This weekend we went to Pioneer Days at a nearby historical site. I have always really enjoyed things like this, maybe it’s because I can kind of fulfill some of my Laura Ingalls fantasies from when I was a little girl. (Don’t I look the part with my sunglasses and Horton’s coffee?)

I have always enjoyed reading about the past, I think it’s something about the simple lifestyle that appeals to me. Historical fiction, Amish fiction, those are my favourite novels. I’m not sure I would actually want to live back then but it is fun dreaming right?

Since having children I have found myself more and more concerned with the chemicals that are bombarding every aspect of our lives. I’m finding myself looking more and more to the past to find ways to complete simple household tasks and feed my family while avoiding these chemicals. I make our laundry soap, use natural cleaning products, avoid plastic wherever possible, do some preserving/canning to avoid buying canned, etc.

This weekend some very exciting opportunities presented themselves. There were demonstrations of butter & cottage cheese making, soap making, lard rendering and a plethora of other ‘old’ ways of doing things. While watching some of these demonstrations I started talking to the people doing them and made some fantastic connections with some local farmers!!

(Laundry is something I would NOT want to do the old fashioned way!)

Now in my freezer I have a few pounds of lard that was rendered from the fat of one of the lady’s own pigs, some flour that was stone ground fresh in front of our eyes (NO preservatives in it!), and in my cupboard I have freshly made soap!!

Probably the most exciting thing that happened this weekend though is I hooked up with a source of raw milk for our family!!! Since the sale of raw milk is not legal we will trade for it but she has as much as we want as often as we want it!!

Soon I’ll be able to blog about my endeavors making butter, cottage cheese, and yogurt, all out of fresh, healthy raw milk!