T.Forest Homestead

05/20/2026

You get pickled! You get pickled! YOU get pickled! Everybody gets pickled!

Apparently my children operate under one very specific food rule: “If it’s floating in dill brine, we’ll eat it.” Honestly? It’s the closest thing I’ve found to kitchen sorcery.

Cucumbers? Gone.
Green beans? Snack food.
Asparagus? Devoured like tiny salty French fries.
Carrots? Crunch crunch crunch.
Eggs? Somehow acceptable now because they’ve been baptized in vinegar and dill.

The kids will crack open a jar of dilly beans during movie night like they’re reaching for popcorn. Somewhere along the line I accidentally raised tiny pickle connoisseurs.

So while getting ready for market, I discovered my pickle stash had been absolutely cleaned out. A pickle apocalypse. Shelves emptier than the snack cupboard five minutes after grocery day.

Today became Emergency Restock Day.

We’ve now got:
Dill pickles
Dill carrots
Dilly beans
Pickled asparagus
Pickled eggs

My kitchen currently smells like vinegar, garlic, and ambition.

Now I want to know: what’s your favorite thing to dill pickle?

05/20/2026

You get pickled! You get pickled! YOU get pickled! Everybody gets pickled!

Apparently my children operate under one very specific food rule: “If it’s floating in dill brine, we’ll eat it.” Honestly? It’s the closest thing I’ve found to kitchen sorcery.

Cucumbers? Gone.
Green beans? Snack food.
Asparagus? Devoured like tiny salty French fries.
Carrots? Crunch crunch crunch.
Eggs? Somehow acceptable now because they’ve been baptized in vinegar and dill.

The kids will crack open a jar of dilly beans during movie night like they’re reaching for popcorn. Somewhere along the line I accidentally raised tiny pickle connoisseurs.

So while getting ready for market, I discovered my pickle stash had been absolutely cleaned out. A pickle apocalypse. Shelves emptier than the snack cupboard five minutes after grocery day.

Today became Emergency Restock Day

We’ve now got:
🥒 Dill pickles
🥕 Dill carrots
🫛 Dilly beans
🌿 Pickled asparagus
🥚 Pickled eggs

My kitchen currently smells like vinegar, garlic, and ambition.

Now I need to know: what’s your favorite thing to dill pickle?

05/20/2026

You get pickled! You get pickled! YOU get pickled! Everybody gets pickled!

Apparently my children operate under one very specific food rule: “If it’s floating in dill brine, we’ll eat it.” Honestly? It’s the closest thing I’ve found to kitchen sorcery.

Cucumbers? Gone.
Green beans? Snack food.
Asparagus? Devoured like tiny salty French fries.
Carrots? Crunch crunch crunch.
Eggs? Somehow acceptable now because they’ve been baptized in vinegar and dill.

The kids will crack open a jar of dilly beans during movie night like they’re reaching for popcorn. Somewhere along the line I accidentally raised tiny pickle connoisseurs.

So while getting ready for market, I discovered my pickle stash had been absolutely cleaned out. A pickle apocalypse. Shelves emptier than the snack cupboard five minutes after grocery day.

Today became Emergency Restock Day.

We’ve now got:
Dill pickles
Dill carrots
Dilly beans
Pickled asparagus
Pickled eggs

My kitchen currently smells like vinegar, garlic, and ambition.

Now I want to know: what’s your favorite thing to dill pickle?

05/20/2026

The parking lot has been quiet, but our vendors have been working around the clock to prepare for 2026 Market Season!

See you soon, Wadena!

05/19/2026

Can you believe markets are NEXT WEEK?! Next week. I swear it was just January 14 minutes ago.

Here’s a little sneak peek at some of the goodies making their way to the table:

Rhubarb lemonade concentrate
Because apparently making lemonade concentrate has evolved from “fun summer thing” into a full-blown personality trait. Tart, sweet, and dangerously easy to drink.

Strawberry rhubarb jam
A classic. A legend. The jam equivalent of your favorite cozy (now ratty) shirt you’ve had since high school that’s just too comfy to throw away.

Tutti-Frutti jam
The inspiration behind the Tutti-Frutti lemonade concentrate! A triple berry jam packed with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Basically summer in a jar with absolutely no ability to sit quietly and behave itself.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here pretending I’m emotionally prepared for market season while aggressively labeling jars.

Alieshaw Nelson
Wadena Farmer’s Market

05/19/2026

05/19/2026

Can you believe markets are NEXT WEEK?! Next week. I swear it was just January 14 minutes ago.

Here’s a little sneak peek at some of the goodies making their way to the table:

Rhubarb lemonade concentrate
Because apparently making lemonade concentrate has evolved from “fun summer thing” into a full-blown personality trait. Tart, sweet, and dangerously easy to drink.

Strawberry rhubarb jam
A classic. A legend. The jam equivalent of your favorite cozy (now ratty) shirt you’ve had since high school that’s just too comfy to throw away.

Tutti-Frutti jam
The inspiration behind the Tutti-Frutti lemonade concentrate! A triple berry jam packed with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Basically summer in a jar with absolutely no ability to sit quietly and behave itself.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here pretending I’m emotionally prepared for market season while aggressively labeling jars.

Alieshaw Nelson
Wadena Farmer's Market

05/14/2026

More lemonade concentrates coming your way!

This round: Tutti-Fruitti lemonade concentrate. Or as T. Forest Homestead likes to call it… “mixed berry” but with pizazz.

So what’s in it? Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries all piled together into one ridiculously pretty jar. And can we take a second for that color? It looks like summer cannonballed directly into a mason jar.

Now you may notice the front jar has a little cloudy film situation happening. That, my friends, is country living glamour. Our well water is hard, so when I water bath jars it leaves behind a lovely frosted-haze aesthetic. Luckily, there’s an easy fix: add a splash of vinegar to the water bath.

Wanna know who knows this?
This gal.

Wanna know who thoughtfully set the vinegar NEXT to the giant pot instead of actually putting it IN the giant pot?
Also this gal.

To be fair, the kids had friends over, the house sounded like a raccoon fight club, and my brain was operating somewhere between “how many cups of sugar have I measured” and “what flavor of screaming was that.”

The film does wash right off with warm soapy water. Which would have been excellent information to act on BEFORE putting paper labels on the jars. But here we are. Living. Learning. Laminating mistakes permanently onto glass.

Only 2 weeks until the first Lakewood Farmers Market on May 28! This is my first year at Lakewood and I’m equal parts excited and nervous. Basically a lemonade and granola-bar gremlin at this point.

05/14/2026

More lemonade concentrates coming your way!

This round: Tutti-Fruitti lemonade concentrate. Or as T. Forest Homestead likes to call it… “mixed berry” but with pizazz.

So what’s in it? Blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries all piled together into one ridiculously pretty jar. And can we take a second for that color? It looks like summer cannonballed directly into a mason jar.

Now you may notice the front jar has a little cloudy film situation happening. That, my friends, is country living glamour. Our well water is hard, so when I water bath jars it leaves behind a lovely frosted-haze aesthetic. Luckily, there’s an easy fix: add a splash of vinegar to the water bath.

Wanna know who knows this?
This gal.

Wanna know who thoughtfully set the vinegar NEXT to the giant pot instead of actually putting it IN the giant pot?
Also this gal.

To be fair, the kids had friends over, the house sounded like a raccoon fight club, and my brain was operating somewhere between “how many cups of sugar have I measured” and “what flavor of screaming was that.”

The film does wash right off with warm soapy water. Which would have been excellent information to act on BEFORE putting paper labels on the jars. But here we are. Living. Learning. Laminating mistakes permanently onto glass.

Only 2 weeks until the first Lakewood Farmers Market on May 28! This is my first year at Lakewood and I’m equal parts excited and nervous. Basically a lemonade and granola-bar gremlin at this point.

Alieshaw Nelson
Wadena Farmer's Market

05/13/2026

Some jams whisper “toast topper.” This one kicks the kitchen door open wearing a tiny tropical shirt and demanding a vacation playlist.

Monkey butter. And before anybody gets concerned, no monkeys were involved in the making of this delicious little jar of sunshine. The name is strange, but the flavor? Absolute gold.

Bananas bring the creamy sweetness, pineapple adds that bright tropical zing, and coconut slides in like it owns the place. The whole thing tastes like a beach vacation somehow got canned and tucked onto a biscuit.

It’s smooth, fruity, and dangerously easy to eat straight from the spoon while pretending you’re “just sampling.” Spread it on toast, swirl it into yogurt, pile it onto pancakes, or sandwich it between graham crackers if you’re feeling a little feral.

This is one of those jams that makes people pause mid-bite and go, “Wait… what IS this?” And then immediately go back for more like tiny jam raccoons.

We love a weird name with strong follow-through around here.

05/13/2026

Some jams whisper “toast topper.” This one kicks the kitchen door open wearing a tiny tropical shirt and demanding a vacation playlist.

Monkey butter. And before anybody gets concerned, no monkeys were involved in the making of this delicious little jar of sunshine. The name is strange, but the flavor? Absolute gold.

Bananas bring the creamy sweetness, pineapple adds that bright tropical zing, and coconut slides in like it owns the place. The whole thing tastes like a beach vacation somehow got canned and tucked onto a biscuit.

It’s smooth, fruity, and dangerously easy to eat straight from the spoon while pretending you’re “just sampling.” Spread it on toast, swirl it into yogurt, pile it onto pancakes, or sandwich it between graham crackers if you’re feeling a little feral.

This is one of those jams that makes people pause mid-bite and go, “Wait… what IS this?” And then immediately go back for more like tiny jam raccoons.

We love a weird name with strong follow-through around here.

Alieshaw Nelson
Wadena Farmer's Market