"The chill of winter lingered like that one friend who insists on striking up a conversation on their way out the door when you're more than ready to wrap up the party. The honeybees had made it through winter, but you could feel their hunger and eagerness to forage as they gathered around the sugar water set out to hold them over until blossom season began. Spring bulbs still hesitated, showing greens, but reluctant to lift their flowers to the wan sun. Still, signs of spring peeked out and flirted from time to time - the returned swallows swooping and diving over the pond, spring peepers and wood frogs singing on warm nights, a dragonfly basking on a sunny rock."

Goodness, it's been a busy couple of weeks. As I mentioned on April 9th, we traveled out of town that weekend. My husband and I went up to northwest Wisconsin to lay my brother's ashes to rest with my remaining siblings. There are four of us left out of six now. (My eldest sister passed in 2012 from cancer. My brother had long term health issues exacerbated by the covid jab.) It was a reminder of how quickly the years fly by.

On the homestead, we've been working to make up for lost time in the orchards, hitting the tree pruning hard after being set back by strong winds and rain earlier in the season. We're modifying our pruning strategy a bit this year, heading back the trees a little more and opening up the centers to keep them easier to manage as they grow. It's funny how those little bare root seedlings can turn into a tree so big you can't get access to the top branches with a 15 foot ladder.

Easter and my husband's birthday were low key this year. We made August a blueberry-blackberry pie from our homegrown berries instead of cake for his birthday, which was greatly enjoyed. We also did some controlled burns between the rains as part of our land management strategy in semi-wild areas. Book writing continues, both on my homesteading-preparedness book and August's physics and prehistory books. I think sometimes that the toughest part is trying to capture as much information as possible on a limited number of pages.

There are still a couple of trees in the orchard, plus our kiwi vines and roses that need attention, so I'd best wrap up for now.

All our best to you and yours,

Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)

This week's featured articles...

Though we are still waiting for our surge of spring wildflowers, I know many of you are well ahead of us, so I've updated our guide on the common blue violet - identification, use, and folklore. Fun fact - some common blue violets come in white, pink, and speckled forms. Thankfully, though there are over 70 species of the family violaceae in the United States, most have similar medicinal and food qualities.

If you have a bounty of violets, you may want to try your hand at making violet jelly. We have two recipes - one made with standard pectin, and a low sugar pectin option.

This one is fun because the violet tea base that starts the jelly is one color, but it turns pink when you add the lemon juice to make it safe for canning. The exact shade of pink depends on how much lemon and the starting color of the violets - blue, purple, pink, striped, etc.

You can use this recipe with violas (pansies), too. Just make sure the plants haven't been treated with chemicals. (We also have a dandelion jelly recipe, too.) This is safe for water bath canning, or you can keep it in the fridge.

It's always a blessing when those first harvests of the season are ready in the garden (or at the farmers market). This guide will help you store asparagus the right way, whether it's fresh, cooked, or you want to save it long-term.

There's been plenty of wild weather on the move this spring, with more in the forecast. Don't forget to grab your printable tornado prep check list, if you haven't done so already.

I know it's short notice, but the Herbal Academy is having a spring course sale through the end of 4/28/25 . If you’ve been thinking about diving into your herbal studies (or continuing the path you’re already on), now’s a great time to do it. You can enroll in their herbal courses and path packages—starting for as little as $40—and don’t forget to use the code SPRING10 for an EXTRA 10% off at checkout!