Heche's Homestead

Heche's Homestead 🌱 grow more 🧶 preserve more 🫙make more 🐣
Practical homesteading on One Half Acre in Wisconsin
Helping busy families grow, preserve, and make more!
(5)

08/31/2026

Start Christmas gifts NOW. Beat the stress later✌️

Hope everyone’s using the weekend to relax like we are! (And when I say relax I mean makin a mess in the kitchen again b...
08/30/2026

Hope everyone’s using the weekend to relax like we are! (And when I say relax I mean makin a mess in the kitchen again but with music on 😅)

08/29/2026

You really don’t need a huge garden to grow a meaningful amount of food🌱

This is one of the things I love most about small-space gardening.

These raised beds aren’t enormous, but they’re producing enough that I can walk outside, harvest vegetables, and put part of dinner on the table.

And I’m not trying to grow everything.

I’m not trying to make our garden a full time job.

I’m growing the things we actually eat.

That’s the secret I’ve learned: don’t start by asking what you can grow. Start by asking what you already buy.

Then grow a little of that.

A few tomato plants
Some peppers
Zucchini
Herbs
Whatever your family reaches for every week!

And those little harvests add up FAST.

Our Vego Garden raised beds have been a huge part of making this work in the space we have, especially because I can maximize the growing space without needing a massive backyard.

If you’re trying to figure out how to get started with raised beds or make a small garden work harder, comment GARDENING and I’ll send you the details on how to get started🌱

Because you don’t need more land.

You might just need to start using the land you already have differently❤️

08/28/2026

Got more zucchini than you know what to do with? Make ZAPPLE PIE FILLING🍎🥒😂

I know it sounds completely unhinged, but peeled, seeded zucchini makes a surprisingly convincing apple substitute when you give it the right treatment.

And now instead of wondering what the heck I’m going to do with another zucchini, I have pie filling waiting in the pantry.

🍎 ZAPPLE PIE FILLING

For about 4 quarts:

🥒 8 cups peeled, seeded & sliced zucchini
🍬 3 cups sugar
🍋 ½ cup lemon juice
💧 1 cup water
🌽 ½ cup cornstarch
🍎 1 tsp cinnamon
🥄 ¼ tsp nutmeg
🧂 ¼ tsp salt
🍋 1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

1. Peel the zucchini, scoop out the seeds, and slice it into apple-sized pieces.

2. Add the zucchini to a it. Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

3. Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and water in a bowl. Pour over zucchini and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbling.

4. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.

6. Ladle into hot quart jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Wipe the rims and seal fingertip tight.

🫙Freeze
🫙Can: 30 minutes boiling water bath canner

And when winter rolls around?

That zucchini is becoming pie, turnovers, crisps… whatever Future Me is craving!

This is my favorite kind of preserving: taking something we have WAY too much of right now and turning it into something we actually want to eat later.

Save this for zucchini season🥒❤️

And if you’re trying to figure out how to grow, make, preserve, and improve your way toward a more self-reliant home, comment HOMESTEAD and I’ll send you my free Homestead Roadmap🌱

08/26/2026

So… apparently I needed to explain myself😂

🎄 HOMEMADE HOT COCOA MIX!

I’m making this now so Future Me can have Christmas gifts ready months before December instead of panic-making everything while trying to enjoy the holidays.

☕ HOMEMADE HOT COCOA MIX

Makes 1 pint jar

🥛 1 cup freeze-dried milk, powdered
🍫 ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
🍬 ½ cup powdered sugar
🍫 ½ cup mini chocolate chips
🧂 Pinch of salt
✨ ½ tsp vanilla powder (optional, but SO good)

Mix everything together really well and pour into a pint jar.

To make a mug, add about ⅓ cup mix to 1 cup hot milk or water, stir until smooth, and enjoy.

You can adjust the sweetness to your liking, add more chocolate chips, or throw in crushed peppermint for a Christmas version🎄

And yes, I could just buy hot cocoa mix.

But that’s not really the point.

I can make this from ingredients I already have, package it in a cute jar, and have a homemade Christmas gift sitting on the shelf months before I need it.

That’s the kind of homesteading we love around here✨.

Do a little work now to make Future You’s life easier.

So there you have it.

THAT is what the hell it is😂☕🎄

Save this for your Christmas prep!

08/25/2026

Apparently 20 pounds of peaches wasn’t enough, because I went back for 40 MORE😂🍑

This time I fixed my biggest mistake from the first round: I actually made jam.

I used 15 lbs for jam and 15 lbs for peach cobbler filling. Here are the recipes so you can save them!

🍑 NO-PECTIN PEACH JAM

15 lbs peaches

🍑 15 lbs peeled, pitted & chopped peaches
🍋 ½ cup lemon juice
🍬 8-10 cups sugar (I do less)

Combine everything in a large pot and let sit about 30 minutes.

🔥 Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened… about 45-90 minutes depending on how juicy your peaches are.

🥄 Blend with an immersion blender if you want it smoother.

🫙 Ladle into hot half-pint jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace, and process half pints for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath.

🍑 PEACH COBBLER FILLING

15 lbs peaches

🍑 15 lbs peeled, pitted & sliced peaches
🍬 6 cups sugar
🌽 1½ cups cornstarch
🧂 1 tsp cinnamon
🥄 ½ tsp nutmeg
🍋 1½ cups lemon juice
💧 7½ cups water

Mix sugar, corn starch, spices & water in a large pot. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbling.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

🍑 Fold in peaches and heat through.

🫙 Ladle into hot quart jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Process quarts in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

This is going straight onto the shelf for winter cobblers and crisps🙌

15 lbs = jam
15 lbs = cobbler filling
A whole lot of Future Me wins😘

Save this for peach season! 🍑❤️

Address

Stoughton, WI

Telephone

+16085011618

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