Stop Throwing Away Bones After Making Broth!
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Stop Throwing Away Bones After Making Broth!

Meat can be a controversial subject. Some people claim that humans were never meant to eat meat and that they are healthier now that they only eat a plant based diet, others swear by the carnivore diet. Most homesteaders raise some kind of meat animal but there are some vegan homesteaders. I can respect whatever food decisions you make! We choose to eat meat, but we do eat it in moderation. We prefer to eat meat that we know where it comes from and had a good, fulfilling life. Lastly, we try to use as much of the animal as we can. That can be difficult! One part of the animal that I grew up throwing away is the bone. However, bone broth has made a come back, and for good reason! Bone broth is one of those super foods that not only gives you a ton of nutrients, but also ads good flavor to foods. We like soup, especially in the winter so it’s nice to have a lot of bone broth on hand. In fact, chicken isn’t my favorite type of meat, but we plan to raise meat chickens mostly so we can have their bones for broth! We have struggled a bit with making bone broth in the past and have only made it when we have enough bones to make a good batch. However, we’ve developed a good system that works well for us and I want to share how we get multiple uses out of those bones instead of just tossing them!

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Unraveling the mystery of Cistus Tea
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Unraveling the mystery of Cistus Tea

This post is the 2nd in a two part series about Cistus Incanus tea. If you haven’t read that, I recommend starting there. The first post was focused on the benefits of Cistus tea and why it is so amazing. This post is going to be more focused on how to make it. When I first looked into how to make Cistus tea, I expected the usual tea brewing methods but I found several different vague references to a “labor intensive” three brew method. These posts all had some kind of easier alternative brewing method but none of them actually described what the three brew method, why was traditionally done that way, and why their method was acceptable. I had to dig a little bit more to figure it out. Here is what I discovered!

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Can Herbal Tea Repel Ticks AND Treat Lyme? Part 1
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Can Herbal Tea Repel Ticks AND Treat Lyme? Part 1

As I meet people here in Southern Missouri, they often ask me how we like it out here. The truth is, I like it very much! Of course, there are things I miss about Utah, and I look forward to going back to visit, but so far, I love it here in the Ozarks! There is so much life here!

However, there is one thing that I hate about this place! I hate the ticks! I hate that they carry serious disease. I hate that they have painful bites that irritate you for so long. I hate that they crawl up you’re clothes and latch on in the most awkward places! I hate that they are parasites and suck your blood! I hate that they are difficult to kill! I hate how they discourage us from enjoying the outdoors! I could go on…

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 I’m Lichen This Beard!
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I’m Lichen This Beard!

They are fluffy, bushy, a little bit bristly, fun to play with, a little bit wild, and… very beneficial for your health! While my beard is most those things, that isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a fun lichen that grows in the forest that is called Usnea, or commonly called “Old Man’s Beard”. This is another one of those things similar to Turkey Tail that I’ve heard about but haven’t had the chance to harvest until recently. I was super excited to find it after moving to Missouri. Then, it didn’t take long to realize it’s literally everywhere in the forest! Usnea is a very potent herb that can do a lot of things but it does need to be used sparingly. Too much of it can cause liver damage. I am new to this herb and haven’t used it much at all, so I was going to wait and write about it when I have more experience with it but I thought it would be interesting to write about it now and then do a follow up later when I’ve had a chance to use it a little bit more. I have a few particular uses that I’m excited to use Usnea for, but before I get into that, I want to just introduce you to this herbal lichen.

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The Real Dangers of Raw Milk!
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The Real Dangers of Raw Milk!

My family has been using raw goat milk for over eleven years now. I’ve heard of the “dangers” of raw milk, especially back before it was more popular. If you go to your favorite search engine and type in “dangers of raw milk” you’ll see all kinds of scary germs and diseases associated with raw milk. In all the time we’ve been milking goats, we’ve never had any kind of adverse health problem or disease from using it. That being said, in my experience, there are some real dangers of raw milk that we have noticed.

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Turning Mushrooms into Medicine!
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Turning Mushrooms into Medicine!

Today I want to show you how we made medicine out of something that grows wild all over the forest. We love to forage! The idea of food growing wild that can be harvested and used right away is really interesting and exciting for our family. It seems like the more I learn about foraging, the more I think we as society are really missing the mark. Often, the most beneficial plants are very prolific, wide spread, and grow even in poor conditions. Because of that, most people call them weeds and try their best to kill them! Maybe they were designed to be resilient so that they would always be there to help us?

Since we’ve moved to Missouri, we have access to more than a few plants that we’ve heard of but never been able to use. One of those things is Turkey Tail mushrooms.

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Did God Mess up Your Feet?
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Did God Mess up Your Feet?

In a spur of the moment decision as we were getting out of the car and onto the trail, I ditched my boots and only took my sandals. Many of the older leaders scolded me for setting a bad example but I just had different tastes and different experience.

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