Top Posts in 2015
It seems that many of my favorite blogs are doing some sort of “top posts for 2015” lists. I have always found the top 10 posts to be some of the most helpful, interesting and beneficial articles.
Since the top 10 are determined by user traffic and not the writer’s opinion, you can bet they will probably be worthwhile reading.
I find it interesting to see which posts net the most traffic. Some of them surprise me. Some of them confuse me. Some of them make me sad (like the post: Help! My Cow May Have Mastitis). If you are reading that one I want to give you a hug. 🙂
Here’s the top 10 Posts from farmfreshforlife.com in case you happened to miss any of them. Just “click” on the picture (or the title) and it will should take you to the post.
Top 10 Posts from FarmFreshForLife.com in 2015
(Side Note: some of the top posts from 2015 were actually written in 2014)
# 1 Introduction to Keeping Chickens – The Redneck Way
Forget everything you thought you knew about keeping chickens in houses, runs and fences. This approach is easy, clean, mess free and you don’t have to build anything (except the coop). For truly Free-range chickens this is the way to go.
#2 Homemade Cranberry Sauce – The old Fashioned Way
Mamaw taught me how to make cranberry sauce. This is so easy and delicious I will never eat the stuff from the can again.
#3 Homemade Fudge without Carnation Evaporated Milk
I am not a, “food blogger.” You can bet the farm, if I post a recipe it is a game-changer. This is one of those recipes. Not only is it made with real ingredients (that you probably have in your house), it is better than the stuff made with can goods and chemicals. So, so, so slammin’, crazy good! … And it only takes about 5 minutes to make.
#4 Build Your Own Chicken Coop
I’ve decided that you can spend as much money as you want on a chicken coop. Because we don’t have tons of extra money to spend on chickens, we built our own chicken coop for very, very little money. This post will tell you how we did it and give you some fresh ideas for solving the chicken-dwelling riddle.
#5 Canning (and Making) Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Boy, this is an amazing recipe for making (and canning) your own spaghetti sauce. Here’s what makes it different and fabulous:
- All fresh ingredients from the garden
- No need to “cook until sauce reduces by HALF.” Ugh – No, thank you.
- No pressure canning (please follow all guidelines for your elevation and canner)
- It is so tasty, fresh and versatile that it can be used for pasta sauces, pizza topping, marinara dipping and anything else!
I’ve made it for years and years and years. It’s always perfect.
#6 Raising Feeder Pigs – Concrete or Pasture?
CAFO’s make me cry and I am doing my part to get the poor, poor piggys off concrete and onto some grass. Yea! Happy Pigs.
I have raised pigs for years. I have raised them for us. I have raised them for extended family & friends. I have raised them for money. This post has all sorts of fun information about how we raise pigs.
#7 Children, Chickens, Weeds & Work
Well, you’re just going to have to read this for yourself. It involves country kids (painfully) learning the value of work and a ridiculous number of broiler (meat) chickens. Like, a ridiculous number.
#8 Homemade Pumpkin Bread – Even if you HATE Pumpkin and Anything Orange – You’re Gonna Love This
My mouth waters looking at this picture because I’ve tasted this. It all began because of a contest between canned pumpkin and homemade pumpkin. This pumpkin bread is the bomb. DH hates pumpkin anything – but he loves this.
#9 How to Clear Woods for Free without a Back Hoe
Yes, my pigs are helping with the gardening. The original goal was to transform a thick wooded area of our farm into a humongous garden. This project is still underway. We used some chainsaws and some pigs to do the majority of the work. Hopefully, it will come to completion this spring when the, former woods, former pig pasture, morphs into a fruitful garden.
Can’t wait!
#10 Help! My Cow May Have Mastitis!
If you think you may be up against mastitis you have come to the right place. Unfortunately, I am the queen of mastitis. Don’t worry – I haven’t mistreated or abused my cow. She has a (basically) incurable variety of mastitis. I have lived through it (and with it) and you can too.
This post will teach you some different types of mastitis, what you can do to get your cow well, what you can do to prevent future flare ups and what may have caused the problem in the first place.
I think it 2015 was a good year around here. As usual, I’ve learned a lot, grown a lot and been tremendously blessed. Even though it was hard to lose our cow, Faith, last spring, the year has brought positive changes and lots of homesteading fun.
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Happy New Year!
Candi
