Homestead Wife Life

I wish all the Mothers and those who do the job of Mother the most delightful, love filled Mother's Day.

I lost my Mom to cancer in 2018. I have missed her every single day since. I was blessed with an amazing Mom. For those of you feeling that sadness of loss today, I am with you. I wish you peace and a huge hug.

This community has added soooo much to my life. I am truly grateful ♥️.

1 day ago | [YT] | 231

Homestead Wife Life

I'm trying to focus on some computer work. This type of thing makes that difficult. My daughter walked in and placed the chick next to me, he took it upon himself to pose for animal crackers on my laptop!!! I grabbed a quick pic before eviction!!! ♥️

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3 days ago | [YT] | 119

Homestead Wife Life

Hello my friends,

We’re still holding off on planting — these cold nights in the 40s will slow everything down too much.

But this is the setup we’ll be using this season. I get asked about these quite a bit, so I wanted to share in case it’s helpful.

Vego is running a Mother’s Day sale right now (up to 40% off), and they gave me an extra 5% code if you’ve been thinking about getting one (We use VEGO raied beds here for the past 5 years, they are top notch):

HOMESTEADWIFELIFEMD5

Link if you want to take a look:
www.vegogarden.com/

GreenStalk is also running a sale right now — we’ve used their vertical planters here for 14 years and added more this season. I adore them!

rstr.co/greenstalkgarden/hwl10

I’ll show everything once we’re fully planted out 🌱

When I see a good deal on a brand that has earned my trust I am thrilled to share it ❤️

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 63

Homestead Wife Life

Hello My Friends,

I spoke with Hannah from Oak Barrel LTD (where I get the vinegar barrels) she told me about something I didn’t know!!

They have barrels for aging vanilla extract!!!! I bought 2 !

If you’re interested here is the link:

oakbarrelsltd.com/products/vanilla-extract-barrel

For mother of vinegar:

oakbarrelsltd.com/products/mother-of-vinegar

This is a company I like, these are NOT paid links. Just sharing good stuff ❤️

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 96

Homestead Wife Life

Hi my friends,

I wanted to pop in and let you know I’m a bit under the weather (sick as a dog) and won’t be able to get our usual Sunday video up.

That said… there’s something pretty special happening here.

Our eggs have started to hatch, and I’ll be sharing updates throughout the day as the chicks make their way out of their shells and get settled. It felt wrong not to bring you along for that part of the story.

I already posted the eggs pipping in a short this morning, you can hear them making those cute little peeps 🐥

Thank you for always being so kind and understanding. I’ll be back to our regular programming on Wednesday.

For today, we’ll watch new life unfold together ❤️🤧🤷‍♀️

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 202

Homestead Wife Life

I just wanted to say thank you.

I wasn’t sure how that beehive video was going to land… it was a hard one to share.

Reading your comments, your kindness, and your understanding meant more than I can really put into words.

This community continues to surprise me in the best way.

I appreciate you more than you know. ♥️

Hugs,
Tamatha

1 month ago | [YT] | 219

Homestead Wife Life

If you started the **red wine or white wine vinegar with me**, you may be wondering something:

**Do we need to feed the vinegar yet?**

The answer is **no — not right now.**

When we started these jars, we added a piece of **active vinegar mother** to **fresh wine**. Right now the bacteria are busy converting the alcohol in the wine into vinegar.

During this stage the best thing to do is simply **leave the jar alone**.

Just make sure:
• The jar is covered with cloth or a coffee filter
• It can breathe (don’t seal it)
• It’s kept at normal room temperature

Over the next few weeks you may see:
• The mother sink
• A new mother forming on top
• The wine smell fading and the vinegar smell getting stronger

All of that is **completely normal**.

Once the wine has fully turned into vinegar, *then* we can begin feeding the culture if we want to keep the vinegar going long-term.

I’ll check back in with everyone as the batches progress. If you’re making vinegar with me, let me know below — I love seeing how everyone’s jars are doing!

2 months ago | [YT] | 104

Homestead Wife Life

One of our makers shared this wonderful homemade pan-release recipe in the comments, and it was too good not to pass along.

Thank you to @Fritz0616 for sharing this tip with our kitchen — this is exactly why I love this community. ❤️

Homemade Pan Release (“Baker’s Doop”)

Shared by HWL Maker @Fritz0616

Ingredients (equal parts):
• All-purpose flour
• Vegetable oil
• Vegetable shortening (or softened butter)

Instructions
1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan or bowl.
2. Warm gently over low heat if needed until smooth and fully blended.
3. Transfer to an airtight container and allow to cool completely.

Storage
• Pantry: 3–6 months
• Refrigerator: 6+ months

To Use
Brush a thin layer onto the pan, making sure to reach corners and edges.

I love when our makers share their kitchen wisdom — it’s one of my favorite parts of this community, and I’m always thrilled to pass along the good ones.

We really are a village of makers and doers here — sharing what we know and growing together.

Warmly,
Tamatha

2 months ago | [YT] | 110

Homestead Wife Life

Happy Valentine’s Day to the best tribe of Doers & Makers anywhere.

If you’re in the kitchen today… what are you making? Sweet, savory, or just coffee and survival? 🙂

I’m really glad we get to share this kitchen together. ❤️.
P.S. Growing season is coming!!!! I can't wait to share that too 🌸

Hugs,
Tamatha

2 months ago | [YT] | 238

Homestead Wife Life

Yesterday a lovely member of our maker community asked a great question:

Is it actually cheaper to make cultured dairy at home, or does it just feel cheaper?

I didn’t want to guess — so I pulled receipts and ran the numbers ounce for ounce using the same store for comparison.

Here’s what I found.

🧈 Homemade (Exact Yield & Cost)

Low-temperature pasteurized heavy cream
$4.99 × 4 = $19.96

Cultured buttermilk (starter)
$5.99

Total cost: $25.95

Yield:

2 pints crème fraîche

13.6 oz cultured butter

1 pint real cultured buttermilk

Leftover ingredients:

28 oz cultured buttermilk

4 oz heavy cream

🛒 Store-Bought (Whole Foods — Same Amounts)

Crème fraîche (2 pints): $28.80
(~$0.90 per ounce)

Cultured butter (13.6 oz): $21.35
(~$1.57 per ounce)

Cultured buttermilk (1 pint): $3.04
(~$0.19 per ounce)

Store-bought total: $53.20

💰 The Difference

Store-bought: $53.19

Homemade: $25.95

👉 Homemade savings: $27.24

I assumed homemade would be cheaper — but I honestly didn’t expect the difference to be this significant.

This is exactly why I love checking the math instead of relying on assumptions. ❤️

2 months ago | [YT] | 161