Blog

  • Top Questions from Readers: Healing Herbs

    Healing Herbs: the first of the Top Questions and Topics of Interest from Readers


    Healing herbs and using the wild plants for medicine was one of the most often mentioned topics in the recent survey results.

    In case you’re just …

  • Installing a Culvert Retaining Wall was Today’s Homestead Project

    Today I built a culvert retaining wall for the culvert on the shop driveway to keep it from washing out around the sides. I was grateful for the overcast and dreary day so I could do this work without getting …

  • No Water

    This morning I turned on the faucet to put some water on my toothbrush.

    Nothing but a few drops came out. Then, nothing. No water.

    No Water

    My thoughts immediately led to the question in my mind, which was “Where …

  • Homestead Work

    We’ve been busy doing a lot of outdoor homestead work since we came home from our gold panning trip to Colorado. That’s why there’s been no recent posts from me.

    The weather has been atrociously hot and I’m just too …

  • Panning for Gold in the Rockies

    One of Rob’s lifelong dreams, panning for gold in the Rockies, has been fulfilled.

    After finding out how relatively affordable such a thing can be, we bought mining rights to a small claim, sight unseen except for photos, in the …

  • Gold in them thar hills? Ozarkians in the Rockies

    I doubt there’s any gold in them thar hills of the Ozarks. Right now, though, we’re on a prospecting mission in the Rockies.

    Part of my soul lives out there where the mountains are a mile and more high.  However, …

  • Avoiding Burnout: Fun Days at Wild Ozark

    Avoiding Burnout

    Anyone who has ever tried to build a homesteading life will know it’s a tremendous amount of work. So we also work at avoiding burnout.

    The list of things on the “to do” list is so long, our …

  • Busy Burning Coffee Days at Wild Ozark

    My efforts at multitasking yesterday ended with flames, billowing smoke and the awful scent of burnt coffee beans. Surprisingly, I did not stop to get a picture of this event to document it for this post. At first there weren’t …

  • A Wild Roast Coupon for Mother’s Day

    Let the Wild Roast begin!

    Oh yeah 🙂 I’m getting ready this morning for a full day of aromatic and sumptuous coffee roasting. Mmmmmm-Mmmmmmmm all the locals will soon get to try some of our delicious Wild Roast.

    Our "Wild Roast Blend", Ginseng Coffee from Wild OzarkWe’ll have

  • Cedar-Apple Rust : Invasion of Alien-looking Fruiting Bodies

    Cedar-Apple Rust

    Yesterday we went out to check on ginseng seedlings and found the cedar trees blooming with Cedar-Apple Rust fruiting bodies. It’s caused by a fungus and alternates each year on cedars or apple trees. If there aren’t any …

  • Photos of Plants – Medicinal & Useful plants down the Wild Ozark Driveway

    I’m still mostly stuck in the house because of my knee (dislocated it a little over a week ago) but I took the four-wheeler and camera down the driveway to get a few photos of plants unfurling or coming into …

  • Ginseng in May

    I’m drawing a sketch of a 4-prong American ginseng from a photo I took last year in May.  The sketch will be titled “Ginseng in May”.

    My First Show Entry

    This drawing will be displayed (and will be for sale) …

  • Update from Wild Ozark

    Lots of things going on – or rather, NOT going on lately.

    If you’re a subscriber to my monthly newsletter, you’ve probably already seen the update that I won’t be doing the farmer’s market this year. I forgot to …

  • Chasing Windmills and Wildflowers in South Texas

    My past week has been filled with family and friends in Louisiana and Texas. While in Texas I got the notion to gather a collection of photos of the old windmills that are out there. Most of these are in …

  • Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) Unfurling

    The blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) is awake early this spring. I found some the other day, in three different stages of unfurl.

    The one completely unfurled is in a pot in the nursery area, the other two are in the …

  • How to move a round bale without a hay spike by using the front-end loader instead.

    I’ve been using a chain with the tractor and front end loader to move round bales to the horses. We don’t have a hay spike or fork attachment.

    This how-to assumes you have a tractor with a front end loader …

  • Dirt Road Photos – Ozark Sunset Silhouettes


    Scene from the dirt road in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas.
    Scene from the dirt road in the Ozarks of northwest Arkansas.

    The Ozarks from a Scenic Dirt Road

    I was driving home from my daughter’s house this evening as the sun began setting on our beautiful Ozark hills. Just so happened …

  • To-Do – All the Various & Odd Things on the List for March

    The To-Do list today started out pretty clear cut. The plan was to get an early start into town. I need more potting soil, a few groceries, and feed for the horses. That plan was nixed when I woke up …

  • The First Flowers of Spring at Wild Ozark

    Nature lovers began the frenzy of watching for the first flowers of spring a few weeks ago. Here at Wild Ozark, we’re in a little eco-microcosm that is often more than a week behind surrounding areas in spring. Our temperatures …

  • Stone Tool – Relic of a Long Bygone Era

    I knew when I saw the rounded hand-sized rock that it was more than “just a rock”. It was a stone tool, & probably several thousand years old.

    Stone tool of early Native Americans in the Ozarks - a rounded grinding stone.

    There is something special about holding a stone I know once was …

  • Coyotes at Midnight

    I had trouble getting to sleep last night. Then there were coyotes at midnight, just as the drift of dreams was beginning to take hold. It went on for so long I had time to turn on the audio recorder …

  • What is the “back burner”, really?

    Back Burner

    You’ve probably referred to projects you’ve put on hold as being “on the back burner”. I understood what the phrase meant, and had used it often myself, but when we got our new/old cook stove, I learned how …

  • Delve Deeper to Observe Nature

    Take a moment from your day and delve deeper to observe nature. You’ll gain a sense of awe and wonder.

    Delve deeper

    Truly experience that moment. If it’s a plant you’re observing, reach out and touch it (be reasonable – …

  • Repairing Our Wild Ozark Spring Water Line

    Today I repaired our Wild Ozark spring water line

    Since I’ve learned how to do this myself, I figured I’d do it while Mr. Wild Ozark was at work. Later this summer we have plans to change out the entire …

  • A Muck Boot and Pj Kind of Day

    I didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning. It was cold in the room when I woke and I just felt lazy. But the hens clucked louder as the minutes ticked past.

    chickens in the snow

    I knew the dogs and horses …