canning Archives

Healthy Pop Tarts with Einkorn Pie Crust Recipe

Do your kids like to eat Pop Tarts for breakfast? With the amount of sugar per serving, I’m shocked to know that they are considered…

Fresh strawberries sit on a checkered tablecloth and a jar of honey to be turned into honey sweetened jam, using canning recipes with honey.

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Canning Fruit and Jam With Honey

Are you looking for ways to reduce the amount of refined sugar your family consumes? Maybe you keep your own beehives, like me, and are…

Wood basket with sprouted white potatoes in it.

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

What To Do With Sprouted Potatoes

If you are like most people, when your potatoes start to sprout, you toss them out. Somehow we have been taught that sprouted potatoes are…

Three jars of honey in a pot on the stove that are being liquified.

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Crystallized Honey: Uses and How to Liquify

If you are a beekeeper or a honey consumer, chances are, you have encountered granulated or “crystallized” honey. Today, I am going to talk about…

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Simple Chili Dog Sauce Recipe for Batch Cooking

This Simple Chili Dog Sauce recipe is one that I keep in my freezer year round. The versatility of it allows me to not only use it on hot dogs and brats, but a multitude of other recipes. Not only does this Simple Chili Dog Sauce works as a recipe starter, but also as a…

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Einkorn Flour Sourdough Pumpkin Donut Recipe

I am so pumped to share my Einkorn Flour Sourdough Pumpkin Donut Recipe with you guys! This no yeast donut recipe comes together quickly, giving you perfectly moist, baked donuts. Not only am I sharing my sourdough donut recipe, but I’m also including my quick maple glaze for donuts. I mean, really, what is a…

Posted in Caring For the Homestead

How To Organize Spices In A Drawer

Are you tired of pulling every spice jar out of your cabinet just to find the jar you actually need? If you’re looking for inspiration on how to organize your spices, then today’s post is just for you! Not only am I going to show you how to organize a spice cabinet, but I am…

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

What To Do With Sprouted Potatoes

If you are like most people, when your potatoes start to sprout, you toss them out. Somehow we have been taught that sprouted potatoes are no longer edible and must be disposed of. The sprouts and shoots seem to gross people out. I urge you to save your potatoes; there is nothing wrong with them!…

Posted in Caring For the Homestead

How to Make Lard Candles

If the thought of candle making overwhelms you, I urge you to give this easy lard candle recipe a try. These homemade lard candles call for only two main ingredients, making it a beautiful and inexpensive gift and a necessary addition to any emergency kit!

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Einkorn Flour Carrot Cake Recipe

We recently had a birthday in our house. A birthday that required an especially lovely cake made with einkorn flour. But not just any einkorn cake was requested. In particular, the birthday girl requested an einkorn carrot cake. Undoubtedly, I was particularly excited to create this moist and flavor packed einkorn flour carrot cake recipe…

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Uses For Jam and Jelly

Can I confess something? I have two drawers in my kitchen filled with jam! I call it my ‘sweet drawer’. It’s a source of pride and I love showing it off. Without fail, I open the drawers and the person I am showing it to is always taken aback. They always exclaim, “What do you…

Posted in Growing Food

Raised Garden Beds: Pros and Cons

Raised bed gardening. The envy of some gardeners, the misery of others. When I first started a vegetable garden, I had a traditional garden in the ground. Secretly though, I coveted raised beds for the delineation, the defined pathways. The paths that wouldn’t need weeding. The raised garden beds that would require less effort and…

Posted in Cooking From Scratch

Rendering Lard

Join me as I share my technique for how to effortlessly render lard. As a result, the mess is minimal and the results are delicious. And pretty! Afterward, I will share my number one favorite use for lard. I bet it will surprise you!

Posted in Caring For the Homestead, Cooking From Scratch

Cleaning Vinegar

In our town, once a year, a man comes from Florida and sells boxes of oranges and grapefruit from his truck. He drives to local businesses and neighborhoods, selling his boxes of fresh picked fruit. It is an honest, old fashioned way to make a living, if you ask me. The nostalgia of this practice…

Meet Tonya From Old Clay Farm!

Welcome to Old Clay Farm, the place where I inspire you to cook from scratch recipes, grow organic food, care for your homestead in a natural way and simplify farming.

I deeply believe that homesteading is not defined by where a person lives, but by the lifestyle choices they make. Modern homesteading means taking charge of your circumstances by creating a better life right where you are.

I am passionate about cooking from scratch recipes, using simple, healthy ingredients. Whether you buy your produce from the store, or grow your own, I'll show you how to cook with it, preserve it and store it. And if you're looking for guidance with cooking and using cuts of meat or butchering practices, I've got you covered.

I share tips, failures and successes on my journey of growing my own food in Northern Michigan. I hope to inspire you to grow something edible- no matter where you live.

Caring for my homestead (and the people on it) in a natural way is very important to me. I share DIY home cleaning recipes, things like how to make lard candles and home décor projects, all in an effort to cultivate a healthy and welcoming home.