Conference vendor follow-up

We really enjoy roaming around the vendor areas at the Homestead Conference. They are hawking all kinds of interesting products, services, materials, books - you name it!

One exciting new addition is a grain mill. We had our eyes on one last year, and when we saw this year’s new model, we were immediately sold. That unit will arrive in a week or so (as will the millable grain), so more about that later. But for now, Steve has restarted his sourdough starter, and he will be ready!

One other vendor booth we spent quite a bit of time with was the shed guys. It is no surprise that We Love Sheds. Anytime we have a need that might even SLIGHTLY be satisfied by a pre-made shed, we are there! These shed folks had some really neat designs and had Barbie-sized mock-ups of each in their booth - I am a sucker for tiny models of giant things! But Montana and Elijah have been wanting a shed/studio somewhere on the property, and this design could be great. It would be slightly longer than the mock-up dimensions. We would add a glass-paneled roll-up garage-style door instead of the front windows (they also have some cool vertical windows for the non-porch corner), so they can roll it up and enjoy a view of the mountain. Stay tuned for more on this possible project!

We did pick up a handy little gadget that vaccuum-seals canning jars/lids. The device just clamps on a standard jar/lid and sucks the air out, leaving it fully sealed. So this is perfect for our freeze-dried strawberries from last week, which I had to temporarily stash in lightweight storage bags. With this simple little solution it allows me to 1) make use of my millions of canning jars, and 2) more easily store our freeze-dried goodies on the shelf.