Grapes are one of the most fantastic fruits we can grow on our homestead. Not only do they taste amazing right off the vine, you can learn how to preserve grapes by dehydrating, freezing, or making wines and vinegars. While growing grapes might seem like a tricky endeavor, once you have them going, they will produce for you year after year. Your grapevines will provide ...
SUMMER
No Waste: Cool Ideas for Using All of the Harvest
I am always trying to figure out no waste ways to use my produce scraps before they go to the landfill or compost pile. I've got a great handle on how to use the whole strawberry by making strawberry syrup from the tops. I love that I can control food waste in my kitchen and have extra uses for my scraps, even on the way to the compost pile! When I began composting, I ...
How to Prevent Weeds in the Vegetable Garden
Weeds. They are an age-old issue that gardeners have battled with season after season in their vegetable gardens. While this long-time battle respects no gardener, the better we learn how to prevent weeds from growing in our garden, the better we can focus on growing our own food. Then we can head them off at the pass, creating an easier gardening experience for ...
When to Harvest Your Top 10 Most Popular Garden Vegetables
Spring and summer is the time to harvest green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and many other veggies. The bounty in these two seasons is the reason for gardening, in my opinion. It's the time when we are blessed with the tastiest of fruits of our labor, and more money saved at the grocery store. These tips for harvesting your garden vegetables will give you the ...
Freezing Fresh Herbs for Use All Year
If you've ever planned on making your famous salsa, bake a chicken, or make some Asian noodle soup and found that you didn't have the fresh herbs to make them, then this post is for you. I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to make a dish with cilantro, basil, or any other fresh herb only to need those herbs out of season. For some dishes, it's not feasible to use the ...
Simple, Delicious Homemade Kombucha Tea
If you've never tried homemade kombucha, it's quite a treat. Bubbly, refreshing, and flavorful, kombucha is also probiotic and is a delicious way to get your fizz on and make your digestive system more healthy (read this post by our friends at The Farmer's Lamp for more benefits)! I learned about kombucha about 5 years ago, and to be honest, the name of it put me off. I ...
How to Make Banana Peel Fertilizer
I totally dig the idea of learning how to make fertilizer from kitchen waste on the way the compost pile. I love to make strawberry syrup from our strawberry tops, broth from our meat bones, and soil acidifier from our coffee grounds. Today I'll share my latest zero waste endeavor, banana peel fertilizer. It's super easy to make, and a great way to use an abundance of banana ...