“Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without.”
WRA 2015
Please bear with us as we launch our website. We are still very much UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Several years ago, Dinah came across an old copper kettle for sale from a friend in Virginia. It was so black on the inside that you couldn’t even tell it was made of copper. After some vinegar, soda and brillo pads, the 20 gallon kettle was ready to use! We’ve been making apple butter the old fashioned way ever since. We build a fire in the fire pit and set the kettle up over it. We spend a couple days before peeling the 6 bushels of apples to fill it up. It usually takes the apples about 6 hours to cook down to the right consistency, but boy is it YUMMY when it comes off!
We have Mini Mancha goats that we hand-milk daily. Blueberry & Basil are are foundation nannies. Blueberry is still milking after her spring 2026 baby, Bluebelle. Basil is currently going dry and visiting the neighbor for fall breeding after her spring 2026 baby, Bayberry. And no, they don’t get called by their proper names very often… “girl” or “goober” are much more common, depending on their behavior. I’d be like Grandma trying to call their names! We milk about 3 gallons each week and that provides sufficient milk, butter and cheese for us. We sell some milk for pets as we’re not a certified dairy and NC requires that in order to sell dairy products. We do freeze-dry some of our milk to use in soaps, lotions, lip balms and other bath and body products. If you haven’t tried it, you’re missing out! Goat milk is naturally homogenized so the creamy smoothness in the cream remains all throughout the milk. That translates to excellent skin products!
We make all kinds of jams and jellies, depending on the season. Strawberries typically come in first, then peaches. Peppers start coming in late summer and then come apples, pears and muscadines. We do our best not to allow anything to go to waste so sometimes we have to be really creative in how we use everything. Jams and jellies are often great options!
We can’t keep our salsa on our own shelves, let alone any others. Everything here at The Junction is made in small batches. Dinah is in charge of most of the gardening and canning. She grows all the peppers, tomatoes and cabbages.
Sewing & Crafts
Plants & Such
Fresh Produce (when available)
Chair Recaning, Furniture & Basketry
Basket weaving is by far the hobby at the bottom of the totem pole, however, they’re really fun and you can be infinitely creative when working on them! If you’re local and interested in learning how to make a tobacco basket or recane a stool or child’s rocker, please reach out! We’d love to share stories and ideas with you! Sadly, both arts are near extinction!
Chair Recaning
One of my greatest joys is taking something old and broken and making it usable again. I have recaned numerous old porch rockers and several children’s rockers. I can also replace the webbing that is in some of the old chairs but that can depends on how the original one was done. Pics make great introductions for those things! I have built a few children’s rockers from start to finish and enjoy taking on some other wood reworking projects from time to time.
