Adventures of an urban homesteader growing greens, preserving the harvest and tending a backyard barnyard
It’s the end of January and some of my favorite winter plants are on full display. Keep your eyes peeled for some of these beauties, or perhaps they are already growing in your garden. Every winter I am reminded of the magic that is witch hazel. Although it looks fairly inconspicuous most of the year, this beauty will fill your garden with intoxicating fragrance during
It is mighty quiet on the homestead right now and I’m enjoying every chilly moment. It’s my one time of year to get ahead of the garden. Most of my chores of late include cleaning out dead leaves, setting up new trellis for maturing vines, and working the compost. But there are a few things to harvest when I look carefully. Our onions are best
There is one garden chore that doesn’t take a break in the wintertime: making compost. It’s a good excuse to get outside, get some exercise and prepare for the springtime garden. I have loved our three bin compost system, which gives us ample space to process all the garden waste, kitchen scraps and used chicken bedding our homestead produces. All three bins are just where
Happy new year friends! It’s that time of year when we take stock of what we have and dream about what will be. That includes the homestead – is it growing in the right direction and is everyone as happy and healthy as they can be? Today was the perfect time to ask that question about our backyard flock of chickens. We currently have eight hens
Winter storms are the perfect excuse to hole up inside on these dark days over a bowl of slow-cooked roast beef. We recently purchased beef in bulk from a local farmer to help us spend more time lingering at the table this winter and less time running out to the grocery store. If you are a meat-eater, buying your meat in larger portions can be
The days are growing shorter as the winter solstice draws near. In my part of the world, the sun is rising close to 8 am and setting before 4:30 pm. It leaves very little time to see the garden, let alone work in it, on weekdays when we are scrambling to keep it all together. Thankfully the winter garden doesn’t need a careful eye. Regardless
Weddings are celebrations of love – not just for the person you are marrying, but also for the people you love invited to witness it. With that in mind, I was honored to be asked by my mother to do the flowers for her late fall/early winter wedding. It makes the celebration that much more special to have it come together with the help of
Making homemade pumpkin puree is insanely simple and the flavor is far superior to anything you will find in a can. The most important aspect is choosing the right pumpkin. Grocery stores often carry small “pie” or “sugar” pumpkins that work well, as they have a higher sugar content. I tend to favor Rouge vif D’Etampes, a French heirloom, which is sweet and a good keeper.
We are up to our ears in winter squash! I decked out our front porch this year with some really fun varieties, in part so we could make some delicious meals with these beauties. There are so many fun varieties to cook with and luckily many of them will keep for weeks, or even months. Growing winter squash takes up some prime real estate on
It’s not too late to get a fall planting of garlic in the ground. This easy to grow crop is adaptable to different soil types and is an incredibly low-maintenance plant. My dad shared some of his garlic harvest with us and we have been saving the best and biggest bulbs to plant this fall. Garlic generally produces the best crops when planted in the
