Category Archives: Homestead

Nearly Dry

We’ve had some rain lately, but not enough. The creek that runs through our land is nearly dry now. Thankfully, there are still a few constantly refilling pools here and there, or else I’d have to carry water to the horses. Even the spring puddles on the way to the back gate are completely dry. […]

RedBubble iPhone Wallet: It’s beautiful! It’s Useless!

The iPhone Wallet from Redbubble Update 5/28: The Support Team and I have exchanged several emails. I am still convinced none of them were real people, but help bots that chose the most appropriate responses from a queue of options available to them. So frustrating! Anyway, they assured me that they are sending me a […]

Lousewort, Bumblebee Food and Medicinal Herb

Lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis) is an interesting plant. It’s a medicinal herb said to be effective at muscular pain relief. The bumblebees love it! An interesting find In May of 2014, I noticed an interesting plant. Well, I’m *always* noticing interesting plants, so it wasn’t the first time to notice an interesting plant, but the first […]

Finding the Horses on a Drizzly Easter Sunday Morning

On Sundays I generally sleep late. The alarm goes off every other day at 0500, but on Sundays I have no alarm at all and my body takes full advantage of that fact. I do not ordinarily wake up planning to go off on a walkabout mission finding the horses. Finding the horses is never […]

Things I’ve Learned (Since Moving to the Country)

These are the things I’ve learned since moving out here to Wild Ozark. I used to think I lived in “the country”, before we moved out here. That was thirteen years ago and I quickly realized once we burnt the bridges and sold our house, that we had no clue what it meant to live […]

Product Review: Rada Kitchen Knives and Cutlery

The best thing about Rada knives – well, I can’t say that. ONE of the best things about these knives is that they’re made in the U.S.A. The other best thing is that they’re terrific. Read on to find out why I think so. Of the set, I only have the paring knife, apple peeler/potato […]

Build your Herbal Armory!

Useful plants grow all around us. It’s time to start building your herbal armory of plant allies now. My book, 10 Common Plants worth Knowing in a Long-term Survival Situation, will introduce you to ten at a time. I’ll help you make allies of them, enabling you to build your herbal armory. All-Heal Beebalm Echinacea […]

Simple Survival Skills: The Multipurpose Pashmina Shawl #survivalhack #homesteading

A scarf by itself might not be enough to keep you from freezing to death in extreme temperatures. But a large scarf, known as a shawl, can serve multiple functions aside from keeping your neck warm like a scarf. It takes up little space in a glove compartment in your car. Keep one in your […]

Product Review: A Quiet Computer Mouse by Mossy Oak

My old mouse recently died and I had to get another. The next time we went to Walmart I picked up one of the least expensive ones I could find. It was around $10 and I thought that’s not too bad. At this point, I didn’t have any other requirements in mind, except that it […]

Simple Survival Skills: Limited Water Washing

I forget, until I have to use them, how many simple survival skills I’ve used since moving to this remote and rural Ozarks life. Washing dishes with limited water is one of the most useful things to know. Simple Survival Skills This post will seem silly to some people, especially people who have washed dishes […]

RIP Bobbie Sue. You were a good Farm Dog.

Bobbie Sue was a dog we got as a pound puppy from a shelter in Harrison, Arkansas during our first year here at Wild Ozark. She had probably been abused or severely neglected before she went to the rescue. She wouldn’t come out of her crate for days when we brought her home. When she […]

Using a Spring for Water – Winter Issues

Using a spring for water requires more effort than relying on tap water. Sometimes, just because you turn on the faucet, that doesn’t mean the water will come out like it’s supposed to. Yesterday, while Rob worked on changing the O2 sensors on his truck, I burned some calories. It was only twenty degree as […]

Long Dirt Road: Why it Takes me an Hour to Drive 12 Miles

This is a post from a few years ago that I love, so I’m reposting it. We live down a long dirt road. This little facet of our lives is the main thing that makes or breaks most newcomers to rural life. It takes a long time to go anywhere, if you go slow enough […]

Through Ice and Mud We Go – Bringing Hay to Horses

Through Ice and Mud Whether through ice and mud, or snow, or rain or wind, kind of like the postman’s creed to deliver mail, we must deliver hay to the horses. It’s easy to stay in touch with the wheel of time when you repeat a certain activity outdoors throughout the year. I like this facet […]

New Tax Rule – Arkansas Sales Tax on Digital Products

This year there’s a new tax rule that will affect the people who buy digital goods from Wild Ozark. We have to pay retail sales tax on ebooks that I sell in our online shop as of January 1, 2018.   Sales Tax on Digital Goods only for Arkansas Residents Just as with other sales […]

Elderberry Flowers Oil Infusion

Elderberry flowers have a light, sweet fragrance and all manners of pollinators love them. Which Elderberry Flowers? The variety I’m using for this is Sambucus canadensis, which is the native elderberry in our area.  Black elderberry (S. nigra) is the european comparative variety. Don’t use red elderberry if it grows in your area because that one […]

2017 Farmers Market Schedule

I decided to just update the schedule on my “appearances page“. Please check there for the latest dates. The link to get there is https://www.wildozark.com/appearances-workshops-herb-walks-presentations/  Schedule of farmers markets & events 5/26/17 – Friday I’ll be in Jasper, for a change of venue.  I’ll have a couple of older ginseng plants (2 yr and 3 yr plants), ginseng […]

Ginseng Seedlings for Sale! At the Huntsville Farmer’s Market on Tuesday

Look for the Wild Ozark booth at the Huntsville Arkansas Farmers Market. First market day of the 2017 season is Tuesday, April 11. We’ll be there with ginseng jam, herbal syrup, books, and nature art. Stop in to say hello!

Sunrise Sounds at Wild Ozark

In the mornings, we don’t hear highway noise of people rushing to get to work on time. Our sunrise sounds belong to nature. Sunrise Sounds Remodeling We’ve been particularly busy lately here. Rob’s remodeling the bathroom. We thought it might be a weekend project, just a new coat of paint and put up some trim. […]

Starting Seeds and Straightening Tines

Yesterday I decided it was time to get busy starting seeds for our garden. Hauled the seed vault out and began the painful process of picking which of the very many seeds I have saved that I want to start first. Starting Seeds Means Choosing WHICH Seeds The pile quickly grew too large. And so […]

An Herbal Remedy for Winter Crud featuring Mullein, Ginseng, Beebalm, and Echinacea

Here’s my recipe for an herbal remedy I use every year to combat what we’ve come to call “Winter Crud”. We also take it at the first sign of anything that feels like trouble coming on. This year’s formula uses mullein, echinacea, ginseng, and beebalm.

Bringing Hay to Horses in Snow

After yesterday’s post where I reveled in the fact that we’d actually had a decent snowfall, we went out in the cold to bring hay to horses. The temperature was about 15*F with a windchill factor of I don’t know what, but I’m sure ridiculously cold. Rob takes the tractor and I go ahead of […]

Can’t see the Trees for the Forest, or rather, Snowflakes for the Snow

Yesterday we only had a little bit of snow and each little snowflake was easy to see and photograph. Now it is like not being able to see the trees for the forest. Can’t see the snowflakes for the snow. Snow Makes the Cold More Bearable … for a little while But I love it. […]

How to Identify Plants in the Wild, How to Search and Find Clues

Earlier this year I surveyed my newsletter members for their top questions. Here’s one about how to identify plants found in the outdoors. Top Questions It’s more of a comment than a question, but I’m creating this post in response to it. Although I’ve paraphrased some, I believe the underlying question would be “how to identify […]