If you love fresh strawberries but don't want to pay the high prices at the grocery store, why not start your own strawberry bed in the backyard? You can grow them in a bed or even as a border alongside your patio. You can also grow huge strawberries in containers! Strawberries are quite easy to grow but to keep your bed going year after year, some maintenance needs to be done. And we've … [Read more...]
How to Grow Rhubarb
Rhubarb is one of the earliest producers in Spring. It's very easy to grow and it is a perennial, meaning that you plant it once and it will come up year after year. Many people get 20 years worth of harvest off of a single rhubarb plant. That is a great return. Use rhubarb in all kinds of recipes, from jams to pies, stewed or added to homemade juices or sodas. How … [Read more...]
Containers for Seed Starting
It won't be long until I can start planting the first seeds of the year. I can't wait - I always get itchy to get my hands in some dirt. I begin to dream of being in the garden, working the soil and being in the sun. For now I have to content myself with starting seeds indoors. Part of the process is getting my hands on containers for seed starting. What containers to use for seed … [Read more...]
Make A Personalized Seed Starting Schedule
At this time of year, my mind starts to fixate on seeds for the upcoming garden. Not that I can do anything about it; it is way too early for me to get any seedlings started indoors. I do, however, check my seed starting schedule to see when I can get those first seeds started. Sometimes I will feed my urge and start some perennial flowers and that helps a … [Read more...]
5 Reasons to Plant a Vegetable Garden
There are plenty of benefits that come from growing your own food. If you haven't yet had a homegrown meal straight from the garden, you really don't know what you have been missing. Here are my Top 5 reasons we grow our own food. 5 Reasons to Grow your own Food 1. Growing your own food can save you a LOT of money For the price of … [Read more...]
How to Make Sauerkraut
Since cabbage grows so easily (and big!) here in the Cariboo, we often end up with heads over 10 pounds. What to do with all that cabbage? That's easy - we turn it into Sauerkraut. We love having jars of home canned kraut on hand for a quick meal in the winter. Here's how to make Sauerkraut (and how to can it too). We do keep several heads in the Cold Room and … [Read more...]
Harvesting Potatoes
The garden is slowly being emptied for the season - every day more and more potatoes are being dug up, sorted and put away. If I get one row of potatoes harvested every day, it doesn't take long for the potato bed to be emptied. Every year we grow enough potatoes to eat all winter long, plus enough stored to use as seed potatoes the following year! They take up garden … [Read more...]
Still on Evacuation Alert, But All is Well!
It's been hard for me to find time to write new blog posts - we have so much going on here right now. Here's a quick update - we are still on evacuation alert, but all is well. There is still quite a bit of smoke here at times, but not so much that we aren't able to work outside. We have been following the various Cariboo Facebook groups for official information. Today we are delighted to hear … [Read more...]
Never Buy Pea Seeds Again – Save Your Own Seed
Who doesn't love to eat fresh garden peas? There's nothing like a handful of peas scooped right out of the pod and into the mouth. Just make sure you don't eat them all fresh! Save some for eating at any other time of the year. Blanching and then freezing bags of garden peas to enjoy during the winter is a great idea. The peas will have that freshly picked flavour … [Read more...]
