It Feels Like Autumn I’ve been watching the pumpkins, squash, and gourds mature in the garden, waiting patiently for the vines to die back. Well, this morning I got a little impatient! Here is a basket of pie pumpkins, Red Kuri squash, and gourds I picked for my friend Maria…shhh,…
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Grape Vines and Black Rot
Dad’s Vineyard My Dad planted a variety of wine grapes a few years back. The fruit is usually picked clean by the birds. But the vines are doing great and I had fun photographing them for you. Black Rot on Grapes Some of the grapes fall victim to a fungal…
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How to Sow Fall Crops for an Extended Harvest
Increase Your Harvest with Cool Season Crops In northern climates, like mine, you can sow cool seasons crops in mid to late summer for your fall garden. Oftentimes we get so busy preserving the bounty of our summer crops that we miss out on this chance to extend our…
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Royalty Purple Podded Beans
The Prettiest Beans in My Garden! I received heritage seeds from Mary’s Heirloom Seeds to review for free. In addition, this site is a participant in Mary’s Heirloom Seed Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn store credit by linking to Azure Standard.…
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5 Color Silver Beet Swiss Chard
Swiss Chard from Mary’s Heirloom Seeds This page contains affiliate links. You will not pay any extra when you purchase products through these links, but I will receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting The Self Sufficient HomeAcre! I received free seeds to review, however, all opinions are my…
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Planting Cherry Trees: North Star and Montmorency Cherry Trees
Cherry Trees I’ve planted fruit trees at every house we’ve owned (we’re on our third). At the last place I planted a North Star Dwarf Cherry Tree. I was impressed that there were 2 or 3 tart little cherries the same year I planted it from a bare-root twig. So…
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Growing Lamb’s Quarters in My Garden
Why Do I Let Lambs Quarters Grow in My Garden? I’m sure that you are quite shocked that there are weeds, such as lambs quarters, in my garden! Okay, maybe not shocked, but at least a little surprised? No? Oh well. I guess you’ve been looking at my photos of…
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Fruit Trees for Self Sufficiency
Why Grow Your Own Fruit Trees? Many people are interested in growing more of their own fruits and vegetables. Planting fruit trees for self-sufficiency is a great way to provide for your family. You have control over what is sprayed on your food, there will often be a surplus, and…
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How to Increase Self-Reliance by Growing Herbs
Planting herbs is a great way to provide your own herbal tea, seasoning for food, and herbal remedies for treating minor illness.
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Perennial Fruits for Self Sufficiency
Are you interested in growing your own healthy food, becoming more self-reliant, saving money, and planning for the future? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’ll be happy to know that perennial fruits will help accomplish all of these goals. Your initial investment of time and money…
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Perennial Vegetables for Self-Reliance
Perennial Vegetables for Self-Reliance Planting perennial vegetables allows you to harvest food every year without having to plant seeds each spring. Of course, it’s a good idea to plant annual vegetables too! But asparagus, rhubarb (yes, it’s a veggie!), French sorrel, and other perennial vegetables will provide for your family…
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Starting Cool-Season Crops for Spring
Starting Your Cool-Season Veggies Indoors If you live in a more northern climate, like me, you are probably just starting to think about getting your garden cleaned up and ready for spring. Warm weather crops, like tomatoes and peppers, will need to be started inside in a couple of weeks…
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Garden Peas
Peas in My Garden I love planting peas in the garden. For many years we had rabbits eating them, so I rarely planted them anymore. In our new garden (well, going into the third year) we don’t seem to have as many pesky bunnies. So we ate lots of…
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Planting Onions From Seed
See also How to Start Seedlings Indoors Growing Onions from Seeds or Sets? I’ve grown most of my storage onions from seeds rather than ‘sets’ for years now. Originally I started sowing onion seed because I wanted to try some new varieties. When you purchase sets your choices are…
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How to Clean Out the Root Cellar
How to Clean Your Root Cellar In March and April, it’s time to clean out the root cellar and finish up the last of your cold storage veggies. Many root cellar crops have long passed their ‘keeping’ limits by this time of the year. Beets, squash, pumpkins, carrots, cabbages, and…
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Seeds for Self Sufficiency
Heirloom Seeds Most gardeners purchase fresh packets of seeds each year to plant their garden. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. However, if you would like to ‘save a little green’ and become more self sufficient, heirloom seeds are just the ticket! Heirloom seeds allow you to save seed…