We've reached a standstill with preserving our harvest. As I'm sure many of you have as well, we've encountered a mason jar shortage. That means all those honey jars and pasta sauce jars I've saved over the years are being put into service. And praise God I bought brands that are compatible with regular mouth … Continue reading Homestead Update
Potager Planning
It seems like a lifetime has passed since I first dreamed the potager garden. In reality, it's been about a year and a half. But it is surreal that the time to plan and plant is quickly approaching! This has been my brain child for so long, it's actually hard to believe that I've gotten … Continue reading Potager Planning
Keyhole Herb Garden
This silly thing has been in the works for 3 years. I had initially planned this space to house the bulk of my medicinal herbs. For whatever reason, it never truly worked out. I ended up with a ton of weeds, or a series of higher priority projects. It seems that this may be the … Continue reading Keyhole Herb Garden
Gardening in December?!?
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?!?
Calendula Oil
Calendula is a new herb to me, but it's definitely one now that I won't ever be without again. I put together a hugelkultur planter in the potager and planted my calendula in it. I've had a handful of blossoms so far with more on the way. To prepare calendula oil, I plucked a couple … Continue reading Calendula Oil
Bringing Chaos into Order
Part of my brand of creativity is organization. Many don't think of organizing as creativity, but it is. Think about it from God's perspective- the first three days of creation were spent organizing! Separating the earth from the sky, gathering the waters together, separating day from night. God brought chaos into order. (Genesis 1:1-16) That … Continue reading Bringing Chaos into Order
More Fall Preparation
My son and I have been working to establish the Back to Eden beds along the back of the house and prepare them for spring herb planting. We finally figured out that a greater number of spadefulls of mulch goes faster than trying to rake mulch loose and shovel fewer larger loads with a snow … Continue reading More Fall Preparation
Herb Preserving
I have been hang drying sage in the kitchen and it was finally time to put it away today! For anyone interested in herbalism even if it's just growing kitchen herbs, I highly recommend the book, "The Herbal Medicine-Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual" by herbalist, James Green. It's a very pleasant, conversational, and enjoyable read, … Continue reading Herb Preserving
Coop, Sowing, and Trees
We started work on the chicken coop . Actually, we re-started it. For some reason, our corners weren't coming out square so we unscrewed the entire base frame and checked that the cuts were straight. The 2nd try was better. The lesson in this is that a tiny mistake can cause big problems that compound … Continue reading Coop, Sowing, and Trees
Seed Stratification
I've never done this before, but as I was doing my seed inventory (finally!) I discovered that it was necessary to stratefy Angelica seed. It's really easy, though you can make it more complex if you choose. I went with simple. These are the steps I followed: Make sure all seeds have good contact with … Continue reading Seed Stratification
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