Well, it's July, which means, it's time for your July freebie! :-)

This month, I've got something a little different for you...

It's a free tool to help you extend your garden season and maximize your harvest!

While you may think of planting a garden as being a springtime activity, midsummer is actually a great time to plant some late summer and fall crops.

The best way to do this is called succession planting. It helps you get more out of your available garden space by planting a succession of crops one after another.

Yes, it really is that simple, but having a handy calculator like this one will help make the process easier to keep track of. Go ahead and grab your copy now, or learn more below.

Enjoy your summer bounty!  :-)

Welcome back! I apologize that I wasn't able to get your monthly freebie posted last week, but I'm back today with a helpful little guide to celebrate the start of the summer garden season. :-)

Healthy food starts with healthy plants which start with healthy soil, so believe it or not, soil health might be where true health all begins!

You've probably never thought much about the health of the soil - unless you're an organic gardener - so this might seem a little strange to you, but when you think about where all of our food ultimately comes from (yes, even meat), then it just makes sense. How can you grow healthy crops - either to feed people or animals - if the soil is depleted, neglected, or lacking in essential nutrients?

If you grow your own food, soil health is probably something you pay a little more attention to, but even if you're an experienced gardener, there is still so much to learn about the world beneath our feet and how it supports life!

That's why I'm excited to share a brand new guide with you from the folks over at Grow Your Own Vegetables, who brought you the Superfood Garden Summit. This year's Summit is happening this week, so be sure to check it out, but even if you can't make it this time, make sure you grab your free soil guide below ASAP to help you grow healthier, more nutritious food in your own garden all year long!

While February may feel like a long ways from garden season (at least here in Ohio), in fact, it's just around the corner! Depending on where you live, it may already be time to start planting - or at least planning what to plant...

That's why, for this month's freebie, I'm sharing a helpful guide to get you started thinking about this year's growing season!

This detailed guidebook from the good folks over at Grow Your Own Vegetables contains step-by-step guidance to growing a thriving vegetable garden, no matter how much growing space you may have available.

If you have time, I also recommend you check out the upcoming Joyful Gardener Docuseries, which contains lots more awesome information about growing healthy, organic food in your own backyard. But either way, make sure you grab your free download, while it's still available!

I apologize for the lack of a post last week - it's the craziest time of year, and time just got away from me! Along with the constant harvesting and food preservation tasks, we are finally re-doing the living room after all these years!! We actually hired painters this time (who did an amazing job), and this weekend we're ripping out the gross old carpet and putting down flooring.

I wouldn't have opted for this time of year with everything else going on, but I'll take it over having to live another year with that dingy room! Next up, we'll need to get hay and wood chips to start preparing for winter...

Speaking of which, if you've thought about (or dabbled in) winter gardening, I've got a special treat for you this month! This month's freebie is a little different, as I'm sharing a really cool online event centered around growing your own food throughout the winter. It features some of my winter gardening "heroes," such as Eliot Coleman, and you'll learn a ton of helpful info to help you grow your best winter garden ever!

Check it out below and learn how to get free access - it's all starting today!

Welcome to February! To kick things off - and help fight off the winter doldrums - let's think about gardening! :-)

This month, in preparation for garden season, Stacey Murphy over at Grow Your Own Vegetables is holding a special online event to help you learn to grow organic vegetables in your own back yard (or front yard, or patio, or window garden, etc.). I'm excited for this one, as this is the time of year that I can sometimes find it hard to get motivated, and Stacey's energy and hands-on approach is always so inspiring!

In conjunction with this event, we are giving away a copy of Stacey's no-nonsense garden guide: Your First Step to An Abundant Organic Vegetable & Herb Garden. This guide is packed full of actionable tips to get your garden off to a great start - even if you've never gardened before, or think you have a "brown thumb," and no matter where you live.

Click the link above to grab your guide now, or read more below to learn more about the guide and Stacey's upcoming event - which starts next week!

Fall is my favorite time to garden - although it's also the most stressful time of year for me, with so many things to do! The warm soil means seeds tend to germinate and grow quickly, but weeds aren't as prevalent, and pests tend to diminish as the weather cools. I usually try to grow a good number of fall crops, and this year is no exception. We have lettuce, arugula, chard, turnips, parsnips, carrots, radishes, kolrabi, cabbages, kale and collard greens, and various other salad greens all coming along nicely right now, and I'm hoping for a good harvest as we move into the early winter months!

Whether you're growing a fall garden, or planning for spring planting next season, this is a great time to brush up on your garden knowledge and skills, which is why I'm excited to share this month's freebie with you... Check it out below to learn more, or go here right now to grab your FREE garden guide that will help you get lots more yummy homegrown food out of your available space - no matter where you live!

I'm back, and I apologize for the delay in getting your July freebie posted! I had intended to post last weekend, but we arrived home from vacation much later than expected, so I wasn't able to get to it...

We had a lovely trip to Minnesota and it was wonderful to see and spend time with the family! We experienced many different types of weather, including heat and humidity, chilly blanket nights, a perfect day on the lake, and a fun day trip to Duluth and our favorite malt shop. We also ate way too much amazing food, as my Minnesota family are wonderful cooks and also enjoy growing lots of their own food. (It was amazing to see that their gardens are almost as advanced as ours here in Ohio, despite not being able to get them in until June!)

Unfortunately, I returned to find the scourge of gardeners everywhere (deer!) had gotten into my garden for the first time ever, and chowed down on my beans, tomatoes, and beet greens. :-(  Now that they have discovered the bounty within the fence, they have been visiting regularly, and the battle to save my precious garden begins... Scattering a bag of dog hair (which usually protects my raspberries and tulips in the spring) did not seem to help, so now I'm trying Liquid Fence, and plotting how to improve the actual fence for a more permanent solution.

It has been such a rough garden season so far (we also got nearly 6 MORE inches of rain while we were gone, plus 2" more since we've been back - for a total of 15" in the past 3 weeks), having to deal with the deer issue on top of everything else is very discouraging. :-(

Speaking of gardening, since we're in the heart of garden season, this month's freebie is all about growing your own amazingly nutritious "superfoods"!  Learn more and download your copy of this awesome resource below...

You've probably heard some of the buzz about "superfoods" over the past few years, but what actually makes a food a "superfood" anyway?

Obviously this isn't a scientific term, but "superfoods"have come to be known as foods that deliver an extra punch of nutrients. Most superfoods are fruits and vegetables, and while you might think of superfoods as something like acai berries or goji berries - something you probably can't find in your local supermarket - in fact, many superfoods are not exotic at all, and you can even grow them in your own garden!

In truth, homegrown foods are the most "super" foods of all when it comes to nutrients, as most fruits and vegetables begin to lose nutrients very quickly after harvesting. The closer you can consume your food to the time it was harvested, the more nutritious it will be. On the other hand, even the most nutrient-packed foods (like blueberries), become a lot less "super" after harvesting, shipping across the country, and sitting in the supermarket for several days.

It stands to reason that growing your own food is the best way to enjoy true superfoods in their healthiest form. And the good news is, it's actually not that hard to grow your own superfoods!

Garden season is upon us! With birds and spring peepers filling the air with music, daffodils blooming brilliantly on every corner, and balmy days staying lighter and lighter for longer and longer, springtime has definitely arrived, and we are reveling in it!

Along with springtime comes the seemingly endless list of outdoor and garden tasks to be done. This weekend I cut down some shrubs near the house to make room for our new gooseberry bushes, planted potatoes, set up a pea trellis, planted peas, and moved our herbs out to the deck for some fresh air and sunshine. Next weekend we will be erecting our raspberry trellis and (hopefully) planting raspberries - if they arrive on schedule - as well as planting out spring salad greens, onions, and possibly our broccoli and cabbage seedlings.

Although growing your own food does take some time and effort, it is well-worth it when you reap the bountiful harvest! There are also plenty of gardening methods that require less work, especially if you are working with a smaller amount of space.

For most people, growing all your own food may seem a daunting prospect. However, it can be a much more realistic achievement to grow approximately half of your own food - even if you don't have a huge piece of property.

In fact, this can be a lot easier than you think - and not as much work as you might expect - as long as you are using an appropriate growing system for your location - and you have the right knowledge for success.

Want to know how to do it for yourself? Read on...

A year or so, I was introduced to an interesting concept popularized by the gardening documentary, "Back to Eden."

In short, the concept is that God (or nature) grows plants perfectly and with no effort, and we have made gardening difficult by trying to change things and go against the way that nature works.

This appeals to me in a number of ways. Being a believer as well as a very curious person, I am always interested in learning more about how God works in the world all around us, and why things are the way they are. And of course, reducing the work it takes to maintain our large garden is always a welcome blessing! So I watched the movie and found it very interesting and inspiring.

We haven't truly implemented this system in our garden just yet, but I think we are starting to move in that direction. Here's what I learned from the movie, and what we have done with the information so far...