Gardening
Results found in:
Blog Posts,
News,
Websites,
Books
Blog Posts:
Excitement Over First Real Garden Wanes
After hailstorm destroys and clean-up continues
So, this morning my husband and I spent quite a while trying to clean up and salvage The Mess Formerly Known As Our Garden.
We’ve spent the better part of ten days dealing with the aftermath of a freak hailstorm that ruined our roof, siding, garage door, and gutters. Our insurance company has cut us a preliminary check and the contractors will come back on Tuesday with their detailed bid in hand. Everyone who’s examined our property so far just offers apologies when they see our pathetic veggies, though.
Anything that can be done to save them now, must be done by us.
At the beginning of the gardening adventure, we agreed that we’d each wear the same crummy outfit and pair of lousy shoes each time we went out to face the elements. (Read: mud.) I told my hubby that I wouldn’t even bother trying to keep these items of apparel clean, since they’d be getting filthy the next day again anyway.
“Just drape your gardening clothes over this basket and you’ll know right where to come tomorrow,” I said.
“Sounds like a plan.”
This morning, we’d been working for 30 minutes before I finally looked up to see him wearing a pale pair of pants I’ve seen him wear to church rather recently. I could not believe how he’d violated our pact to only ruin one set of clothes each! The nerve!
All my flowery, idealistic Mother Earth garden talk from months ago suddenly boiled down to a few terse syllables.
“Those aren’t your garden pants.”
“Oh? And those are your garden jammies?”
With the hailstone ice finally broken by peals of laughter, I imagine we’ll survive the rest of our first year of gardening just fine.
Posted by Katy on 06/20/09 in
Homesteading,
Gardening
— 1 Comment(s)
Hail Damage Brings Big Changes
And my fledgling garden gets a fresh outlook
I’m not sure anyone’s ever totally prepared for a disaster, and sometimes even relatively minor ones can catch you off-guard.
We’re sure weren’t expecting the freak hailstorm that took the exterior of our house by surprise two weeks ago. Every year, it seems, the anecdotal reports of hail get larger and larger, size-wise. Personally, since I’d never witnessed hail much larger than a nickel, I had a hard time believing the hail chasers who called in to TV stations to claim golfball and (more recently) baseball sized stones.
I mean, you NEVER hear of anyone getting killed by hail, and if baseballs really came down forcefully from the sky, wouldn’t somebody somewhere get crushed?
Well, this hail was bigger than golfball sized and lasted for twenty minutes! And even though the temperature made it up to ninety degrees soon after the storm, five hours later we still had a layer of hail in our yard! It was by far the craziest hailstorm I’ve ever seen—-and it certainly took its toll in our neighborhood.
Essentially, the whole exterior of our house sustained enough damage that our homeowners insurance is paying, basically, for a whole new exterior. We’re springing for a new patio door, which did not get pelted but which needed to be replaced and there’s no time like the present.
A year ago, it would not have occurred to me to view my old French door as anything but trash. But these days, I look at everything with an eye toward identifying its hidden multiple purposes. And then, before consigning it to a landfill somewhere, I make an attempt to refashion it into something I actually need——and in the old days, might have spent money to acquire.
So guess what an old patio door with two big beautiful panes of glass and broken hardware looks like to me? That’s right! A cold frame for the garden!
I didn’t have the best of luck starting seeds inside this year, and rather than invest in grow lights, why not move the entire operation outdoors? I think my hubby can easily build the frame to go beneath the double-wide door and I’m excited to see how my shallow greenhouse pans out next spring.
Plus, no sooner did I lament the sorry state of my garden after the storm came through than we noticed the most darling pears on the two trees we planted four years ago! The pears kind of mimic the size and shape of the leaves at this point, so it’s hard to see them all. But I counted 21 so far, and that definitely renewed my enthusiasm for all things garden!
Posted by Katy on 06/24/09 in
Gardening,
Recycling
— Add a Comment
News:
Ever wanted to try staring seeds indoors? After an unsuccessful attempt, I'm thinking the right light source is key. :) Here's a clear set of directions for building a system that just might work....
Posted on 04/30/09 in
Gardening
Don't hesitate to replace some of your ornamental plants with ones from which you can reap an edible harvest! Mix and match and the (picky) neighbors will be none the wiser.
Posted on 04/30/09 in
Gardening
Arguably the most understandable instructions for a raised garden bed EVER. Even I got it, and I don't know a Phillips screwdriver from the kind with vodka.
Posted on 04/30/09 in
Gardening
Growing your own food is for everyone, not just people who want “organic” fruit and vegetables.
Posted on 06/01/09 in
Gardening,
Urban Farming
People in cities and towns across the Front Range, and the nation, are embracing aspects of a lifestyle familiar to people who raise livestock and harvest crops in rural America.
Posted on 06/03/09 in
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Urban Farming
Knutzen is the author, with his wife, Kelly Coyne, of "The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City," a primer for urbanites who want to take a step or two off the grid.
Posted on 06/03/09 in
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Urban Farming
Formerly squeamish suburbanites are learning what every little kid knows instinctively--dirt and worms are cool.
Posted on 06/03/09 in
Self-Reliance,
Homesteading,
Gardening
When it comes to canning, there is no room for error and no excuse for not taking safety precautions. There are some ideas still being passed around that are, in a word, dangerous.
Posted on 06/11/09 in
Gardening,
Food Preservation,
Food Storage
Brock said the City Park region of Denver supports about a dozen similar houses. One of them, he said, routinely turns off the electricity in the house for a day. The people who live there make a campfire by rubbing sticks together, then hang out in the yard beside it.
Posted on 07/28/09 in
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Urban Farming
Websites:
Two amazingly competent women blog about simplicity, creativity, self-sufficiency, and…mini-vans. Here you’ll find more fun than you can handle, plus gobs of free patterns, recipes, and other domestic goodies. Not to be missed!
in
Self-Reliance,
Gardening,
Do-It-Yourself,
Recipes,
Crafts
Ree describes herself as a desperate housewife who lives in the country and channels Lucille Ball and Ethel Merman. She’s a former city girl, now married and a homeschooling mom. SO funny and smart! You will love this site!
in
Gardening,
Food Preparation,
Raising Livestock,
Family,
Humor
Get Rich Slowly is part philosophy, part psychology, and part good old-fashioned financial common sense. Oh, and with wonderful gardening tips, too!
in
Frugality,
Gardening,
Personal Finance,
Entrepreneurship
A growing resource of books, articles and audio/visual sources around the subject of rural and country style living.
in
Gardening,
Health,
Recipes,
Renewable Energy
Ongoing story of a family who turns to homesteading, complete with lots of how-to info, humor, and inspiration.
in
Self-Reliance,
Homesteading,
Frugality,
Gardening
I’m the country gal. I’m working beside my husband to build our homestead among the beautiful rolling hills of Southern Iowa. I love my God, my husband, my family, my country lifestyle and my chocolate.
in
Gardening,
Recipes,
Homemaking
My Goals: 1 - Apply for a loan; 2 - Find some land; 3 - MOVE; 4 - Make the switch to off-grid living; 5 - Plant a garden; 6 - Get some chickens; and 7 - Make a life, not just a living. This is my journey toward fulfilling that dream
in
Gardening,
Food Preservation
Countryside & Small Stock Journal (better known as just “Countryside”) is more than a magazine: it’s a network where homesteaders share a wide variety of experiences and ideas about simple, sustainable, country living.
in
Gardening,
Food Preservation,
Food Preparation,
Raising Livestock
Welcome to my blog, Filling Your Ark. I hope you will find some helpful information that will both educate you in the purpose of emergency preparedness and bring success in your food storage endeavers. There are also helpful PDF documents, websites, and YouTube videos on building and using your food. Enjoy and learn.
in
Emergency Preparedness,
Gardening,
Food Storage
Books:
|
|
All New Square Foot Gardening
This all-new, updated book is even simpler than it was before. You don’t have to worry about fertilizer or poor soil ever again because you’ll be growing above the ground. Anyone, anywhere can enjoy a Square Foot garden. Children, adults with limited mobility, even complete novices can achieve spectacular results.
Gardening
|
|---|
|
|
|
Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition
Anyone who wants to learn basic living skills—the kind employed by our forefathers—need look no further than this eminently useful, full-color guide. Countless readers have turned to Back to Basics for inspiration and instruction, rediscovering the pleasures and challenges of a healthier, greener, and more self-sufficient lifestyle. Back to Basics will help you dye your own wool with plant pigments, graft trees, raise chickens, craft a hutch table with hand tools, and make treats such as blueberry peach jam and cheddar cheese. More than just practical advice, this is also a book for dreamers—you will find your imagination sparked, and there’s no reason why you can’t, for example, make a loom and weave a rag rug. This may be the most thorough book on voluntary simplicity available.
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Food Preservation,
Raising Livestock,
Getting Started
|
|---|
|
|
|
Gardening When It Counts
Growing Food in Hard Times
In hard times, the family can be greatly helped by growing a highly productive food garden, requiring little cash outlay or watering. Gardening When It Counts helps readers rediscover traditional low-input gardening methods to produce healthy food.
Gardening,
Traditional Skills
|
|---|
|
|
|
Seed to Seed
Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
A complete seed-saving guide that describes specific techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables. This book contains detailed information about proper methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning, and storing the seeds. Widely acknowledged as the best guide available to learn effective ways to produce and store seeds on a small scale. This newly updated and greatly expanded Second Edition includes additional information about how to start each vegetable from seed, turning the book into a complete growing guide.
Gardening
|
|---|
|
|
|
Storey’s Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance
This is the book for anyone who wants to become more self-reliant, from suburbanites with 1/4 of an acre to country homesteaders with several. The information is easily understood and readily applicable. More than 150 of Storey’s expert authors in gardening, building, animal raising, and homesteading share their specialized knowledge and experience in this ultimate guide to living a more independent, satisfying life. Readers will find step-by-step, illustrated instructions for every aspect of country living.
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Food Preservation,
Food Storage,
Raising Livestock
|
|---|
|
|
|
The Encyclopedia of Country Living
From Publisher’s Weekly: The updated ninth edition of this compendium of food production information is the hefty result of over three decades of intelligence-gathering by Emery, whose initial encyclopedia project was designed to help newbies in the “back to the land” movement of the early 70s learn self-sufficiency. Tasks Emery covers run the gamut from the simple to the complex, and from the common to the strange, and include how to: bake bread, make seed milk, sew a cornhusk bed, dry flowers, prune kiwi vines, culture yogurt, plant beans, keep bees, build a fish pond, artificially inseminate a turkey and help a cow who’s eaten nails. Though it’s definitely not aimed at them, urbanites will find the recipes and resources lists useful, the trivia interesting, and Emery’s personal reflections compelling. Even readers with no plans to raise sheep, sell homemade cheese or plant millet will find this a fascinating cultural document.
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Food Preservation,
Food Storage,
Raising Livestock
|
|---|
|
|
|
The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It
This book teaches all the skills needed to live independently in harmony with the land: harnessing natural forms of energy, raising crops and keeping livestock, preserving foodstuffs, making beer and wine, basketry, carpentry, weaving, and much more. This new edition of The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It is the ultimate practical guide for realists and dreamers alike.
Homesteading,
Gardening,
Raising Livestock,
Renewable Energy,
Traditional Skills
|
|---|
|
Site Index
Select from list to view blog posts, news, articles, websites, etc. for that topic:
