 One way our family has saved quite a bit of money is to have our own vegetable garden. Not only do we enjoy fresh vegetables throughout the summer but I also freeze vegetables to enjoy in the winter. I am very serious about putting vegetables up in the freezer - we have 3 chest freezers ...  We finished pruning our 20 acre vineyard last week and began helping our oldest son (Tyler) and his wife (Jessica) prune their 25 acres. They live about 15 minutes from us so we do not have too far to travel. We normally get to the vineyard by 10:00 am, work until lunch and then continue ...  You may have noticed my latest recipe additions - Sauerkraut and Fermented Carrots - are fermented. Being on the GAPS Diet and reading about the health benefits of probiotics, I have purposefully added them to our family's diet. One way to get probiotics is through fermented foods. But, not just "fermented" as in pickled, I ...  Fermented foods are a wonderful source of probiotics which help keep the beneficial bacteria in your gut healthy and active. The following recipe for fermented carrots is easy to prepare and after a week on your counter at room temperature is ready to be refrigerated and enjoyed. Fermented Carrots Ingredients 12 medium carrots or enough to fill a 1/2 gallon ...  Yesterday, I awoke to a rainy day! Yes, you read that correctly. Here in west Texas it was raining! The normally dry, desert conditions were completely different - everything was wet! We even had rain running down our windows! Now, we are dedicated workers and even work in freezing weather, but with the rain, everyone ...  Being on the GAPS Diet for the fourth week as a family, the feeling of deprivation by all has me seeking new recipes with honey. The following recipe appeared on the Nourishing Gourmet as a guest post by Kristin Jukes. Putting my own twist to it (based on a dessert pudding from our time spent in Switzerland), ...  With all the dramatic temperature changes while pruning, we have come to really appreciate the warm days of early spring. This morning, however, was met with damp thick fog - very unusual for west Texas! Looking from the house, you can see in the picture above, the vineyard is not even visible. My first thought ... While we undertook the GAPS Diet as a family experiment, to make sure everyone had healthy gut bacteria, the results have been encouraging. I have detailed my experience with the GAPS (relief from rheumatoid arthritis pain and ability to eat meat after a 30 year "allergy") but the family has also benefited. There are 4 ...  This week has been filled with pruning. From the time we finish breakfast until we stop about 8pm for dinner. Actually, we do not stop for dinner - it gets dark around 8pm so we quit work. We are averaging pruning about 1 1/2 acres per day and have about 4 1/2 acres left. After a long ...  When we moved to west Texas four years ago, one thing we were told was not to fret the weather - give it time, it'll change. Boy, were they right! Last week we had freezing weather with drizzle, sleet and snow. Oh, and don't forget the wind. One day we had 41 mile/hour sustained winds with ... |
     
 
God has amazingly blessed me, Dina-Marie, with a wonderful husband and 10 beautiful children. Moving from our "secure" life in Alabama to the "exciting" life of starting a vineyard in west Texas has definitely been challenging. Besides frugality, farm life and simple living, I have learned the importance of diet, quality of food and traditional cooking. Through the GAPS diet, I am successfully reversing my rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and food allergies. I hope to encourage you to make the most of where you are and what you have as I share my life with you. 
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