! ⚓It was exactly one year ago today that we announced a new partnership with Bering Bounty and let you know we had finally found some of the best food on the planet: Wild Alaskan fish.plus it's Lentplus a few of us just realized that we've been through 2 false springs already meaning real spring is pert near here and it's time to hurry up and lose some of that winter weight by eating clean high-protein and low fat (halibut).(Although a few others have decided this is the year the sweaters-in-summer fashion look sticks and we're eating all the Sablefish we want.)plus it's time to start getting really serious about Burger Night again so my ability to manage and run big sales like this will end 3/31 and then we'll all be waiting a long while before any more big sales come up. So: Anniversary + Lent + Weight Loss (or Maintenance 😂) + Burger Night is coming (56 days!) = OFF THE HOOK FISH SALE!! We will definitely plan on doing this every March but one thing with the state of Alaska is they are very strict with their quotas in order to ensure sustainability so we never know how much fish Captain Mark will be able to reel in - some of these cuts may not always be available but we are super stoked that right now they all are!!Salmon Lovers Bundle - savings of 27% plus a BONUS 5% + FREE item if you're a subscriber! Includes: King, Sockeye, Coho + Pink Salmon all wild-caught and never-farmed from Alaska's Bering Sea.We have a lot of new people here so we'll do a quick re-introduction.Because I'm constantly keeping an eye out for the best products I can find for you guys I serendipitously stumbled upon Bering Bounty last winter and was soooo excited! I had been looking for a source of good Alaskan fish FOR YEARS but it was either crazy expensive, mostly unavailable or a logistical nightmare. But the coolest thing is that Captain Mark is a Wisconsin-ite with his own small fishing operation (so a ma & pa, like us!).He harvests wild salmon, halibut, and other fish in Alaska’s Bering Sea, which are immediately processed, vacuum-sealed and flash-frozen there and then brought back to his home state so we can all enjoy some of the world's best and cleanest protein!We are his most northern location so we drive to southern WI every other month or so to do our own re-stocking for you guys. Captain Mark & his pet Octopus (not really) battling Alaska's Bering Sea "the cradle of storms" to bring us the healthiest, cleanest and tastiest protein in the world! 🌎(and yes, even better than our 100% grassfed/finished organically raised beef since the best beef still can't beat the Omegas and other nutrients in Salmon and Sablefish.)What's included in the sale In an effort to live up to the name, we have some pretty off the hook deals ranging from a minimum of 10% off to almost 40% off! 😲 Subscribers (free to join, easy to leave) will even get a BONUS 5% off plus a FREE item for life so really it's 15 to nearly 45% off!! No pressure, I often don't make the best decisions with my (+ Andy's 😉) money so I get it (note those percentages listed above 😂) but if you like good fish at all, NOW is the BEST time to stock up and save! Available raw fish portions from Bering Bounty: King Salmon portionsSockeye Salmon portionsCoho Salmon portionsPink Salmon portionsCod portionsHalibut portionsSablefish portions Like with the beef sale we think the star of the show is going to be the Sampler Bundle and we have 3 sizes to choose from: 1 of each fish (7 portions)2 of each fish4 of each fish: ships for free/reduced, the largest savings of all the deals at 38% off (before subscription savings are added) ✨In addition to the Sampler Bundles we also have the Salmon Lovers Bundle pictured above and a White Fish Lovers bundle which includes: 4 Cod2 Sablefish2 HalibutSave 30%!We even have a Buy 3, Get 1 FREE option for: CodCohoSablefishKing Salmon CaviarMix and Match all your different favorites to get free/reduced shipping and stock your freezer! Not only do we have Bering Bounty to bring us the best raw fish, but I also found Alaska Smokehouse so we also have a source of smoked fish!And, guess what? Smoked fish doesn't need refrigeration or special shipping so we even have a few bundles and a lot of products that can be shipped anywhere!! Right now we only ship our frozen meats throughout the Midwest but smoked & tinned fish doesn't need any special shipping so we even have a few non-perishable bundles, spices, cookbooks and pet treats in our Off the Hook Fish Sale that can be shipped anywhere!For more info on how to do a work-around if our online store tells you we can't deliver to you, see this article. Sorry for the extra step, it's the best our software can offer at the moment and once it's set up, it's super easy! But, wait. There's more! In addition to the raw fish and smoked fish we included a few more products in our Off the Hook Fish Sale: ButterSalt SeasoningsCookbooksDog & Cat Treats Obviously butter, salt and seasonings need to be included, what fun is fish without those??We are so happy to have also partnered with Nordic Creamery and we LOVE their butters. We just added their Pepper Butter (won the Gold last year 🥇) to our line-up, we'll see how it performs compared to our current best-seller, their Garlic Butter (won the silver last year 🥈). May as well try them all while they are on sale! Salt & seasonings....I mean salt is my favorite so we'll always have fun options there but check out some of our seasonings and sauces if you are ready to experiment and have some fun with all your fish! Scared that you are going to screw it up because you don't really know how to cook fish? 😬We've got cookbooks! And, as usual, we'll include some of our free recipe cards too or check out the fish-specific page on our website for cooking tips (Captain Mark prefers to cook straight from the freezer!) or our Recipe Page. We aren't the only ones that love fish - dogs and cats do too! 😺So we included some fun fishy treats for dogs & cats too, starting at just $2.70 - there's no reason to leave out our best friends! 🐶 We even have fishy-treats for our 4-legged friends!! (Lots more to choose from in the farm store if you can come visit!)I hope you’re as excited about our 1st Annual Off the Hook Fish Sale as I am!If you have any hesitation or questions, simply hit reply and ask away!Your farmer & a-fish-ionado friend, Stephanie Schneider