Hey All, I’m sure you all have heard the expression “comfort food” before. You know, there’s just something extra nice about having really good food that’s fresh, either from the ground or freshly butchered. But, even if you have food that is really fresh, it can end up not tasting so great if it’s not …
Have you ever encountered a time when you think you planted and did everything right, yet your beans don’t produce? I frequent a number of gardening forums on the internet, and hear about this problem every year. I’ve dealt with this problem a number of times myself. Why does this happen? There are at least …
One of the more challenging skills for a new gardener is knowing how to water the garden. Offhand, one would think, “How hard can it be?” Yet, this is an acquired skill. No one has it “straight out of the gate.” Many new gardeners suffer needlessly because they don’t know the basic principles. I believe …
The Importance Of Community Hey all, Occasionally, as much as we like homesteading, we do have to travel. I’m sure you all occasionally do too. What on earth do you do when you have to travel and you have something like dairy goats? It’s not a wise idea to hand the homestead over to someone …
Weeds are an inevitable part of gardening. Basically, a weed is an unwanted plant, a plant growing where it is not wanted. It seems to be a truism that weeds grow MUCH MUCH BETTER than anything planted on purpose! There are many schemes for how to get rid of weeds, some are better than others. …
Why do I homestead? Hey ya’ll, Some of you who are just curious about homesteading may want to know what is homesteading and why do we do it? Homesteading is living in a more self sufficient way. In my case, homesteading means seeing sheep and goats peacefully grazing in an open pasture. It’s late nights …
An Uncommonly Good Fruit Hey all, One of my favorite trees on our homestead is a tree that I don’t often see at other farms or homesteads. I’ve been thinking about it a little, and I think I know why. This tree is one whose fruit is never found in any of our local grocery …
In this day and age few gardeners even consider growing non sweet corn. By “non sweet” I simply mean any kind of corn other than the sweet type most commonly grown by gardeners. Beside sweet corn, there are at least four types of corn one can grow. Without getting too technical, I’d mention that apart from sweet …
In my opinion, sweet potatoes are one of the most neglected crops in North American, especially outside of the South. Growing up in NJ I remember we hardly ever ate them, yet, as an adult, I learned to love sweet potatoes. The better I know them, the more I love them. There is more than …
Hardneck garlic is a favorite of mine. There are several distinct forms (or types) of garlic out there. Hardneck garlic is not as common as the most common form of garlic, called softneck. Hardneck garlic gets its name from the fact that it produces a woody central stalk and flower head. Instead of seeds, however, …