"The Homemaker's Handbook" E-Book

I have just made public "The Homemaker's Handbook" as a free download with a donation. I wrote this book over a course of many years while raising kids, working, farming and just keeping up with life. It has 12 chapters, listed below, including the largest one exclusively about food and recipes. I hope it will be interesting reading and will have some items that are helpful to everyone. 

"The Homemaker's Handbook"

A book for everyday people with tips for almost every area of day to day living including an extended chapter on cooking and recipes.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1.  Cleaning Your Home  a.   Cleaning the Kitchen b.   Polish Sparkle & Shine  c.   Walls, Floors & Furniture  Chapter 2.  Organizing Your Home    Chapter 3.  Children  a.   Safety  b.   Babies  c.   Toddlers  Chapter 4.  Health and Dieting  a.   Health  b.   Dieting  Chapter 5.  Outdoors  a.    Yard, Drive and Walkways  b.    Shrubs, Trees and Flowers  c.    Vegetable Garden  d.    Major Structures  Chapter 6.  Houseplants  a.   Necessary Elements b.   Forcing Bulbs  c.    Problems  d.   Some Common  Plants and Their Care  Chapter 7.  Herbs  a.   Growing Indoors  b.   Growing Outdoors  c.    Using Herbs  Chapter 8.  Food Preservation  a.   Freezing  b.   Drying c.    Root Cellar

Chapter 9.  Holidays & Entertaining  a.   Christmas  b.   Autumn Holidays  c.    Parties All Year  d.   Wines for Entertaining  Chapter 10.  Beverages  a.   Tips  b.   Liqueurs  c.   Water  d.   Recipes  Chapter 11. Food  a.   General Tips  b.   Eggs  c.   Dairy  d.   Poultry  e.   Beef & Pork  f.    Fish & Seafood  g.   Vegetables  h.   Pasta – Noodles  i.    Sauces, Dips, Dressing & Spreads  j.    Soups & Stews  k.   Salads & Hor D’Oeuvres  l.     Desserts  m.   Squares & Brownies  n.    Pastry  o.   Candies p.   Fruits & Berries  q.   Cakes  r.    Frostings  s.    Cookies  t.    Breads  u.   Muffins  Chapter 12.  Potpourri  a.   Essential Oils  b.   Making Your Own  c.   Using Potpourri

 

I have written three  books so far. 

"The Homemaker's Handbook"

"Making Organic Soap At Home" 

" Making Organic Wine At Home"

All of these books are now availble and can be accessed here: "Providence Acres Farm -  E-Books". You can also access this link on the " E-Book" tab above, just under the header.

I have endeavored to make these books easy to follow with pictures, clear directions and explanations. I intend to write more books of this type. I have started one entitled "Keeping A Few Chickens At Home" but have not finished it yet. Not that we are starting a freer lifestyle, I will have more time to write these and will finish the next one soon, I hope. These book sales will help us to keep ourselves off grid and give us both the time to write. In exchange I believe that you will be getting a great deal of value for your money! I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

Whether or not I continue to write books like this will depend mostly upon the popularity and success of the ones I have already written. If you use one of these books, some feedback would be appreciated.

Seedlings in the Cold Frame

I have seedlings growing in my cold frame!
A lot of them! 

 

These are my Hopi black squash seeds. They are doing very well. With all the rain and warm weather we have had lately, everything is healthy and growing well! 

 

I also have a couple of striped cushaw squash and about a dozen sweet dumpling plants. 

 

I have 62 tomato seedlings now! I have never planted that many before! They are all organic, mostly heirloom tomatoes. I planted 2-4 of each kind and I have dozens of different varieties!

 

These are purple hyacinth beans. I have several of them growing and doing well. These are a beautiful, flowering 

annual vine!

 

I also planted several nasturtiums coming up. They are annuals so won't go into the ground until the end of May.

 

They are all in the cold frame now. They can go into the garden the first of June. Our last frost date is May 24, but I always wait another week before planting out. 

 

Planting Seeds

I planted seeds indoors this past weekend. I brought up my shelf from the basement and positioned it in front of the south facing patio door. This is where all my indoor seeds grow until they get big enough for individual pots. Then they go into the cold frame. The tender bulbs get planted in the other cold frame. I have that still to do but want to get it done this 
coming weekend.



I like to reuse, reduce and recycle so I use plastic food containers for seeds. They work well if you cut holes in the bottom and put another food container underneath to catch the drip. (We eat a lot of mushrooms!)





Already the 'Love Lies Bleeding' amaranth is up! (see top picture) Wow! That was fast! I also grow 'Intense Purple' amaranth and love them but I don't have to plant those. They self seed all over every year. I might plant a few, just in case...

I am cutting back a lot on what I grow this year. I have just about planted every early thing that I intend to, mostly tomatoes and flowers. The tomatoes I planted this year are, for the most part, heirloom tomatoes with the exception of 'Manitoba' and 'Buckley's 51 day' tomatoes. These are the varieties I have planted: San Marzano, our own Portugal (of course), Black Krim, Terhune, Prince Borgese, Vincent Watts, Livingston Perfection, Rev Morrow Long Keeper, Giant Belgium, Aunt Lou's Underground Railroad, Chocolate Cherry, Azorian Red, Jaune Flammee, Matt's Wild Cherry, German Cascade, Ailsa Craig, Manitoba and Buckley's 51 day.

I don't plan to plant peppers this year at all. I still have many bags of them chopped in the freezer from last year.

One more thing I do want to plant are 'Collective Farm Woman Melon'. I have to plant something with a name like that! It's just too interesting!

I have one planted container on my shelf with no label. :-( I'm going to have to think about what that might be! lol! I might recognize it when it comes up, maybe.

I planted a few castor beans for the flowerbed, the 'love lies bleeding' amaranth mentioned above, and some broken coloured four o'clocks. I have some special honeysuckle vines coming up in a cold frame, as well. 

I am going to enjoy my gardening this year, without the pressure of previous years when I grew way more than I needed and spent way too much time in the garden!

Over Wintering Dahlias

In past years I have overwintered the dahlias in a plastic container or bag filled with wood shavings . The large roots are usually fine but I lose a lot of the little ones. New ones are usually too small to make it until spring, which is always a great disappointment! Last fall I had some little pieces and small, new dahlias that I didn't want to lose so I potted them up to grow indoors for the winter. 







I kept them as houseplants, sort of, in front of the south patio door. It gets as much light as is possible to get anywhere indoors, as it faces south and has no overhang. My kitchen is also freezing in the winter, which helps.










They sprouted and grew in the pots. They didn't grow fast, but they did grow and are picking up more now that spring is here with longer days and stronger light. I had no problems with them indoors in the winter at all! No bugs, no rot, nothing. I kept them on the dry side and, like I said, rather cold. I'm very pleased with the result!


I will be "storing" my small dahlias and little pieces like this through the winter from now on!

I love my 'Keri Blue' dahlia! Last fall I added a red one with yellow centers and tips and also a dark, rich purple dahlia with white tips. I am looking forward to getting huge blooms from them this year!









They make great cut flowers!