Category: - Holistic Living: Your Pathway to a Balanced Life

[FREE] The Secret to Winter Gardening

9/3/2023

Winter gardening tips

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!

[Free Guide] Double Your Garden Harvest In Half the Space

10/3/2021

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!

[July Freebie] 12 Easy-to-Grow Superfoods

7/18/2021

Grow your own superfoods guide

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...

Protect Your Health With Homegrown Superfoods

6/30/2019

Grow your own superfoods

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!

[FREE Video Series] Fast & Easy Homegrown Food - In Less Than 1 Hour Per Day

4/7/2019

Homegrown food easy system

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...

Back to Eden Gardening - The Way God Intended?

9/24/2017

Back to Eden gardening method

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...

Homestead Update: Summer Stress Case

6/25/2017

Salad greens

Peas, peas, and more peas!

I know it has been ages since I did a homesteading update for you, so I figured I would go ahead and share the good, the bad, and the ugly for the season so far...

Spring was early this year, and then late - back and forth between unseasonably warm and unseasonably cold all the way up into May. But somehow the garden still ended up ahead of last year - except for the parts I am still behind on! We already have little green tomatoes of all kinds out in the garden, okra is up (this time last year I hadn't even planted it yet), and lettuce and peas are almost finished (our best pea crop so far, by far!).

For some reason, every year I think this year I will somehow manage to be not as stressed out during the hectic spring and early-summer in the garden, but it never happens! Last year I thought I would be done with preparing new beds for a while (always an incredibly laborious and time-consuming process), but then we ended up with fewer hay bales this year, so I decided to create one more row of beds so that area wouldn't to go waste this year. Well, it's nearly July and I STILL don't have them done, although getting close, and I should finish them this week at last... Our soil is so heavy and dense, it is nearly impossible to dig if it's not the perfect moisture level. For most of the spring, it has been either way too wet (with standing water in the aisles), or way too dry (like concrete - can't even get a fork into it), so I've been lucky to get one day out of the week sometimes where it is actually workable.

Fortunately, we got 2 1/2" of rain a few days ago, after a long, hot, dry spell, and now it is cool, breezy, and beautiful - perfect for working outside, and the soil is nice and moist - so I'm on the home stretch! My husband is finishing up the bed boxes today, so we should have them framed by the end of the week - so I can finally plant the beans!

Get Your FREE Ticket To the Homegrown Food Summit

6/4/2017

Homegrown Food Summit 2017

Welcome to June! For this month's "free giveaway," we're handing out tickets to an amazing event that anyone who is interested in real health, self-sufficient living, or making sure that the food you feed your family is safe and healthy will NOT want to miss!

That's right - registration is now open for the 3rd annual Home Grown Food Summit.

This awesome event kicks off Monday, June 12th, and it includes presentations from more than 38 experts on food, homegrown and natural medicines, homesteading, urban gardening, raising livestock for dairy, eggs, and protein, and many more health and self-sufficiency topics - plus, you'll have the opportunity to win some really cool prizes for your homestead! (See below for details.)

Get your FREE Ticket here, or learn more about the event below.

[Infographic] A Comprehensive Guide to Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

3/26/2017

Community Supported Agriculture

I haven't mentioned CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture programs) in a while, but even though we now get the majority of our summer produce from our own garden, we do still participate in a winter CSA program from a local organic farm that uses unheated greenhouses and high tunnel techniques (a la Eliot Coleman) to grow fresh greens and other veggies throughout the winter months. They also provide a number of partner items from other local businesses and farms - including apples, honey, maple syrup, natural soaps, dry goods such as beans and flour, and more. Participating in this program allows us to eat mostly local year-round! (We also buy almost 100% of our meat from various local small farms which raise animals humanely on pasture.)

While not everyone necessarily has access to these resources, there are now thousands of CSA programs throughout the U.S., so unless you live in a very rural area, you most likely have at least one near you!

We share some helpful information about Community Supported Agriculture on our CSA page, but I recently stumbled across this comprehensive infographic, and thought it might be fun to share it with you... Check it out below to learn lots of interesting and informative tips about CSAs including the benefits of participating, questions to ask when choosing a CSA, and how to make the most of your share, as well as some recipes for using some of the more uncommon vegetables that you may find in your CSA!

Note: We will be taking a blogging break next week to enjoy spring! However, we will be sending out an important email with a FREE resource that you won't want to miss if you care about your health... If you aren't already subscribed to receive our updates, please do so now via the box to the right, so you don't miss out!

Homesteading Update: The Harvest Begins (For Real)

8/7/2016

Garden fresh food

Nothing like dinner from the garden!

Well, the moment I had been waiting for all summer finally arrived last week: my first cucumber & tomato salad! :-) Although we have been regularly harvesting some form of produce from our garden for at least two months now, for me, the REAL harvest doesn't begin until the tomatoes are ripe. This is always a bittersweet moment for me though, for as much as I love garden-fresh ripe tomatoes, it also signifies that the end of summer is drawing near.

This summer has been a perfect example of why I think people find gardening so interesting - and so frustrating, at times: Every year is different.

This summer is completely opposite from the last, at least weather-wise. Last summer our main challenge was keeping our plants from drowning due to the nearly constant rain! Cooler than normal temperatures made the season long and a bit slow, but most of our plants loved all the water.

This year has been okay with rain so far (at least in our neighborhood) - until the last couple of weeks (but really no extra to speak of, and I haven't seen the garden "moat" since May). Now the grass is beginning to turn brown from lack of rain, and I am having to water almost constantly. The long, cold spring delayed many crops from going in the ground until much later than usual, but the consistently hot summer has helped things catch up - particularly the peppers, which have been producing for several weeks now - more than a full month earlier than last year!

Now that the tomatoes are finally starting, the bounty begins in earnest: counters loaded with so many piles of produce it's hard to keep them all straight. Overflowing trays and colanders of ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, eggplants, green beans, oh, and did I mention cucumbers?

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