Brian Cunningham

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About Brian Cunningham
Brian Cunningham loves working with his hands. The grass is cut with a manual reel mower, the driveway is shoveled, and the trees are felled by ax. He also enjoys amateur woodworking and figuring out how to fix the family car himself.
Brian and his wife run Ferrin Brook Farm, a small scale farm offering maple syrup products and pasture raised, organically fed broiler chicken. They keep everything from the garden for themselves.
As a part of the farming, Brian and his wife run a blog that shares insights and guides to help beginners get into farming and other fulfilling homesteading hobbies using easy to understand, fun and original content.
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Blog postMaybe you’ve heard this before: in order for the sap to flow in a maple tree and harvest it for making syrup, temperatures need to be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. Well, we’ve been tapping maples to make syrup for several years, and I must say: assuming sap is flowing simply because it is 33°F (1°C) or above is incorrect. There are other factors at play.
Planning to make your own maple syrup? It’s easier than you think! Get all th3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThere is still time to throw together a thoughtful and unique gift for the folks on your list who want to get back to basics and be more self-sufficient. We threw together 3 lists of items you could easily assemble into a gift basket that will be talked about for the whole year. We have actually used all of these items for years to make our own maple syrup and raise chickens. These are legit.
Gift Basket: DIY Maple Syrup Starter Kit Combine these items to make a real3 years ago Read more -
Blog postA few years ago we had a lot of winter squash on hand. We compiled and created 12 unique squash recipes that will blow the minds of your friends and family. They’ll say, “Wow! I’m having a really gourd time thanks to these sweet and savory dishes!” This post collects those recipes in one convenient location. Enjoy!
Herby Winter Squash Hummus Low-Fat, High Vitamin Winter Squash Lasagna Squash PSA: Pizza Sauce Alternative Making your own baby food is as easy as 1,3 years ago Read more -
Blog postFor those of you following us, you know that we have published 3 books in 2018, with the goal of making it easier for others to live independently and more fully explore the food they eat. For Thanksgiving and Black Friday this year, the eBook versions are all available for FREE on Amazon. Click the books below to grab yours.
If you find the books helpful, it would be so cool of you to post reviews on Amazon. It’s a super easy way to give us a fighting chance to reach more peo3 years ago Read more -
Blog postIf you’ve ever wondered how satisfying it might be to raise your own meat, we’ve got a new book for you to check out. It’s called “Dinner From Scratch: How to Raise Meat Chickens“. And it has everything you need to know, from detailed materials lists, to step by step guidance for every phase, to … Continue reading Want to raise your own chickens for meat? Here’s a FREE chapter on determining how many chicks to order from our new book “Dinner From Scratch: How To Raise Meat Chick4 years ago Read more
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Blog postWe worked very hard on Local Sugar, but we don’t want to prevent anyone from experiencing it. So here, for free, is Chapter 1 of the book. The seed of this was originally a rough post on this blog several years ago, but we’ve updated and improved it big time for publishing. It’s a quick, clear cut read that won’t waste your time. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Why Use Maple Syrup instead of Cane Sugar Look at your cookbook shelf. I’m guessing almost all of the d4 years ago Read more -
Blog postJust a quick note for a big announcement…. we have published a brand new cookbook with a star ingredient: you guessed it, maple syrup!
The book is called Local Sugar: Recipes and Ideas for Exploring the Wonder of Maple Syrup, and gives a clear path to many clever snacks and meals that skip the highly processed sugar and instead embrace the wonder of maple syrup, something many of us can make in our own backyards or can buy directly from farmers nearby.
We offer up some s4 years ago Read more -
Blog postI’m having trouble putting it into words. I just made this a few minutes ago and had just a few bites. I have to share immediately. Eating maple syrup candied bacon is a life-changing experience.
This recipe has zero frills. The maple syrup and bacon stand on their own–no other spices or seasonings getting in the way.
Let’s get straight to it.
Pure Maple Syrup Candied Bacon Recipe Ingredients 3/4 lb bacon 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (the real stuff) heavy pinch kosher s4 years ago Read more -
Blog postI eat raw carrots as a snack almost every day. I rarely crave them, but I always make myself take that first bite, knowing that it is worth it. The aroma of a good, local carrot still impresses me. It is complex and flowery yet earthy. Since I eat so many raw carrots I kind of forget how good they can be cooked. When a carrot is cooked, it goes from something that feels very much like a health food and becomes almost a dessert. These Cast Iron Maple Glazed Carrot4 years ago Read more
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Blog postHave you ever wondered how much you’re spending on the eggs your hens lay? Are you saving money by not buying from the store? Here’s an easy to use, FREE calculator to figure out exactly how much you pay for a dozen of your own backyard eggs.
This is another FREE download available exclusively to subscribers to our email list. Are you in the club yet or what! Click here to sign up and get access to this Egg template as well as templates for plannin4 years ago Read more
Titles By Brian Cunningham
$2.99
Maple syrup undergoes way, way less processing than refined cane sugar. That alone makes it a great alternative sweetener for any diet. And even if we didn’t make our own, it is also made locally in North America. It has a limited environmental impact and even boasts some essential nutrients. But syrup is liquid, which makes it hard to substitute into recipes that use refined sugar… until now!
What you'll find in this book:
- An overview of why maple syrup is better than refined sugar in just about every way
- Detailed advice for how to substitute maple syrup for refined sugar in every recipe you come across: Case by case advice on how, where, and when to replace refined sugar with maple syrup. No sweeping declarations to use across the board, this advice is based on the context of the individual recipe to give quality, uncompromising results
THE RECIPES (most of which are gluten free by nature!):
- Essentials to serve with Syrup: Our favorite recipes for pancakes, waffles, and even a surprise recipe that pairs well with pure maple syrup as a topping
- Pure Maple Syrup Recipes: These are recipes that use candy-making techniques to go from liquid maple syrup to a variety of textures and applications. Learn how to make granulated maple sugar, spreadable maple "butter", and the sugarmaker's favorite seasonal treat, sugar on snow!
- Artisanal Maple Syrups - Infusions and Beyond: These will give a great twist to your next stack of pancakes, or you can bring out the bottle for savory dishes as well. Learn how to make bourbon barrel syrup, bright red strawberry “love potion” syrup, pour over coffee syrup, and over a dozen other unique and fun ideas!
- Desserts & Snacks: Syrup is sweet, but sometimes it’s hard to use liquid sugar to make a great dessert. These recipes are formulated and tested to embrace the moisture of syrup with cakes, cookies, and more that stand up to even the best of desserts made with refined sugar.
- Main Dishes, Side Dishes, and Appetizers: Bring the tree to the dinner table and wow your friends and family with the warm comfort of maple in their meals. Many of these recipes have become weekly staples in our dinner menu, they’re that good (and easy to make)!
- Condiments and Dressings: Syrup is liquid, so these are no brainers. When you take two of the basic tastes and pair them together, you can have some real fun. Here are some ideas for adding sweet and spicy, sweet and tangy, or sweet and salty to your arsenal, all with the unexplainable goodness of maple flavor.
- Drinks: Coffee with maple syrup is smoother and just better tasting than coffee with refined sugar. And you know what, this applies to a lot of drinks. Explore some new territory with these unqiue ideas, include maple sap coffee and homebrewed maple seltzer.
Ferrin Brook Farm is a family home and nano farming operation in Madison, NH. They raise poultry for eggs and meat and maintain several productive gardens and fruit trees. And of course make maple syrup. Their passion is deeply enjoying quality, healthy, local food.
What you'll find in this book:
- An overview of why maple syrup is better than refined sugar in just about every way
- Detailed advice for how to substitute maple syrup for refined sugar in every recipe you come across: Case by case advice on how, where, and when to replace refined sugar with maple syrup. No sweeping declarations to use across the board, this advice is based on the context of the individual recipe to give quality, uncompromising results
THE RECIPES (most of which are gluten free by nature!):
- Essentials to serve with Syrup: Our favorite recipes for pancakes, waffles, and even a surprise recipe that pairs well with pure maple syrup as a topping
- Pure Maple Syrup Recipes: These are recipes that use candy-making techniques to go from liquid maple syrup to a variety of textures and applications. Learn how to make granulated maple sugar, spreadable maple "butter", and the sugarmaker's favorite seasonal treat, sugar on snow!
- Artisanal Maple Syrups - Infusions and Beyond: These will give a great twist to your next stack of pancakes, or you can bring out the bottle for savory dishes as well. Learn how to make bourbon barrel syrup, bright red strawberry “love potion” syrup, pour over coffee syrup, and over a dozen other unique and fun ideas!
- Desserts & Snacks: Syrup is sweet, but sometimes it’s hard to use liquid sugar to make a great dessert. These recipes are formulated and tested to embrace the moisture of syrup with cakes, cookies, and more that stand up to even the best of desserts made with refined sugar.
- Main Dishes, Side Dishes, and Appetizers: Bring the tree to the dinner table and wow your friends and family with the warm comfort of maple in their meals. Many of these recipes have become weekly staples in our dinner menu, they’re that good (and easy to make)!
- Condiments and Dressings: Syrup is liquid, so these are no brainers. When you take two of the basic tastes and pair them together, you can have some real fun. Here are some ideas for adding sweet and spicy, sweet and tangy, or sweet and salty to your arsenal, all with the unexplainable goodness of maple flavor.
- Drinks: Coffee with maple syrup is smoother and just better tasting than coffee with refined sugar. And you know what, this applies to a lot of drinks. Explore some new territory with these unqiue ideas, include maple sap coffee and homebrewed maple seltzer.
Ferrin Brook Farm is a family home and nano farming operation in Madison, NH. They raise poultry for eggs and meat and maintain several productive gardens and fruit trees. And of course make maple syrup. Their passion is deeply enjoying quality, healthy, local food.
Other Formats:
Paperback
Start to Finish Maple Syrup: Everything you need to know to make DIY Maple Syrup on a Budget
Jan 11, 2018
$2.99
This complete guide will give you all of the information you need to make your own maple syrup from the amazing, free sap in your own maple trees. Everything is based on a do it yourself attitude, making the most of simple materials and not over-investing time or money. It doesn't mess around with filler and fluff. This book gets right to the point.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THE BOOK:
- organized tables
- checklists
- clear, sequential instructions for every phase
COMPLETE AND EASY TO FOLLOW INFORMATION:
- A complete materials list
- Details on how to identify maple trees any time of year
- Guidance to determine how many taps you’ll need
- Estimating how much firewood you’ll need if you boil outside
- Tips to calculate how much sap you might yield
- How to make your own maple taps and collecting jugs
- Plans to build your own evaporator
- Tips for storing sap
- Instructions on how to evaporate the sap and finishing to perfectly delicious syrup
- Bonus ideas for what you can do with leftover sap
Making your own syrup can be as hard or as difficult as you want it to be. You can tap 1 tree or you can tap 1,000 trees. Why not give it a shot!
Ferrin Brook Farm is a family home and nano farming operation in Madison, NH. They raise poultry for eggs and meat and maintain several productive gardens and fruit trees. And of course make maple syrup. Their passion is enjoying quality, healthy, local food.
WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THE BOOK:
- organized tables
- checklists
- clear, sequential instructions for every phase
COMPLETE AND EASY TO FOLLOW INFORMATION:
- A complete materials list
- Details on how to identify maple trees any time of year
- Guidance to determine how many taps you’ll need
- Estimating how much firewood you’ll need if you boil outside
- Tips to calculate how much sap you might yield
- How to make your own maple taps and collecting jugs
- Plans to build your own evaporator
- Tips for storing sap
- Instructions on how to evaporate the sap and finishing to perfectly delicious syrup
- Bonus ideas for what you can do with leftover sap
Making your own syrup can be as hard or as difficult as you want it to be. You can tap 1 tree or you can tap 1,000 trees. Why not give it a shot!
Ferrin Brook Farm is a family home and nano farming operation in Madison, NH. They raise poultry for eggs and meat and maintain several productive gardens and fruit trees. And of course make maple syrup. Their passion is enjoying quality, healthy, local food.
Other Formats:
Paperback
$2.99
Why raise your own meat?
Because you know you will make the right choices. The chicken you eat will have been raised the way you want it to be raised. Exactly. You choose its feed, you choose its home, you choose how it is treated. You keep them healthy and content.
Because you love food. The texture will be exquisite. The taste will be unique to you and your land.
Because you’ll also develop a deeper connection with your humanity as a meat-eater. You will directly connect with your meals. You will earn your food. You will be a real provider.
Because you will truly make your dinner from scratch.
The real question you need to ask if you have the land and resources is: why not?
Everything in this book comes from several years of experience working with hundreds upon hundreds of chickens first hand. Processes and plans are original and have been developed and refined as the author learned from successes and failures.
Here's a glimpse at what is covered in this comprehensive guide:
- Thorough, step-by-step guidance to planning, preparing, raising, and processing chickens
- Checklists for everything you'll need
- Sequential instructions for everything you need to do
- Criteria for raising meat chickens
- Information on selecting breeds
- Guidance for determining how many chicks to order
- Complete, detailed, and simple plans for building brooders and movable pens
- Guidance on feeding practices to optimize the health of your birds
- Troubleshooting
Brian is a passionate supporter of local food. On nights and weekends he works alongside his wife, Amy, to supply all of their family’s maple syrup, chicken meat, eggs, and garlic. They seek out local sources for all other foods to supplement the other crops in their garden. They are also avid cooks and bakers. By day, Brian is an experienced project manager, focused on improving process and achieving quality results with clear, simple procedures. He brings these skills to books like this one to help everyone achieve their own goals of living local and enjoying food deeply.
Because you know you will make the right choices. The chicken you eat will have been raised the way you want it to be raised. Exactly. You choose its feed, you choose its home, you choose how it is treated. You keep them healthy and content.
Because you love food. The texture will be exquisite. The taste will be unique to you and your land.
Because you’ll also develop a deeper connection with your humanity as a meat-eater. You will directly connect with your meals. You will earn your food. You will be a real provider.
Because you will truly make your dinner from scratch.
The real question you need to ask if you have the land and resources is: why not?
Everything in this book comes from several years of experience working with hundreds upon hundreds of chickens first hand. Processes and plans are original and have been developed and refined as the author learned from successes and failures.
Here's a glimpse at what is covered in this comprehensive guide:
- Thorough, step-by-step guidance to planning, preparing, raising, and processing chickens
- Checklists for everything you'll need
- Sequential instructions for everything you need to do
- Criteria for raising meat chickens
- Information on selecting breeds
- Guidance for determining how many chicks to order
- Complete, detailed, and simple plans for building brooders and movable pens
- Guidance on feeding practices to optimize the health of your birds
- Troubleshooting
Brian is a passionate supporter of local food. On nights and weekends he works alongside his wife, Amy, to supply all of their family’s maple syrup, chicken meat, eggs, and garlic. They seek out local sources for all other foods to supplement the other crops in their garden. They are also avid cooks and bakers. By day, Brian is an experienced project manager, focused on improving process and achieving quality results with clear, simple procedures. He brings these skills to books like this one to help everyone achieve their own goals of living local and enjoying food deeply.
Other Formats:
Paperback
The Sheep and a Fence: A Gentle Story
Mar 1, 2019
$2.99
The perfect bedtime "yarn" to close out your child's day softly. This simple, iterative tale is based on a story the author made up one night to help his girls wind down for bed. The illustrations are homemade and simple, with limited stimulation and natural material. Learn to make your own sheep at the end!
Other Formats:
Paperback