Growing your own food is one of the most rewarding things that you can do, whether you have a large homestead on many acres or a small backyard lot. Either way, it is well worth the effort to have homegrown produce. It is helpful in many ways to be able to extend the season a…
Grow
Growing your own food and medicine is one of the most rewarding and self sufficient things you can do for yourself and your family! I’m here to help you learn the benefits of growing your own vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers, and how to get started. You will also find information on permaculture, food forests, and other regenerative gardening techniques.
The Benefits of Thyme
Thyme is on your side, yes it is! Really though, thyme is a wonderful plant, and an herb that everyone should have in their garden. Besides being an awesome culinary herb, thyme also has some powerful medicinal benefits, and it’s great for the bees. Thyme is a hardy perennial that doesn’t take a whole lot…
How to Save Tomato Seeds by Fermenting
In many instances, saving seeds is pretty easy. Cut open a butternut squash, scoop out the seeds, put a few on a paper towel to dry, and there you go. With some veggies, like zucchini and cucumbers, you need to let a few get pretty big – bigger than you’d want to eat, so that…
How to Make Apple Cider with a DIY Press
When we moved into our new house last spring, one of the most exciting things for us was the apple tree in the backyard. While our yard is much smaller than we would like, this apple tree is the centerpiece that ties it all together and really makes it feel like a mini homestead. Well,…
10 Reasons to Grow Lavender
Lavender is one of the more common garden and backyard flowers, and for good reason. It has so many uses and benefits! I have to admit that lavender is one of my very favorite flowers. It doesn’t take a whole lot of care, looks gorgeous, and is something that I use quite frequently for numerous…
Backyard Garden Update
Well, I figured it was about time for me to give you a backyard garden update! As you may or may not know, we moved into a brand new little homestead this past March, and have been feverishly working on the garden ever since. We don’t have a huge amount of space to work with,…
10 Reasons to Grow Mint (Without Fear)
Mint has a bad reputation for taking over the garden, for good reason. But, there are many reasons to grow mint in your backyard without fear! Even though mint is a highly beneficial plant, due to its spreading nature, many of us opt to just go without it all together. The problem with doing this…
How to Grow and Use Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums are a plant that every gardener should consider growing. Besides their beauty, nasturtiums are also edible, medicinal, and are great for companion planting in your garden. On the California coast they have naturalized, and you can often find large patches of them growing wild. I have always been amazed by this, and I wonder…
How to Grow and Use Calendula
I was so happy when we moved into our new house and the backyard was covered in calendula! I use this flower in so many of my herbal preparations because it’s a wonder plant, full of so many benefits. Calendula is a plant that everyone should have in their yard, for multiple reasons. First and…
How to Choose the Right Seeds for Your Garden
It’s that time of year when those of us with the gardening bug find extreme pleasure in pouring over seed catalogs. I must admit it’s one of my favorite winter pastimes. In fact, as I write this, we are having a gorgeous spring like day that is making me so excited to get out and…
