Healthy Self Reliance
Organic Mulches Inorganic Mulches Cover Crops and Green Manures Mulching is a practice adaptable to nearly all homestead gardens. To mulch is simply to cover the soil around plants with a protective material, organic or inorganic. Using a mulch for your homestead garden can help in many ways. Mulches reduce weed growth by making conditions …
New Year. New Garden. Here are some helpful gardening tips and chores you can do in the month of January that will start you on the path to an enjoyable and abundant year in your garden! Plan Your Garden Make a garden plan for the garden beds you already have and don’t forget to account …
It was nice while it lasted. The spring, I mean. If I had been one step ahead, I would have had everything planted sooner. Who could have known that it was actually May in March? I mean… really. I really didn’t want to tell you all the drivel you can find on a zillion other …
Bean blossom drop can occur when temperatures stay consistently over 90 degrees and/or if the plants are stressed. There’s not much you can do about the heat except wait it out. It may help to put a breezy row cover over them to provide some shade. The plants may start producing again when the weather …
You CAN balance organic gardening and bugs! I have focused on the soil for the last (large) number of years always hoping to get it just right, to have an exceptional year. Truth is, as I re-examine this idea, I have begun to realize that I want to validate something; many things. Time spent. Composting. …
The biggest focus this month is, “When can I DO something?” If you have been asking yourself this question, the answer is a LOT! March is the month to really get started
We often see different vegetables at Thanksgiving dinners like the root vegetables rutabagas and parsnips and Brussels sprouts. If you have grown root vegetables in your garden this year, you can leave them in the ground and harvest them as you need them throughout the winter. To protect them from freezing, mulch them with at …
Public concern over the use and misuse of pesticides has led increasing numbers of home gardeners to seek means of "natural" pest control. Although some people do not have the time or knowledge to practice all the available alternative methods for controlling pests, there are many cultural practices which will help reduce losses. You can …
1) Observe your space Where is the sun / shade? (watch the patterns during the growing season throughout the day) How is the land sloped? (south faces warmer & sunnier than north – use to your advantage!) Is it windy? (plant some trees or shrubs to act as a windbreak!) 2) Think about what you …
It’s easy,very inexpensive and they taste better too so lets get started! STEP 1: Which tomatoes should I grow? If you have a long growing season then you would want to go with an indeterminate variety which grows all summer long. If your growing season is short then you would go with a determinate variety …