Homestead Blessings Review

Well, they finally arrived, my two DVDs from Homestead Blessings in Tennessee. I was so excited to get started I watched both in less than 24 hours. I ordered The Art of Dairy Delights, and their newest addition, The Art of Quilting. Since I purchased these videos with my own money instead of having them gifted to me, I do not feel obliged to give a review filled with false praise. Many of the reviews I read prior to placing my order practically gleamed with how wonderful and informative these tutorials are. I must disagree. These DVDs, although sweet, leave a lot to be desired.



The Art of Dairy Delights is a one hour instructional DVD that walks you through the basic process of making your own butter, ice cream, yogurt and mozzarella cheese. I am fairly proficient at making my own butter and I have been experimenting with making my own homemade ice cream for a while. I still thought these DVDs would delve deeper. I wanted a bit more like the DVD case description suggested. The description says "the process of making scrumptious ice creams, smooth and tasty butters, rich and creamy yogurts and delectable cheeses." Notice the plurals? It lead me to believe the was more than just the basic vanilla ice cream and plain yogurt, I mean they did use plurals when describing what processes were included. No, I was wrong. I felt sourly disappointed at the end, wondering why I hadn't just borrowed a book from my library instead.

The Art of Quilting held a lot of promise also. It was a step by step feature on cutting and piecing together a standard square block quilt. I have been quilting for a few years now and am a little beyond those basics. Again I expected more. I had visions of learning new techniques, maybe the best way to salvage some worn out clothes. I wanted to learn quilting from a homesteading perspective, and thought this DVD would give me some more insight into keeping quilting simple. Aside from the vintage treadle sewing machine used, I wasn't impressed.

These videos are far too basic for a homesteader like me. The skills I have learned over the last few years were acquired from library books, Youtube videos and first hand knowledge from others. And barely cost me anything. These videos carry a much higher price tag and I doubt I would have purchased them knowing what I know now. For wannabe and seasoned homesteaders these DVDs use up resources (money) that can otherwise be directed to their farms. Some other bloggers who have feature the videos as giveaways were overly generous with their reviews, and after reading some of them again, now that I have seen the videos, I wonder if they had even watched them before promoting them so blindly.

I am sorry dear readers, sorry to say that I must give this series a thumbs down. While I am enthralled with anyone who chooses this lifestyle, and giddy at watching how others go about their homesteads, the atmosphere was not enough to make me enjoy these DVDs. After spending over $40 for the videos, shipping and border duties, I realize now I should have just went to the library and paid $2 for parking.