My garden is as crowded as my bookshelves, and Laura Ingalls Wilder is a good part of the reason why. I sit down to read, come across a plant, and then want to grow it. Here’s how it happens.Start, let's say, with On the Banks of Plum Creek. By Chapter 2, the family is ready to move into Mr. Hanson’s dugout on their new farm. Jack the...
Gardening
18 Crafts to Celebrate Your Pioneering Spirit!
We can't help but think about how many of the beautiful crafts and goods the Ingalls Family made that are no longer made by hand. While some of their skills feel lost on us today, they can still be enjoyed as hobbies for relaxation or embraced for making personalized gifts. Here are 18 crafts and skills you can learn through the...
You Need a Farm! Laura Ingalls Wilder and American Farming
A farmer depends on himself, and the land and the weather. If you’re a farmer, you raise what you eat, you raise what you wear, and you keep warm with wood out of your own timber. You work hard, but you work as you please, and no man can tell you to go or come. You’ll be free and independent, son, on a farm. —Farmer Boy“Those who labor...
Cornbread Stuffing Inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder
We would have roast goose for Thanksgiving dinner! ‘Roast goose and dressing seasoned with sage,’ said sister Mary. —Laura Ingalls Wilder in These Happy Golden YearsAs we get ready for the holiday season, it’s time to start thinking about our holiday dinner menu. Will you serve a Christmas ham, wild turkey or a juicy game hen?...
Sweet Potatoes and Pioneers
Johnny fussed in the bedroom, and Laura quickly pinned her braids, tied on her apron, and said, 'Let me fix the potatoes while you dress him. —These Happy Golden YearsWhen you think of Little House on the Prairie, you may think of the covered wagon journey, Jack the brindle Bulldog's loss and return, log cabin construction or fever ‘n’...
Refreshing Old-Fashioned Summer Drink – Ginger Water Recipe plus Variations
Now the sun and the wind were hotter and Laura’s legs quivered while she made them trample the hay….She was thirsty, then she was thirstier, and then she was so thirsty that she could think of nothing else. Nothing was ever so good as that cool wetness going down her throat. Ma had sent them ginger-water. —The Long WinterBefore our...
DIY Lemon Verbena Feed-Sack Sachets
Oh, I do, Pa! And you should just see Miss Beadle. She’s the nicest lady in the entire world, and she smiles all the time, and she smells as good as she looks. I came right out and asked, and she says she wears something called lemon verbena. She’s the prettiest lady I ever saw–except for Ma, of course. —Laura Ingalls, Season 1, Episode...
Edible Landscaping Tips Inspired by Little House on the Prairie
The colors in the sky at sunset, the delicate tints of the early spring foliage, the brilliant autumn leaves, the softly colored grasses and lovely flowers - what painter ever equaled their beauties with paint and brush? —Laura Ingalls WilderI grew up watching “Little House on the Prairie” each day while my mom prepared lunch,...
Growing Heirloom Corn Varieties
Every morning Pa went cheerfully whistling to the field… Now he carried a sack of corn fastened to his belt, and as he plowed, he threw grains of corn into the furrow beside the plow’s point. The plow turned over a strip of sod on top of the seed corn. But corn would fight its way up through the matted roots, and there would be a...
Growing Historical Lettuce Varieties
The garden was growing now. In tiny rows of different greens, the radishes, lettuce, onions, were up. The first crumpled leaves of peas were pushing upward. The young tomatoes stood on thin stems, spreading out their first lacy foliage. —Little Town on the PrairieAlong with the Little House on the Prairie books, Laura Ingalls Wilder...