Growing your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs is truly one of life’s pleasures. Nothing beats walking out into your garden with a basket in hand, ready to harvest for your day’s meals. Imagine a fresh salad of heirloom tomatoes and juicy cucumbers. What about scrambled eggs with freshly picked tarragon? Or how about making a […]
5 Things You Shouldn't Admit After Buying Chickens
Raising chickens is a growing trend across the country. They are popping up in barnyards, backyards, and urban homesteads. From retirees to hipsters, people are jumping on the chicken bandwagon. We tell ourselves that we want to know where our food comes from, bringing us closer to the source. Or perhaps we want to explore […]
Garlic Scapes: A Hardneck Delight
In the world of garlic, hardnecks provide a sublime treat that softnecks just can’t provide. This early summer delight can be harvested well in advance of the bulbs. What are they you ask? Garlic scapes! These scapes are the ‘flower stalks’. Now while they don’t produce a flower, they will eventually form bulbils (if the […]
Homemade Olive Sandwich Spread
Sandwiches are a perennial favorite. They are portable, easy to prepare, and are so versatile… served hot or cold, fresh or fried, but always a crowd-pleaser. But let’s break away from grilled cheese, luncheon meat or peanut butter and jelly and expand the sandwich filling options. From the 1920’s – 1950’s, sandwich fillings were commonly […]
Gardening: I'm Dirt Tired
Gardening season is well under way. Plants are in the ground, seeds are sprouting and mother nature is giving us weather that we dreamed about during cold snaps in winter. Even weeding is taking place daily. What more could a gardener ask for? The answer my friends is sleep. Days start early to beat the […]
Glass: A Homesteader's Friend
Through the decades, homesteading has changed. The government is no longer giving away tracts to those that occupy and improve the land by constructing buildings or planting windbreaks. Horsepower is not necessarily a mule team, but rather a gas-powered engine. And the words of Horace Greeley imploring, “Go west young man” is relegated to the […]