My most favorite thing is planting new plants and watching them grow. This usually makes for a bleak winter time because everything goes to sleep and doesn't wake from it's slumber until the spring. This is not true for my Back to Eden Garden. I have some sort of greens growing just about all year … Continue reading Gardening in December?!?
Electricity and Other Unfortunate Inventions
It's "joked" about amongst my husband's coworkers (our pastors and church staff) that we're all just one light bulb away from being Amish. I say "joked" because it's not far off from the truth. We don't have social media and, honestly, if I had my way, you'd all be reading this via handwritten newsletter. Unfortunately … Continue reading Electricity and Other Unfortunate Inventions
Rushing Winter Prep
It. Is. Cold! Last year we had a much more mild transition from fall to winter. This year, we had a ton of autumn rain and it snapped cold pretty quickly. I'm already having to break up frozen chicken water! Good grief. So much for living in the south. Anyway, with all the rain, my … Continue reading Rushing Winter Prep
More Winter Homestead Preparation
Our place is really beautiful in the fall, but Oh. My. Lanta. I almost haven't had time to enjoy it!! We have been outrageously busy here. This past weekend we had a wedding in the family. Our oldest was the ring bearer in my husband's cousin's wedding. It was pretty, and fun, and we saw … Continue reading More Winter Homestead Preparation
SMH Back to Eden Demonstration
It's Fall!! and that means we're building another Back to Eden terrace (our final one in this garden) and we thought we'd take the opportunity to make it a teachable moment. We'll cover the basics of permaculture land works, B2E site preparation, planting, cultivar selection, pruning, and more! Join us for a demonstration/master class/tour on … Continue reading SMH Back to Eden Demonstration
Back to Eden: Barrenness to Abundance
This is the start of our 3rd year on this property. Lately I had been really discouraged about all the things we need to do, and the things we haven't been able to accomplish (goats, windows, roof, doors, floors, kitchen, bathrooms, etc...) But then, I happened across an old picture of the place before we … Continue reading Back to Eden: Barrenness to Abundance
Gardening Lies You’ve Been Told
I recently pruned my cherry and peach trees. Yep, I did a soft pruning in October. One of the biggest lies is that you can only prune your trees in dormancy. That's like saying you can only trim your fingernails while you sleep. Here's the thing about pruning- if you had a broken bone, you … Continue reading Gardening Lies You’ve Been Told
Black Consort Currant Cuttings
I'm in full-out winter-prep mode. I'm thinking through fall 2018 and spring 2019 plantings already!! So, I worked on our berry area today during naptime. I pruned back the currant and raspberries/blackberries this past weekend. So, I had 5 currant cuttings to plant. The little buds are leaf buds. But, the big fat buds like … Continue reading Black Consort Currant Cuttings
Work Day on the Homestead: Part 2
Well, we called the insurance company, got a claim started for the damage to the basement bathroom/living area. Called a plumber (and left a message) to take a peek at what might be causing the overflow, and the clean-up company came out to take pictures and measurements of the affected areas. The bad news is, … Continue reading Work Day on the Homestead: Part 2
Work Day on the Homestead
One of the biggest challenges of homesteading with 3 small children is... homesteading with 3 small children.It's almost impossible to get a job done without interruption making it take 4 times as long.It helps a little to have my husband home helping, but we rarely end up working on the same task to completion. Usually, … Continue reading Work Day on the Homestead
