Like any other day, you go out to the chicken coop to check on the ladies and give them some feed or veggies scraps. You make it to the nesting boxes, hoping to grab some delicious, fresh eggs (or, butt nuggets as we like to call them!) and you find the weirdest little egg you’ve
If you have several pine trees on your property, it can be really hard to figure out what to do with all of those pine needles as they are shed. Pine needles are known to be very acidic, as they compost into the soil around the trees. Therefore, it may not be ideal to use
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!
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
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
Seed Starting: It’s exciting. It’s liberating. It’s the best late winter tradition. When all else is cold, dead, or dormant, while the sun hangs behind the gloomy winter clouds, starting our seeds indoors or in the greenhouse gets us homesteaders pumped for the incoming growing season. But… What if I told you that sowing a
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
Goats are amazing animals for even the smallest homesteads. They can thrive on very little land, or run free on vast expanses. In return, your dairy goats will give you delicious milk and cheese. Your meat goats will supply your family with a wonderful source of protein. The brush goats will reward you with a
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
Putting up a fence is hard work. It’s also incredibly expensive the first time around. If you don’t plan your fence correctly, you could run into problems and breaches very quickly. It just doesn’t make for a very good time on the homestead, especially whenever you have a lot of animals to contain or animals
The sweltering, baking sun begins to lessen the intensity of its summertime rays. The heat embracing crops have become brittle, their youthful production now a distant memory, leaving a mottled sea of green and brown foliage over the spent garden bed. Children are heading back to school with their new backpacks and jackets, romancing the
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
Persimmons are commonly talked about throughout the North American homesteading community, especially as a fruit tree. However, you rarely hear about the leaves of a persimmon tree, unless you take a trip into Asia. Did you know that those little leaves pack quite the punch, both nutritionally and in the sense of natural/herbal remedies? Let’s
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