Choosing Rootstock When choosing rootstock I recommend looking beyond the trees’ use as a rootstock and looking at the usefulness of the tree as a whole. When I choose rootstock I like to select ones with multiple uses, Wild Plum and Antonovka Apple are clear winners in my book. Not only do they make great […]
permaculture
How Much to Plant Per Person in the Garden
How much to plant per person in the garden. I think this is a question all homesteaders and vegetable gardeners deal with every year. Children grow bigger and eat more or they move out so you have one less mouth to feed, your eating habits change, someone suddenly has a favorite fruit or vegetable, the varieties of […]
Culinary and Medicinal Garden Snowpocalypse!
Snow-Covered Herb Garden In the foreground is our culinary and medicinal garden. In the background is the food forest on terrace. We are excited about adding many different medicinal herbs this year to our established garden: yarrow, chaste tree, calendula and plantain just to name a few. In the food forest we will adding more […]
Podcast Episode 125 – Blake Akers – Agritrue
On today’s program we interview Blake Akers, one of the partners, designers and promoters of Agritrue, which is a private alternative food Certification to USDA Organic Certification. Blake explains what Agritrue is and what it is trying to accomplish. Agritrue is a community policed, beyond organic food certification and labeling program. He talks about the […]
Podcast Episode 124 – What is the Prepared Homestead
On today’s program, Monica and I discuss the purpose of The Prepared Homestead. We talk about several aspects of our operation and what they mean. We discuss what preparedness means and our approach to the concept. We talk about what it means to homestead. A lot of these terms have a wide array of meaning […]
Putting Your Gardens to Bed
This is a beautiful time of year – leaves falling to the ground in colors of orange, red, and yellow. Birds and other little critters running around doing their last minute preparations for winter, and life begins to slow down just a little. One of the main activities we’ve been engaged in on the homestead […]
3 Fertilizer Teas for Plants
If you are trying to stay away from chemical fertilizers, stack the functions of the plants and animals on your property and save money then these simple fertilizer teas are just for you. There are many different kinds of fertilizer “teas” and we will be covering three of them in this blog. We will talk […]
Podcast 113 – 5 Types of Animal Forage
In today’s podcast, Monica and I talk about 5 plants to grow for animal forage. Two main reasons to grow animal forage are to reduce reliance on the feed store (which saves you money) and it produces healthier animals. 1. White Dutch Clover – Trifolium repens – This is an easy plant to begin with. […]
Podcast 112 – 4 Reasons to Grow Hops
In today’s podcast we cover 4 reasons to grow hops. Click here to listen online Here’s a great book if you want to get into growing hops. The Hop Grower’s Handbook: The Essential Guide for Sustainable, Small-Scale Production for Home and Market 1. They provide excellent shade at the hottest time of the year. Once […]
Saving money & time
As we entered this year we re-evaluated our farm plan and priority list from last year. We had to make one adjustment because we (meaning Monica) wanted to add a medicinal and culinary guild to our front yard which is almost completed. We set out a budget, proposed time line, and a materials list. Because […]
