Planting our Roots

05/19/2026

Poison is never the answer! The harm is felt by so much more than just the intended pest.

Same thing with w**d killer. We have to do better!

This is the last picture I took of her before she died.

We got a call for 5 orphaned grey fox kits that I wanted to see in person to make sure they were orphans. When we arrived, 2 of them had already died. Greg laid on the ground to pull them out from under a porch, all of them weak. Another one died minutes after we got home. They were lethargic and limp as rag dolls. They had black tar p**p and a distinct metallic smell. In my past experience these symptoms are from rodenticide poisoning. We started the poison treatment protocol right away and tried flushing the poison out.

The runt was in the best shape, even though she only weighed 85 grams. After both her parents were dead, (we never saw them) and her siblings passed despite my best efforts, I snapped this picture thinking she had a shot at survival. She was so sad here, sick, lost her whole family, and I'm sure she was scared. But I was hopeful. I wanted to make an informational post about rodenticides and how awful they are. I was thinking we could have a positive spin on a sad story with her survival. But she didn't survive. She was so tiny and the poison was too much. In my trying to save her, I inadvertently just made her suffer longer. There's no silver lining, no lesson, and every part of this story sucks.

I've been so burned out from situations like this. We get so many calls from people that just want wildlife gone and don't care how. As a society, shouldn't we have the critical thinking skills to realize that using poison for rodents will have a negative domino effect? It's such a cruel way to kill.

I've been dwelling on this a couple days and haven't been able to kick the feeling. It just makes me sad. These babies were so tiny and precious. For the life of me I'll never understand why poisoning animals is legal.

05/07/2026

I like making bread, but sometimes I don’t want to. Having a few discard recipes ready to go keeps me from storing excess starter in the fridge. It can get out of control fast if you aren’t careful! (I know my husband is going to read that and be shaking his head in agreement)

I’m really doing better! I use up the starter quickly and only keep one jar in the fridge as backup. Do you have a favorite discard recipe?

05/06/2026

Monthly bee keeper meeting at . We are learning as much as we can to prepare for our hives next spring and got to meet so many friendly beekeepers tonight. The weather was perfect and the cool air was so refreshing as the sun set.

04/25/2026

Come out to the and see and myself!

We have fresh sourdough rolls, brown butter harvest cookies, brown butter sourdough chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, brownies, muffins, and fresh milled flour!!

04/23/2026

No special bowls
No special molds
No special cutters

🧼 Can you buy that stuff? Sure. But the bowls in your kitchen are just fine for soap making. Silicone baking pans work great as soap molds. A knife or bench scraper cuts soaps easily. And most of the ingredients you most likely have.

This soap is avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil, essential oil, and lye. The only thing I needed was lye and it was under $10 and will make many many bars of soap.

Try not to get caught up in the fancy accessories of soap making if you are trying to save money. The soap world runs as deep as the sourdough world and it’s easy to think you need it all. I’ve gotten a few things from marketplace for soap making like my loaf pan, but I can manage without it. Silicone molds from the thrift store have been great.

I make basic bars of soap for the everyday family. Shampoo bars, body bars, and dish soap bars. If I taught another class, which would you like to learn to make?

04/19/2026

🧼 My first tallow shampoo bar class was so much fun! Lots of ladies and kids came out to see the soap making process up close. And everyone went home with a shampoo bar I made using the same recipe.

We all got to chat while the lye and oils cooled and shared some homemade bread, cookies, and fresh fruit. Such a lovely time to get together and learn! Shout out to who paired with me on this class and taught me years ago how to make soap ❤️

04/19/2026

The chocolate bread was the star of my photos but the cookies peeking in the background are what really stole the show today.

I’ve been working on a new recipe for my next event. These are called Harvest cookies and use use browned butter, FMF, cranberries, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, and cinnamon. Its a nod to fall without the need to use pumpkin. The feedback on them has been very positive! I have one more adjustment to make on the flour amount and these will be ready for my next event!

04/17/2026

Well, I figured I’d try it because 2 people on here who used FMF said that they never change the flour ratio for their recipes when converting to FMF. The key was to let absorb for at least 2 hours. So I used my regular cookie recipe, chilled in the fridge for 5 hours, and this was the result 😆

It’s a no for me. The extra FMF when converting recipes is staying in my playbook.

04/05/2026

Do you or don’t you give baskets? I don’t think there is a wrong answer. We do something different each year so I really can’t say we have a tradition.

This year was book themed and a simple treat. Keeping it light because don’t need more stuff to move to the new house! 🏠

We try and keep the focus on Jesus and add in a few extra fun things along the way!

04/04/2026

Goats 🐐🐐🐐