Self Reliance On A Small Homestead
Grab Your FREE Summer Garden Chores Checklist! Sometimes it really helps to post a chore list on your refrigerator to stay organized. Summertime is so busy and it’s easy to forget to water or fertilize… or start your fall seedlings. I like printing out this handy summer garden chores checklist…
How to Save Money on Homegrown Garden Stakes Are you tired of buying bamboo stakes, metal posts, and other supports for your garden? Whether you wish to put up a trellis, fencing for keeping rabbits out, or keep your tomato cages from toppling over, here are some ways to save…
Tips to Speed Seed Germination for Your Garden If you’ve ever had seeds take forever to sprout you know just how frustrating it can be! The anticipation of reaping a harvest from our newly planted garden can make us so impatient. I’ve been gardening for a long time and I’ve…
How to Grow Food in Small Spaces Do you want to grow more of your own food? Is your space limited? Maybe you’d like to take control over what chemicals are used to grow the vegetables, herbs, and fruits that you eat or you wish to know how your meat…
Digz Gardening Gloves are colorful and attractive! I had fun reviewing them and plan to give an update on their durability after I put them through their paces.
How to create a survival seed ban and the, best storage methods, how to test germination rates, best and worst seeds for storage, and more!
7 Steps to Get Started with Aquaponics Guest Post from Fishkeeping World If you’re interested in growing more of your own food, consider organic growing using aquaponics! Not only can you grow more veggies, but you can add home raised fish to your self-sufficiency plans with an aquaponics system. This…
Preparing for Spring on Your Homestead Depending on where you live, you might already be enjoying spring-like weather, or maybe you have several months of winter left to deal with. Here in northern Illinois, we have a couple months of cold weather left, but I’m still getting started on spring homesteading…
Harvesting & Using Green Tomatoes Just before our first frost I harvested all of the green tomatoes from my garden and brought them in the house. If they have a slight blush of orange, they will often ripen in a sunny windowsill for fresh use or cooking. They may not…
You might be interested in reading my post How to Care for Newly Planted Beds. Spring Gardening & Grungy Fingernails No, I’m not talking about a new band out of Seattle. It’s officially that time of year when my fingernails look like I’ve been digging through garbage. And they…
You might be interested in my article 20 Warning Signs You’re a Seed Junkie. Coming Soon ~Spring on The Homestead Spring seems so far away with all the snow and ice outside my window. It’s 16 F but the sun is shining and my flock is braving the cold to soak up…
Caring for Newly Planted Garden Beds Gardening is not one of those ‘fix it and forget it’ tasks in life. You might feel like taking a break from the garden once the soil has been prepared and the seeds are planted. But those newly planted beds will need some extra…
Perennial Onions I planted Egyptian Walking Onions years ago and have been reaping the rewards of these easy-care perennials ever since. They are the earliest vegetable ready in my garden each spring, at a time when I treasure anything green coming up! These onions can be harvested at any stage…
Winter’s on the Way Out! Well, for some folks spring weather is already warming your faces and gardens. Spring bulbs are blooming and you’re out working in the garden. For northern Illinois, where I live, these are all daydreams and wishful thinking! But today is March 1st and we only…
“No man is an island, entire of itself.” John Donne What is Self Sufficiency? In the purest sense of the term, self sufficiency means the ability to survive on only that which you are able to gather, grow, make, or raise on your own. The thought of self sufficiency…
Saving Seed from Hybrid Plants There is quite a bit of misinformation out there about saving seeds. Again and again I read the pronouncements online that you can’t save seed from hybrid plants. This simply is not true. You can save seed from hybrid plants or from plants that…
