I haven’t presented my readers with a growing guide in quite a while, aside from growing Lavender from seed. It’s about that time, isn’t it? Carrots prove to be one of the most complicated crops for new gardeners and homesteaders to grow; unlike plants like cucumbers or potatoes (which grow anywhere and everywhere without a
Tag: Beginner Tips & Tricks
For some plants, bolting, flowering, and producing seed is a bad thing for the gardener. Unless they’re saving seed, that is. Everyone dreads finding out that their lettuce or spinach has started to bolt; every year, we risk encountering bolted greens when spring arrives. Bolting is commonly associated with woody tubers, bitter greens, and reseeding.
With a new homestead comes lots of new challenges- for most people, they have to start entirely from scratch. For us, we purchased our home, had a baby, and we were faced with buying a new (to us) car within months of each other; therefore, getting our homestead up and running was quite the challenge, as
Lavender is such a versatile, therapeutic herb on the homestead; it is also deeply cherished throughout the farthest reaches of the modern and ancient world, being used medicinally, aromatically, and cosmetically. In France, lambs were released to graze upon Lavender, as it is believed to make the meat of a lamb more fragrant and tender (more
Indoor gardening strikes excitement within the hearts of homesteaders, because it allows us to deny winter (as much as we can, anyways…). Overall, being able to produce your own greens, fully grown vegetables, and even flowers indoors without sunlight is extremely exhilarating.
New baby? Just bought your homestead? Still grinding through college? Whether your finances are tight or you’re simply adopting a frugal lifestyle, you can garden without spending money! Standard gardens do require a good bit of preparation and investment: building beds and buying pots, amending soil, purchasing seeds, buying pest control, adding garden tools…. it
Tomatoes are one of our most important crops that we grow! I’m sure you can agree, as they are used for so many different foods including: Tomato Pasta Sauce (paste tomatoes) Marinara and Pizza Sauce (paste tomatoes) Salsa (slicing tomatoes) Ketchup (slicing or cherry/grape tomatoes) Salads (cherry tomatoes) Sandwiches & Burgers (slicing tomatoes) …. We’ll
Who doesn’t love an incredible hunk of freshly baked apple crisp, with a little bit of homemade, vanilla bean ice cream; Am I right, or am I right? Apple crisp is much easier to whip up at home than a pie is, and zucchinis are much easier to core and cut than apples are. They
You’ve probably heard about fermenting feed; it stretches feed, allows beneficial bacteria to grow, and increases digestibility. But have you heard about simply soaking your feed?! If you are currently feeding your chickens a layer or grower crumble (pellets, too!), even a specially ordered high quality organic feed, I cannot recommend soaking enough! Soaking has
Establishing a new garden bed is so much fun! Well, that is, until you realize that the new spot is completely shaded…. Most plants will not tolerate full shade, especially during the spring and fall seasons. If you plan to place your bed: Within a breezeway Under an overhang or carport Underneath a large tree
If you have a nice little bed for greens on your homestead (like many of us!), you’re probably finding out that spinach can be a very finicky, hard to grow plant. I’m going to guess that you either lost your entire spinach harvest last year due to bolting, or you are currently dealing with bolting
Strawberry seeds can require a bit of work in order to get started. They aren’t as simple to grow as other seeds, such as tomatoes or squash. As a matter of fact, growing strawberries from seed is one of the more difficult tasks that a home gardener might tackle. Want to know what you’ve done
Beans are a must-have on the homesteader’s menu. They’re easy to grow, they produce a lot of food, and they are multipurpose. You can grow them for green beans, or for shelling/dry beans! There are dozens and dozens of bean varieties, both bushes and vines. For containers, I recommend vining varieties (also known as pole
Garlic is pretty delicious in… well, everything. Can you name many savory foods that don’t pair well with garlic? Probably not! Garlic tends to be a rather slow crop for homesteaders, especially the first time around. But, garlic plants will reward their loving, attentive owners with an incredible gift…. A secret, delicious harvest of scapes!
Growing a vegetable garden can be a heartbreaking process, because 501 things can go wrong all at once. Therefore, I present to you my MUST GROW list! These low maintenance garden vegetables will ensure that you have a successful harvest of SOME kind from your garden. If you are just starting out… Or if you
Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis. Affectionately “Dew of the Sea” in Latin, also referred to as “Anthos” in Greek, or “flower.” It makes a delicious, comforting roasted chicken, especially when it’s plucked straight from the homestead garden. Walk through the Rosemary bed on a warm summer day, and you’ll be greeted with an aromatic burst of the
Okra is amazing, especially when its many pods are cut up, battered, and fried. Okra, in all of its golden, delicious, and tender glory, is also one of the easiest plants to grow on our homestead. It’s one of the most prolific, too; I begin to dislike okra pods as the season comes to a
I love pasta. Lasagna. Spaghetti and Meatballs. Chicken Parmesan. Guess what? Most pasta dishes include basil. Basil is one of the hallmark ingredients of many Italian dishes; and it is absolutely delicious. Basil grows quickly, and is fairly easy to grow. Seriously, every new gardener should try it. However, as with any other plant that
As the weather warms up and the fruits are gently harvested from our lush vegetable plants, we notice that the ants like to slip into our homes “unnoticed” in search of an easy, fresh meal. They know we’re doing all of the hard work, and that our counters are the perfect place to find a
It’s the middle of April, and spring is surging ahead here in our small southern piece of the pie. Strawberry pie, that is! Well, I wish anyways… I’m a bit impatient.
Have you recently walked out to your coop and noticed that your hens were having a bad hair day? A REALLY bad hair day? With feathers everywhere and your hens looking absolutely ragged and homeless, it might look like a war has erupted between all of the chickens on your homestead. Welcome to the world