Currently, I want a greenhouse. A big, beautiful, greenhouse. I want to be able to keep a salad garden thriving throughout the winter months without stalled growth, and potentially cool weather tomatoes as well (such as Sub-Arctic Plenty.) I imagine several beds on either side, lining the path to floor-ceiling shelving, which will hold my
Category: Plant Propagation
So, you want to expand your seed collection, but you don’t know how. Or, you have thousands of one type of seed that you’ve saved (shout out the the Marigolds!), and you don’t want to see them go to waste. You only have so much gardening space and time, meaning your seed just keeps getting
Homesteading can be pretty expensive; I’m not going to lie. In order to get many of the things we need or want (without spending a fortune, because it’s easy to do here and there!), I had to find a few loopholes. Some of these methods are obvious, others take a bit of experience…. All of
Are your seeds having spotty germination? Do you notice that some seeds like broccoli are coming up without an issue, but your peppers are slowly and poorly germinating? Some seeds simply require a little more attention when it comes to germination. Here are some incredibly simply tips for accelerating your germination, while significantly increasing your
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.
Who doesn’t love a freshly picked, home-grown blueberry straight from the backyard? I know we do… Except, it just wasn’t happening for us. Our blueberry plants were doing exactly the opposite of what we wanted them to do: thrive. Last summer, we watched them begin to fail, struggle to catch up, and begin to fail
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
During this long, cold winter, I decided I’d take on a few different projects in an attempt to fight off the mid-winter blues. We’re all dreaming of sunny, warm spring days, with flowers in bloom and tender salad greens as far as the eye can see…. That’s definitely not our reality right now, though; at
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
Melons are delicious little presents that we anxiously await from our garden. While other gardeners and homesteaders were busy focusing on watermelons and cantaloupes, we decided that we were going to take on Sakata’s Sweet Melon. You won’t find too much information about experiences elsewhere; however, we’re about to lay it all out on the
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
Are you addicted to root veggie harvest videos? I cannot get enough of them! Seriously. I think I may have to seek help for this little problem of mine… Harvesting sweet potatoes is a rush, especially when you can binge watch reveal videos on YouTube. I mean, how else are you supposed to get through
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
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.
I know that I cannot possibly be the only person that gets this excited just because…. The gardening catalogs arrived!!! All of the berry bushes. The fruit and nut trees. The special seed deals. The exotic and fun fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Bulbs, galore! Does it just give you that warm, fuzzy feeling too? Doesn’t
Personally, I find the paper towel method to be the best way to encourage a high germination rate among strawberry seeds. If you only have a few seeds to work with, I highly advise using this method; it’s important to know that berry seeds need light to germinate, as I found out through trial and
Growing strawberries from seed is extremely exciting- I should know! While I didn’t exactly stratify my berries in my experiment, they did sit in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. This might have been all of the stratifying that they needed; so, chances are, your local grocer has already taken care of this. But to be
Container gardening makes gardening fun and easy in rental or urban properties. We LOVE container gardening, even with our 3 acres! However, you might notice that a mid-sized pot of at least 5 gallons will run you $10, $15, maybe even $20 or more. This ends up being an outrageous price tag in the end…
How to Root and Propagate Lemon Thyme with JUST Water! Thyme is one of the most savory of herbs, giving even the most bland chicken an incredible boost in flavor. However, a delicious variety of this perennial herb, Lemon Thyme, offers up a delicious citrus infused punch to your standard family dinner. Trying it once
I’m sure you’ve tried to save seeds from some of your favorite tomatoes, melons, or squashes. Perhaps you decide to look back on your home grown seed stash only to find that MOLD has taken over, probably destroying your seeds! This will feel rather devastating; especially if you don’t have additional fruits to save seeds