As we discussed in part 1 of the green thumb series soil can almost always be amended to make it viable for growing a garden. What is more difficult is finding the right location for your garden. While gardening of some type can be done almost anywhere, there are plenty of variables that can affect where and what you grow. Plants need 3 things in order to grow, light, water, and good dirt. The location you choose for your garden can be watered, the soil can be amended but you must consider ... [ Read More ]
Green Thumb Series – Part 1 Making Sure You Have Good Soil
I hear the term I have a brown thumb from people all the time. I would hear it a lot when people would stop to admire my gardens, and ask me how I did it. I never really knew what to say to them, and when people would comment on what a green thumb I had, I would wonder what makes me different than everyone else. I suspect that growing plants is a lot like art, the secret is that anyone can do it, if they take the time to learn how. This series is dedicated to all of the things that ... [ Read More ]
5 Tips For Organizing and Keeping Track of your Garden Tools
Late winter and early spring is the perfect time to think about all of the important tasks that need to be done before the gardening season gets started. I usually start thinking about my gardens right around Christmas, and start planning in earnest right after the first of the year. While it is too early to even consider planting anything, it is not too early to get all of your tools organized and do any maintenance on them they might need. There is a post here ... [ Read More ]
Plant Something for Your Chickens When Planting Your Garden
A question I have pondered a lot is whether or not I can grow my own chicken food. I have heard both those that said I could, and those that said it was not a good idea. I find it hard to believe that feeding your chickens off the land is either not possible or not advisable. But more importantly than that I have come to believe that growing your own chicken food is not only safe but is much better for your chickens. I can draw on a lot of experiences for this thought, ... [ Read More ]
Garden Tool Maintenance – Taking Care of all Of your Gardening Tools Year Around
Note From The Editor: Please welcome my husband, who has agreed to add to our blog with bits of wisdom from around the Homestead. I am creating a special maintenance and DIY category just for him. I look forward to all of his great ideas! Making Your Garden Tools Last Takes a Proper Maintenance Program Spring is finally creeping up on us and with it comes the time to check over all of your garden tools and make sure they are up to the task. If you had taken the time to prepare them for ... [ Read More ]
Grow Veg Garden Planner Review
I know there are several reviews out there for this software, but since I used and loved this tool last year, I thought I would through my review out there as well. Whether you have used this software or not, please make sure to view the video I embedded for you, of the new features this year. These features make a great program even better, I am excited to get going using it just based on a few of these new tools. I have to say, I am not typically a fan of these ... [ Read More ]
Garden Planning Series – Deciphering the Different types of Seeds
During the week I got to wondering why it is that so many things in life have become so complicated. I guess it started when I was trying to find something for dinner (being the very end of the pay period before I go shopping) and ended up making very simple meals. Those meals turned out to be some of the most satisfying meals we have had in a long time. That got me to thinking about how nice simple is sometimes. But choosing what to buy in the stores or online ... [ Read More ]
GMO or Not to GMO What You Need to Know AND a Free Gift!
I will get back to my garden planning series in the next couple of days, a forum member was gracious enough to supply a very special gift for all of you, and it inspired to me to create a post to go along with it. The term GMO has certainly had its share of press over recent years, enough so that many of us know that it is something we need to be concerned about. This fact in and of itself has created a battle between consumers and the companies that use GMO products. ... [ Read More ]
Garden Planning Series – Getting Organized
This article is part 2 in a series about getting ready for gardening season, you can find part 1 here - Making Sure you have the Right Tools and Resources I am not a very organized person, never have been, but I have found over the years that a bit of organization can easily make the task of planning the garden easier but it can also make it more cost effective and efficient. Planning a garden demands a certain amount of organization and planning. I don’t care if ... [ Read More ]
Garden Planning Series – Making Sure you have the Right Tools and Resources
Spring is not here yet but for those of us that love to get their hands dirty growing food, the time is soon approaching to start planning for this year’s garden. While late winter is not one of my favorite times of year, it is a good time for one of my favorite tasks, planning out this year’s garden. It was only natural for me to write a full series on garden planning, I have been doing this task for 25 years and it never gets old. When the snow is flying and the temperatures ... [ Read More ]