At Ease Homestead

At Ease Homestead At Ease Homestead, a small veteran managed homestead. Two old Marines At Ease living our best lives! Leonard has been our home for just over ten years.

Hello and welcome to the At Ease Homestead (previously known as Clucks and Quacks)

I’m Toni and along with my husband Bob we have a small homestead in Leonard, Michigan. Prior to that we lived in Oxford for thirteen years. We're both from the east coast. I'm from NJ and he's from PA. The Marine Corps brough us to Michigan in 1995 where I completed my last tour of duty. We have two grown children

and two beautiful granddaughters. The eldest makes occasional appearances in my posts. I love gardening, food preservation, cooking and raising poultry- chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, turkeys and a sole goose. I have a running joke that after becoming an empty nester I had to find a different kind of nest. I started raising poultry in 2017. A dozen birds has grown, and I have loved every minute of it. In 2022 we added forest raised pork to the homestead as well. We thoroughly enjoyed having pigs and plan to continue raising them seasonally. Eventually we plan to add dairy goats and other small livestock. Here you will find posts and updates sharing critter shenanigans, a bit of gardening, home food preservation and pantry stocking information along with general small scale homesteading that prioritizes stewardship. The At Ease Homestead is our little holding that sustains our family, provides us an opportunity to learn as we grow and connect with simple things that bring us joy and a bit of good healthy dirt under our nails.

Earlier this week I made a huge batch of roasted salsa. I saved back some for pork fajitas. Several of my pepper plants ...
09/05/2026

Earlier this week I made a huge batch of roasted salsa. I saved back some for pork fajitas. Several of my pepper plants are so loaded they are breaking. I had a full branch worth of the Tam jalapenos to use up. They are a very mild heat so I added some of the hot pumpkins spice jalapenos, some fresnos and one of my red onions. The pork was one of my picnic roasts braised in a mixture of spices, smoked freeze dried pepper powder, lots of garlic and tomato liquid until it was fork tender. We also had a jar of canned pintos that were from last fall's garden. Even though my gardening mojo is faint this year, I will be sad when the fresh produce is no longer readily available.

You folks bless my socks off! Today I was gifted some canning jars Judy Almeranti, a sweet little wooden chick bowl Dina...
09/04/2026

You folks bless my socks off! Today I was gifted some canning jars Judy Almeranti, a sweet little wooden chick bowl Dinah Brinson and best of all my favorite four year old customer shared her giant Sweet tarts with me Kimberly Sikora.

If that wasn't enough, the piggies had four little visitors today that gave them some extra ear scratches. Carol Nichoson. 💕

Your Labor Day BBQs deserve fresh organic heirloom tomatoes. :)
09/04/2026

Your Labor Day BBQs deserve fresh organic heirloom tomatoes. :)

I've never been a big fan of this style carton. The tri-fold design makes it challenging to store and stack them. I have...
09/03/2026

I've never been a big fan of this style carton. The tri-fold design makes it challenging to store and stack them. I have to admit they do make my eggs look pretty though. 💕

This summer we had to harvest one of our pigs early. I have been wanting to try my hand at home curing and charcuterie f...
09/03/2026

This summer we had to harvest one of our pigs early. I have been wanting to try my hand at home curing and charcuterie for a few years. My bacon turned out phenomenal! Today I finally had an opportunity to try my first sample of the guanciale. Oh my word!!

Technically this will store hanging at room temperature indefinitely but it will continue to dry out and the fat can become rancid over time. I have more pigs to harvest soon which means I have more jowls to make an additional batch of guanciale with. I decided to vacuum seal these and move them to one of the pantry freezers.

Our Christmas charcuterie spread will include homemade charcuterie this year and there will be plenty more to make wonderful pasta dishes with as well. I could even just slice and eat guanciale like a glutton! 😂

A huge thank you to Jason Northern Path MeatWorks for fielding all of my random questions as I was dipping my feet into home curing.

I'm planning to try to make a capicola and Canadian bacon with the next harvest.

No basket? No problem if you're into skirts! Red Romaine and Butter lettuce.
09/03/2026

No basket? No problem if you're into skirts! Red Romaine and Butter lettuce.

09/03/2026
Another one of my favorite options to use your ever abundant zucchini is an Italian American traditional zucchini soup. ...
09/02/2026

Another one of my favorite options to use your ever abundant zucchini is an Italian American traditional zucchini soup.

Saute onions, garlic and red pepper flakes in a good olive oil until onions are translucent. I decided to use schmaltz tonight instead of olive oil. I also added a few peppers bc I had a handful. Add 3-4 medium size zucchini cut in bite size pieces. Saute about 10 mins or until tender.

Add a can of crushed tomatoes or (skinned fresh tomatoes right from the garden).

Add in 6 cups of water for a traditional and vegetarian version or homemade bone broth and leftover chicken if your hubby is like mine and doesn't believe in "meat-less meals". I also added in some rainbow chard & tasoi cut into ribbons.

Toss in about a half pound of spaghetti/linguine broken into bite size pieces. I used orzo this time.

Top with fresh minced parsley and basil, grated Parmesan cheese (or pecorino) and a drizzle of olive oil.

We're having homemade sourdough to sop up the broth.

09/02/2026
It's going to be a scorcher today. That's a perfect excuse to avoid heating up the kitchen. Imagine fresh organic heirlo...
09/02/2026

It's going to be a scorcher today. That's a perfect excuse to avoid heating up the kitchen. Imagine fresh organic heirloom tomato sandwiches or caprese salad and a few slices of good salami for supper tonight? I can even toss in a nice bundle of fresh basil. Stop by the self-serve stand and grab some scrumptious maters!

Address

5395 Rochester Road
Leonard, MI
48367

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

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