January 2026 Homesteading Update: The Start Of A New Year

Welcome to January and the first of the 2026 homesteading update! I’ll show you what is going on with garden planning, in the kitchen, with the chickens, and with life in general here in Illinois (Zone 5).

Not much is happening outside besides freezing cold temperatures. However, I have been busy in the house trying to take care of some homesteading-type projects as well as planning the spring garden. (That’s always a favorite winter task!)

With these updates, I hope to do more of a “journal” type of post at least once a month to keep you updated on life here. Hopefully, it will allow you to get to know the person behind these articles (me!) and how we run our semi homestead a bit more.

This will allow me to share the loads of photos I take on my phone instead of having them collect dust in my camera gallery. (You can also look for updates on Instagram if you want to follow along with me there, too.) I’ll also try to link to posts that might be relevant to what happened during that timeframe.

Hopefully, you enjoy getting to know a bit more about our life here in Illinois and how the homestead is going – Both the good and the bad!

The First 2026 Semi Homesteading Update: January

Garden Planning

Even though it’s pretty early, I always start to get the itch to get my spring garden planned. This is helped out by the fact that new 2026 seed catalogs start showing up in my mailbox!

I have multiple different seeds leftover from last year and saved seeds, so there are really only a few that I needed to purchase this year. Of course, I also can’t help getting a few different varieties and colors to try out, as well as the tried and true ones.

One new crop I am trying this year is Zucchetta Rampicante. It’s a type of summer squash that climbs. It is supposed to resemble the flavor and texture of zucchini when harvested early. However, you can also leave it on the vine to mature and turn into more of a winter squash that can be stored. (It’s also supposed to be resistant to squash vine borers, so that is a huge selling point for me!)

The other thing I am going to do this year is reserve one of my raised beds for a sort of herb garden. I want to grow all sorts of herbs I can use in the kitchen, like rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, spearmint, peppermint, etc.

Otherwise, it’s mostly the usual suspects that I grow every year. I’m still waiting on one of my seed orders to arrive, then I should be good to go. (I’m also going to do winter sowing this year once everything arrives, so I’m excited to try that!)

The Freeloading Chickens – January 2026 Homesteading Update

We have kept the chickens literally “cooped up” for much of January. We have been dealing with below-zero wind chills. I usually keep their automatic door open so they can leave the covered and protected run and go out into their fenced area, but when it is that cold, the best thing I can do is keep it shut up tight.

However, there have been a few days when they have been able to wander outside. The younger girls seem to enjoy this more during the winter than the older ladies!

We got our first egg on January 25, but it was already cracked and frozen by the time I got to it. It was from one of our Buff Orpingtons. Her comb and waddle have turned a nice bright red, which lets me know she is the one laying. (It’s the one pictured above, but she hadn’t started laying when this picture was taken.) Most of the other ladies probably won’t start until closer to mid to late February.

Houseplants

During the dreary and cold winter months, I tend to focus some of my energy on my houseplants. I love being able to see a bit of green and foliage all year round!

We use growlights throughout our house because we don’t get a lot of Southern exposure (the kids’ bedrooms are on that side of the house). Thanks to the lights, most of the plants stay healthy throughout the colder months. (Although, now that I see my photos, it does look like I need to clean their leaves, at least on the rubber plant!)

I have one that has been loving its location, and that’s my Ficus Elastica (also known as a Rubber Plant). I have a grow light attached to the plant’s container, and the plant is pumping out some beautiful pink and green variegated leaves. (Here’s the grow light I am using with it – Product Link: Wolezek 2 in 1 Grow Lights for Indoor Plants.)

I did have to prop and chop my Tradenscantia Zebrina. While I love growing these plants, they aren’t particularly fond of being indoors here. So when they start to look a little worse for wear, I chop them off and start them in water. Or, I plant them back into the soil. They are a very forgiving plant like that. Come summertime, after the plant has been back outside, it will start filling out and looking stunning once again.

Homesteading Tasks – January 2026 Homesteading Update

During the winter, I try to knock out a few homesteading tasks that I’ve maybe been putting off. One of those is to mince and freeze last year’s harvested garlic. I lost a few that had rotted, but I was still able to save a good amount. I love having this shortcut on hand to grab out of the freezer whenever a recipe calls for a bit of garlic.

We finally ran out of my parents’ homegrown popcorn, so I had to dip into our stash. I’ve had it sitting in the basement for over a year on the cob, so it’s good and dried out. Most of the ears were pretty small, but it is still fun to grow and collect them. Some of the varieties we grew were mini blue, mini pink, strawberry, and glass gem.

Lastly, I bottled up some of my homemade vanilla extract. This bottle was actually supposed to be ready in March of 2025, but I thought it still smelled pretty strongly of rum, so I waited a bit more. In all, this batch was soaking since October 2024. Normally, I use vodka as the alcohol, but the rum adds a fun depth of flavor to the extract. I added the used vanilla beans to another batch I already have steeping, which should be ready in a few months.

Some Recipes I’ve Made

Most of the month of January has been spent in the kitchen, either baking or cooking. Some of these recipes I have on the website, and others I will get on here eventually.

The first one is a skillet chocolate chip cookie. This was a request of my son’s. At first, I was worried because the middle was super gooey. However, after we let the cookie sit for an hour or so, it set up and was perfect! We have a local grocery store that always makes cookie cakes, and my kids said this was way better than those even. I consider that a win!

Next up is my Mom’s Chicken and Noodles. This isn’t the same as a chicken and noodle soup because it creates a thicker mix that you eat as is or serve over homemade mashed potatoes. It is so good and the perfect winter comfort meal that you make using your crockpot.

During Christmas, my mom gave me my late grandma’s old cookbook. It is the one that she used all the time and has several of her recipes in it. It was the best gift she could’ve given me and something I will always cherish! So I wanted to try a few recipes. One of those was a banana bread, complete with my grandma’s notes and changes.

The last one I’ll share was my homemade Cream of Anything Soup Mix. Instead of having to use those condensed store-bought soups, I use this mix instead. Add a little butter and milk, and you have a delicious, healthier version that works in any recipe that calls for cream of soup. (It works as-is as a Cream of Chicken replacement, but you can also create Cream of Mushroom, Celery, or Broccoli soup.)

On To Next Month

That’s pretty much it for the January 2026 semi homesteading update. On to what feels like the coldest and longest month of the year. Hang in there because spring will be here before we know it!

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
– Chelsea

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