Author Archives: LISS
THE TILAPIA ARE HERE!
Not much to look at now, but once they acclimate and get in the pond they are going to grow so deliciously. The original plan was an aquaponic system (growing fish and plants together) but it didnt work out with … Continue reading
Mid-summer’s Dream: The Fairy Garden
With the boys gone for the summer, and Clay focused on the shed (passed final inspection, yea!) I had to find a way to occupy myself. So I immediately thought of the standard project for lonely moms: The Fairy Garden. What?!? … Continue reading
Projects and Progress
What a difference a season makes! Spring is cautiously approaching the Tropical Homestead. We’ve had some cold air travel south from those frigid Northern storms, but weve had some beautiful days in the 80’s, too. And beautiful days mean projects … Continue reading
Growing Our Own Coffee: Nailed It
We did it. We drank coffee brewed with home grown beans. Failure never tasted so sweet. We were so excited when our coffee bush was loaded with blossoms this spring. And, whoa, did they smell heavenly. All spring we lovingly … Continue reading
Love Among the Corn Rows
Saturday is the day I pamper the corn – not just any corn – but Wampum corn, which produces multi-colored corncobs most people classify as ornamental. But after grinding some Wampum corn into meal and enjoying the most blissful cornmeal … Continue reading
When Trees Hug Back – Pine Resin Salve
We are usually all about edible landscaping at the Tropical Homestead, but in this post we pay homage to the pine tree and natural remedies. I found a website, Bear Medicine Herbals, extolling the virtues of Pine Pitch Salve and was … Continue reading
Food Falling from the Sky: Coconuts
The last of the summer storms blow through the Tropical Homestead in September. The blustery weather causes one of our favorite phenomena, food from the skies. A satisfying thud signals the coconut’s arrival from above, and the whole family springs … Continue reading
Mead Making and Milking the Squirrel
We have a phrase here at the Tropical Homestead. It’s called: Milking the Squirrel. Aside from the disturbing visual it invokes, it has grown to mean a few different things. First it was meant to convey how flash-bang thrilled we … Continue reading
The Wild Wine
“It is the wine that leads me on, the wild wine that sets the wisest man to sing at the top of his lungs, laugh like a fool – it drives the man to dancing… it even tempts him to … Continue reading
How to Train Your Dragon(fruit)
With the rainy season upon us, you might think a cactus would be the last thing we at the Tropical Homestead would be thinking of. Well, you’d be wrong. So very, very wrong. Behold the wild force of nature that … Continue reading