We’re
the
Dalrymples
We’re a family from South-East Indiana doing our best to raise our boys loving the great outdoors, continue the traditions of homegrown living, and preserve this knowledge for generations to come.
You know how they say “Money is the motive”? Yeah… for us it’s FOOD. We can definitely be motivated by some good grub. It’s basically the epicenter of family life around here. It’s the beckoning call that brings everyone together, even if just for 20 minutes, to sit down and enjoy the meal and time with one another. Family Functions = What’s On the Menu. Sure, we love to see one another, but the food spread is basically just as important.
Food has such a big role in our everyday life that we wanted to have a bigger role in our food production. Whether it be from the woods, pasture, garden, or coop, we wanted to know, and be responsible for, where our food came from, and it kick started us on a better path than we ever imagined.
We purchased our homestead in the Summer of 2020, and have been busy making it feel like a home and mapping out plans ever since. 2 wild-as-a-mink boys, ages five and three, 2 dogs, and 26 chickens, with 50 more baby chicks on their way to us, keep us quite busy. We’re planning for our largest garden ever, have hoarded thoughtfully collected 129 157 different heirloom seed variations and with a little luck we’re going to fill our pantries and freezers this coming fall. There is always work to be done, but it’s been fun along the way, and we decided to take ya’ll along for the ride.
Although, this life is something we’ve been yearning and learning about for years, and in ways our whole lives from parents and grandparents, this is our first year doing so on a larger scale, on our own, and we’re going to share it all here; the happy, the hard, and even the cringe-worthy moments. You can expect posts and videos from us detailing every day farm life, growing, harvesting, and preserving your own food, recipes, how-to’s, and a whoooole lotta trial and error. I promise, there is never much of a dull moment around here.
The name Thankful Roots felt like a no brainer to us (you can read about how we got our name here) simply because of the gratitude we felt to finally get to a place where we can start to make our dreams a reality. We have gained children and chickens, lost a whole lot of sanity but found so much peace, and with each passing day there’s even more to be thankful for.
Finding our dream homestead, which came with the room to roam our family so desperately desired, leaves me pinching myself most days. The ability to add livestock, a garden, and the knowledge to properly foster both has been a blessing that if you had told me about 10 years ago I would have laughed. And now the chance to extend this blessing to our friends and family… It’s more than we could have ever hoped for. God has worked in such miraculous ways and gave life to dreams my heart had buried. I’m in awe of how things have blossomed, but I’m especially thankful for the roots of it all.
And now we plant our roots in this new place and this new dream of bringing people back to a homegrown life. We’ve been blessed by the generations before us that taught us how to enjoy the simple things, be thrifty, and self-reliant, but they gained that knowledge because they had to. Ease and convenience has lead us away from growing our own food, sourcing our own meat and being responsible for our own footprint on this Earth. We have a chance to take their wisdom and know-how to live a great life- not out of necessity but with purpose. This year we plan to watch so much grow. From our garden, to our pantry, our boys, our animals, and our knowledge in this way of life. I hope you come grow with us, too!
Check Out What We’ve Been Up To
Come visit my new greenhouse and take a peek into how I organize my seeds. I show you some supplies I’ve been gathering, explain what it means to plant by the signs, and talk a little about our plan for 2021. Come grow with us!
What’s In My Emergency Chicken Kit
Life out here means we’re out here. At least 20 minutes from town, one way, is too long to wait when an emergency arises right now. See all the supplies I keep on hand to keep my flock happy and healthy, as well as how I treat common ailments like mites, bumble foot, wound care, egg bound hens, and more. Learn more here.
Cast Iron Brownies from Scratch
Bake along, as I make the best, crispy brownies from scratch, using my old faithful cast iron skillet, and nearly burn the house down. No houses or brownies were burnt in the making of this video… my diet, however, did go up in smoke. Full recipe here.
Seed Haul: Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Finally an order from the holy grail of Heirloom seed operations: Baker Creek. In this order I got some incredibly rare and interesting varieties that I had to trudge through 9 inches of snow to get… Totally worth it. Learn more here
Better Than the Barrel’s Hash Brown Bake
Easy, delicious, and makes enough to serve an army. This recipe is the gift that keeps on giving. I’ve heard other hash brown dishes claim to be the only one you’ll ever want (looking at you, Cracker Barrel) but I promise my recipe will make the other guys seem like a far off, distant, mediocre memory. Get the recipe here.
How to Season a Cast Iron Skillet
It happens to all of us… A cast iron catastrophe. What do you do when your favorite cast iron skillet loses its seasoning? Or maybe you have an old piece that needs a lot of TLC. The good news is it’s an incredibly easy fix! I show you how to re-season cast iron, as well as talk about basic cast iron cookware care. Learn Cast Iron CPR here.
Friday Fixin’s: Chicken & Biscuit Casserole
This is our favorite comfort meal! Warm and gooey chicken and cheese, with biscuits baked right on top! Just tellin’ y’all about it makes me wish there was some left. Once your friends and family taste this easy and delicious meal, don’t count on left overs but definitely count on requests to share the recipe! Dig in here.