Common Ground Alaska Farmstead

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Common Ground Alaska Farmstead

Welcome to our page where we will talk about farming, gardening, and all things dirt - learning to thrive right where we are. Come join us!
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This is a site to help Alaskans work together to not just survive in Alaska but to thrive. Posting pertinent information for all Alaskans on farming locally, buying local, living frugal, etc.

01/04/2026

Gene: “Let’s get this house warmed up!”

I’d say he did it!

This pic was taken above the woodstove which is cranking. We dont have central heat so to keep the laundry room and bedrooms from freezing, we have to keep the wood stove hot and run fans to push the warm air through the house. 🙂

Think we will hit 40 below tonight?

01/03/2026

“Guys, it’s cold.” - Mabel

01/03/2026

Leftover kefir shake, whole raw milk, oat groats, and Saskatoon berries all soaked overnight - it’s what’s for breakfast (for the chickens). 🦃🐓

01/02/2026

Life at 28 below: since this is the warmest day of the cold snap, we decided to do a few things to help the barn critters get through the weekend.

🌾 We have the core from a round hay bale that we put in the barnyard for everyone to eat/play with. We are totally aware that they will waste some but it also gives them something to do, it gets them outside, and hopefully Millie and Mabel can munch on it through the cold snap. Plus they have ample hay in their feeders at all times. 🙂

🪺 We are expecting frozen eggs and will feed those to the dogs but we will make more frequent trips to the barn checking on the animals and eggs, too.

🍚 Starting tomorrow (or any day is colder than 30 below), the chickens will get a big bowl of lukewarm mash. This is just oats that I soak in milk or water overnight. If you do this too, remember, it can’t be hot because their poor beaks are so cold. I just take it to them at room temp - it will still help warm them up.

🌽 The chickens usually get fed their pelleted food in the barn and all scratch, our own feed we make, scraps, and treats get fed outside. It gets them outside because that’s where the fun and tasty stuff is. Today we did give them a little bit of food to scratch inside - to encourage movement at least. They still got all the good stuff outside too.

🫜 Mabel and Millie will get extra treats throughout the next three days but if you do this, be careful. You don’t want to be dumping grain to them - it needs to be gradual and calculated. We give Millie a little handful every few hours and Mabel gets a bigger handful.

🥶 We also will close the barn doors at night which we don’t usually do unless the wind is blowing.

💦 They also need plenty of water when it’s this cold. So we will keep the water heater running and keep the water topped off.

01/01/2026

As expected, Alaska Farm Supply has come to the rescue!

Thank you, thank you!

A note to anyone who is curious, before this video came out, I had to open a new bag of feed in the fabric bag and used Melissa Melissa Cherry Reimers from Reimers Micro Farm’s idea and that almost kinda worked, too.

Here’s what she said:
1. Set the bag with the tag facing you.
2. Cut the short, loopy side all the way to the bag.
3. Pull the middle string.

I had to do that three times and I did finally get the right string at the right spot and was able to unzip the string all the way around. :)

Let us know when you try it out! I can’t wait to open my next bag, now!

12/30/2025

Sourdough jalapeño cheddar bagels made with fresh milled flour - that’s what’s for breakfast!

These rose overnight, fermenting the grain for digestability, now they are on their second rise and will be ready come breakfast time. I cant wait! Going to fry up some homemade sausage and fresh eggs from our hens and make sandwiches.

I’m putting together a few sourdough classes for the winter but I’ve completely changed the classes to interactive. I will guide you, but you make things to take home and you get to learn how it should feel and act. 🙂

Im so excited for these classes! But I’d love to know - what would you enjoy learning to take? Fresh milled, regular flour, or a blend? Sourdough boules? Sandwich bread? Bagels? English muffins? What would you like to learn?

This is gonna be fun!

12/23/2025

It’s 101 degrees warmer in the house vs. outside. 😳

12/22/2025

Life at 23 below:

Mabel will tell more about -23 in a bit. I’ll tell you this much, I just spent over an hour in the barn with the animals and not only am I wiped out, my mouth won’t work to talk and my legs feel like jello.

However, my feet were toasty the whole time!

Also, I was trying to get a cool closeup of Mabel’s eyelashes and my phone gave up from the cold.

But it’s calm and quiet and beautiful out there. Overall not a bad day. At least I’ll say that once I’m thawed out. 🤣

12/22/2025

These fresh milled biscuits turned out so good! Flaky, tender, and so yummy!

This morning I experimented with a new recipe. I’ve yet to be successful with fresh milled biscuits - until today.

Still need to do just a tweak or two for perfection but this is it - the perfect recipe for biscuits with FMF.

Be watching - I’ll share these later this week. I’d like to convert them to sourdough eventually but for now, I’ll just call this a win. Or maybe just sprout the grains and call it good. 🙂

12/22/2025

Discussion: Cold weather clothing - what do you wear to make being outside during sub-zero temps manageable?

A few of my favorites:
- my alpaca wool hat, socks, and gloves (I wear my gloves as liners and wear leather ones over top).
- I have an old knee-length wool skirt that I found for $5 at a thrift store that I wear over my leggings
- my new Royal Canadian insulated boots (these things were well worth the investment - my feet havent been cold in them one time)
- plus, of course, a good coat and a scarf to keep my neck and chin warm

I’ve found that this outfit keeps just about any weather at bay and keeps me comfortable while I spend time outside either working in the barn, hiking, or doing chores.

As a matter of fact, I often find I have to remove a layer or two if I am working very hard because I get too hot.

Synthetic materials are more popular but I’ve found wool is the best insulated against about any weather - even wind. And it lasts forever!

12/22/2025

So tempting! 🤣

12/20/2025

Awhile back I ordered some things from Keetna Farm Goods. They arrived right before vacation so I’m just now looking at the bread bags that were in the order.

I’m so excited about these! The quality, plus the adorable fabrics make me so happy!

I also got jar toppers for my kefir and sourdough - one of them has the cutest highland cows on it!

Just a plug for a local company that’s doing really good things!! No affiliate - just giving a shout out for a favorite local product. 🙂

Address

Big Lake, AK

Telephone

+19073548551

Website

http://www.commongroundalaska.com/

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