I much prefer the pace of March on a homestead than any sporting season on the planet! Seeds, baby birds, garden clean up, canning, roller coaster spring weather; I am here for it all. Another busy month flew by for us, and I genuinely can't believe we are already walking into April! GardenBaby Ducks Backyard … Continue reading Homestead March Madness: Seeds, Ducklings, Backyard Weeds for Tea, Whole Chicken with Herb Oil Recipe
Garden
Zone 6 – General Seed Starting Timeline (not complicated)
Starting seeds does not have to be complicated. Most seeds just need a head start indoors, especially if you live in northern areas with cold winters. This list is for anyone who lives in zones 4-6, since these zones generally grow on a similar timeline, only being a week or two off from each other. … Continue reading Zone 6 – General Seed Starting Timeline (not complicated)
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Creating a Cottage Styled Garden that is still Productive | 5 tips
Cottage gardening (some call it chaos gardening now) is my favorite way to garden, and over the years I have come across my favorite ways to make it as productive as possible. Even though on the outside many cottage gardens look full of flowers and color, you can still get plenty of medicinal herbs or … Continue reading Creating a Cottage Styled Garden that is still Productive | 5 tips
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Basic Seed Starting Supplies
You do not need some extravagant and expensive set up to get seeds started early indoors, if you don't want to; no matter how big or small you want to go everyone uses the same 5 (plus your seeds) basic tools. Let's go into what those basic seed starting supplies are and how to choose … Continue reading Basic Seed Starting Supplies
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Growing Heirloom Cucumbers | How to Choose Cucumber Seeds for your Vegetable Garden
With well over 100 different varieties of cucumbers around the world, there are plenty of choices for the home gardener to choose from. Cucumbers are often pickled or eaten fresh, and the varieties offered today cater to these practices in the kitchen, with cucumbers that were bred to do well in pickling, have good taste … Continue reading Growing Heirloom Cucumbers | How to Choose Cucumber Seeds for your Vegetable Garden
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Growing Berries at Home | Practical Fruit Bushes for Home Gardeners
Blackberry, thornless For most gardeners, berries are an easy perennial to add the gardens; they are prolific, most are disease resistant, some are even thornless now. Anyone with a decent amount of space or a large pot, can slip a berry bush or two into their gardens and reap the benefits of harvesting their own … Continue reading Growing Berries at Home | Practical Fruit Bushes for Home Gardeners
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How to pick Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Collards Seeds to Grow at Home | Growing Heirloom Vegetables
No matter if your leafy green of choice is kale, chard, or lettuce, growing greens is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in a garden. There are thousands of heirloom greens (50+ year old varieties) that offer several different flavors, colors, nutrient density, with consistently. But since seed companies can offer a lot of … Continue reading How to pick Lettuce, Kale, Spinach, Collards Seeds to Grow at Home | Growing Heirloom Vegetables
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How to Shop for Tomato Seeds | Growing Heirloom Tomatoes at Home
Now a days, if you want heirloom tomatoes to eat and cook with then you are going to have to grow them yourselves at home. Did you know there are about 10,000 tomato varieties!? Yes, 10,000. Grocery stores only hold about 5 different kinds, if we are lucky (with most being hydroponically grown to boot). … Continue reading How to Shop for Tomato Seeds | Growing Heirloom Tomatoes at Home
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Saving Annual Flower Seeds | Zinnias, Marigolds, Cosmos
Zinnias, marigolds, and cosmos are the three most popular annual flowers to grow in a garden. All around all three are easy to grow, colorful, great for pollinators, and the best thing is that they are very easy to save seeds from! They are dry seeds, which skips any tedious fermenting steps, making them easy … Continue reading Saving Annual Flower Seeds | Zinnias, Marigolds, Cosmos
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Freezing Swiss Chard
Swiss Chard is one of the easiest greens to grow, even more so than spinach or lettuce. Swiss Chard can withstand the heat better than other greens, tolerate some shade, and gives you a larger harvest by number simply because the plants can grow so large. It's also one of the healthiest greens you can … Continue reading Freezing Swiss Chard
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Canning Ham & Potato Soup | Pressure Canning the Ultimate Pantry Meal
Home-canned soups has got to be one of the best 'pantry meals' you can make for yourself. Here I go into what to harvest from your garden, tools you need, ingredients, and step by step instructions on how to pressure can this hearty ham and potato soup. Let's Dive In Pressure Canning Ham and Potato … Continue reading Canning Ham & Potato Soup | Pressure Canning the Ultimate Pantry Meal
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Lemon Balm Lemonade Recipe | Cottage Pantry Recipe
Lemon Balm Lemonade is super easy to make and takes advantage of some great herbs you have growing in your garden. It's a floral lemonade that is so refreshing, especially as the hot & humid summer months are settling in. Here are my exact measurements to make a half gallon jars worth of this delicious summer drink:
The Cottage Vegetable 