Author archives: Haynes Mansfield

Growin' Gold | The Golden Delicious Apple

Growin' Gold | The Golden Delicious Apple

10 years ago
Farm To Table, Grow It Yourself
•••
For months I've been patiently watching yellowish, mottle-skinned fruits swell. Young golden delicious apples bobbing tenuously in the breeze,  testing the strength of my sapling's little bowing branches. The tree, a couple years old now, has survived a transplant from a home I briefly owned and a near girdling winter attack of a winter starved, bark chew[...]
Growing Strawberries For Homemade Strawberry Jam

Growing Strawberries For Homemade Strawberry Jam

10 years ago
Farm To Table, Grow It Yourself
•••
There are few food moments that really define summer. The first tomato... plump, ripe and red on the vine, destined for a BLT sandwich or a mozzarella and fresh basil union. Sweet corn that doesn't need to be cooked before eating or green beans snapped and ready to eat. But the first moment, for many, is probably the summer's first fresh picked strawberry[...]
A Simple Strawberry Jam Recipe With 3 Ingredients

A Simple Strawberry Jam Recipe With 3 Ingredients

10 years ago
Farm To Table, Recipes
•••
Homemade strawberry jam from just 3 ingredients? Yep, it's just that easy with this simple strawberry jam recipe. We've got to warn you though, once you've tasted homemade strawberry jam you're not going to be able to go back to eating the store-bought variety... so make sure you stash a few jars away. Ready to make some strawberry jam? Here's what you're g[...]
Summer At Stout Grove | Homestead Visit

Summer At Stout Grove | Homestead Visit

10 years ago
Friends And Family, The People
•••
I have a confession to make. My name is Haynes, and I am homestead groupie. It's true. I attended the Mother Earth News conference. And I bought the t-shirt. I carry on late night strategic planning sessions about how many acres of wood lot would be needed to provide a sustainable source of fuel for wood heating a home year round..... and... I own a 1/[...]
Fishing With Bobby

Fishing With Bobby

10 years ago
Adventures, Friends And Family, Life Outside
•••
"If you trust me enough to take you fishing... I trust you enough to show up." With that honest statement my friend, Bobby Bower, put another guided fishing trip on the books. (His future guest asked Bobby if he owed him a deposit for the booked trip.) It was a cool Sunday morning in early June and we were sitting out on his side porch sippin' on coffee a[...]
Homesteading Before It Was Cool | Visit Trump-Lilly Farmstead

Homesteading Before It Was Cool | Visit Trump-Lilly Farmstead

11 years ago
Visit Appalachia
•••
Tania and I craned our necks over the dashboard of my pickup that I'd pulled over on the shoulder of a 2 way, 1 car width gravel road, and tried to figure out if we were on a driveway, a county road... or a dry creek bed. It was the start of a fairly typical Sunday adventure in the New River Gorge region of Southern West Virginia. We were on the trail of the[...]
Your First Taste Of Freedom

Your First Taste Of Freedom

11 years ago
Adventures, Friends And Family, Life Outside
•••
Much like the old coal company or hardware stores of our region's past, the shops in the New River Gorge often serve a purpose beyond retail. The clear cut business side, well.... it's selling people stuff... but they are also cultural hubs that inspire discourse, build community and strengthen relationships. You can find this in many small towns but it seem[...]
Surf West Virginia

Surf West Virginia

11 years ago
Adventures, Life Outside
•••
Every nook and cranny at the pull off  has a pickup, Subaru or other flavor of roof racked vehicle wedged into it. Just like any beach, anywhere, you can tell the surf is in. Except we're in West Virginia... yep, that's the landlocked state to the west of Virginia. Ok. Let's review that last sentence briefly.... West Virginia is a sovereign state. It is N[...]
Growing nasturtiums. Yep... nah-STUR-shumz

Growing nasturtiums. Yep... nah-STUR-shumz

11 years ago
Farm To Table, Grow It Yourself, How To
•••
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’m pretty sure I learned how to juggle faster than I learned to say “nah-STUR-shumz”. Despite all the pronunciation battles I grow nastyturtles. No surgeons. Nasturtiums.  And I love them. Why? Simple… They’re a trap crop.  If you grow them interspersed with your veggies they’ll hopefully  distract the creepy crawly’s t[...]