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
Tag: Gardening
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
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
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
To the new homesteader or gardener, preparing potting soil before reusing it might seem to be simply removing the old plant and putting the soil into the next pot to be used. For the experienced gardener, there are so many different reasons to squirm at that thought! Used potting soil could carry diseases or parasites,
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
Need Some Advice? Cucumber Growing Tips? So, there you were, cruising through the spring growing season watching your cucumbers simply flourish. You had one delicious salad with a crisp cucumber, right after you rubbed the curious little spines off of the fruit in your bountiful garden, and you were hooked. Then, as if disaster struck
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…
So, you go outside with plans to check out your compost pile, like any other regular day on the homestead. Perhaps you’re adding some garden fresh veggie scraps from last night’s delicious oven roasted chicken recipe; or maybe you just shredded a ton of junk mail from the last two weeks, and you’re ready to
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