Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Franklin Springs videos, a review


Since you asked for a review... I first heard of the Franklin Springs videos when the NRB channel (National Religious Broadcasters - Direct TV) played them ever Wednesday night.  They now play them off and on Saturday nights at 9:00 EST but not on a regular basis as they did when they were on Wednesdays.

These are fantastic family oriented videos.  My favorites are the West Ladies Homestead Blessings DVDs.  They used to be only offered in packages but on amazon.com I can get them individually.  The "ladies" are a mom and her three daughters.  Part of the fun of watching them is how they relate to each other.

The first three I saw on NRB were about breadmaking, soap making, and candle making.  They now also offer videos about herbs, canning, gardening, cooking, sewing, and dairy delights.  I would not be at all surprised to hear they continue to make new videos, they are so popular.

I also wondered how indepth the Homestead Blessings: the Art of Herbs DVD could be but it had excellent reviews on Amazon from those who knew about herbs.  I learned a lot from this one hour video and I've already gone back to different parts of it to review. Just watching it a couple of times has changed my mind about what herbs I will plant this year.  I also learned why my basil didn't grow well until later in the season. :)

The Homestead Blessings: Homestead Blessings: The Art of Canning video is also about an hour long and it covers water canning, pressure canning, making jam, pickling, and general questions about canning.  Their section about pickling is all about pickling eggs which they use in various salads (green salads, potato salads, tuna salad, etc.).  I think it has given me the inspiration to not only water bath can this year but to dust off the old pressure canner!

My favorite video which I first saw on NRB was  Homestead Blessings: The Art of Bread Making.  I've been making bread since the 70's and I still enjoyed watching this.  Their videos about candle making and soap making were good, I just know they are not something I will do soon.  I haven't had a chance to view any of their others, yet.

I do hope to add Homestead Blessings: The Art of Gardening and Homestead Blessings: The Art of Dairy Delights videos to my library and I can see getting Homestead Blessings: The Art of Cooking for Elisabeth someday.  Even at eight years old, she shows a lot of culinary interest and talent.  I'm thinking my future Amazon credit will go these three purchases.  :)

You can preview the trailers of their DVDS... here.  I highly recommend them not only for grown up ladies but even little girls would enjoy watching them and learn a great deal.  It goes without saying they would make an excellent homemaking skills class for homeschoolers.

The West Ladies were first introduced in the DVD A Journey Home and later in Inherit the Land... the first video a story about one family's return to the land and the second about a few other families who opted for a more agrarian lifestyle.

Franklin Springs offers many other family and homeschool friendly DVDs on their main website... here

The West Ladies are also known for their singing.  For those who followed our beloved Jewels' blog, they came to visit her at one time and I so enjoyed reading about it.  Here they are singing Green Beans in the Garden (you may have to turn off my music on the sidebar by clicking on the two vertical lines).  I love family harmony!  (I wondered who the smaller kids were and on YouTube they said they are neighbor's kids.)

6 comments:

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Brenda,

We loved the canning one also. We followed their recipe for blackberry jam and it turned out wonderfully!

Our family really appreciates them as well! I learned about them through Jewels as well....

Heather L. said...

Thanks for the review. I've never heard of these but I do believe i remember their visit to Jewels'. I will check out the library....

Angela said...

Love that harmony! Just curious, who is Jewel? Happy Wednesday, Angela

Susan Humeston said...

Aren't the West Ladies the same as Jewel's blog?

Lisa Z said...

I love that music video--didn't know they made music at all. I have seen a couple of their videos and loved the entertainment value (though like you I knew how to bake bread, etc.). They certainly make beautiful, high-tech videos for people who live so "simply"!

Being an herbalist myself, I will definitely check out the herb video. I bet I will learn something!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this information. The DVD's sound delightful. I splurged and ordered the herb one. I started an herb garden last year and want to try making some different things with them this year.