Once the gardening and outside work is finished for the season, it's time for me to get going on the inside work. Truth be told, all summer long my house looks like a mini cyclone came through it. Funny that the outside of my house always looks so much neater than the inside! But that's a die hard gardener for ya. I'm not the only one, right? The list of chores is pretty long by the time … [Read more...]
How to Dry Herbs
We use a lot of herbs in cooking and so we always have some growing in the gardens. We grow Oregano, Lovage, Parsley and Chives which are all perennial herbs. Plant them once and they should come back each year with new growth. Our climate (Zone 3) dictates that we have to mulch the Oregano heavily for insulating over winter, if we want to plant it right into the ground. Usually I grow the … [Read more...]
How To Improve Clay Soil
Here in the Cariboo, we have clay based soil that we are always trying to amend. I was reading Carla Emery's book this morning (Encyclopedia of Country Living) again. I am always reading something from this awesome book. Here's what she says about using buckwheat as a form of green manure....buckwheat works very well for us as we have a shorter … [Read more...]
Homemade Poison Ivy and Weed Killer That Really Works
Over the years, I have fiddled around with different homemade poison ivy and weed killer recipes until I found a combination of ingredients that really works for me. It took years before coming up with this weedkiller recipe. We use this to get rid of the native weed Canada Thistle here as well. Poison Ivy: I had a huge poison ivy patch that I fought for years with all … [Read more...]
How to Make Pickled Eggs
If you've got hens, sometimes you get a stockpile of eggs. Chickens lay so well in the spring, it doesn't take long to get several cartons stacked up. We think there's nothing better than a pickled egg or two with lunch or as a late afternoon nibble. Here's how to make pickled eggs - super easy! And great to have on hand. Pickled eggs take only a few minutes to get ready … [Read more...]
How To Make a Natural Herbal Dewormer
It's great raising livestock...if they are healthy! If you raise cattle for sale and have the grass for them to eat, you can make money while filling your freezer with healthy meat. Beginning to raise our own meat was something we started doing the year after we moved here. It was an important part of our getting started homesteading. And if you can raise your own goats, meat … [Read more...]
How to Store Animal Feed
When you have a number of animals on your farm, you have to figure out a way to store their feed. If you have enough animals, I suppose you could have a silo. You could call the feed mill and get them to deliver your feed mix and dump it right into the silo.Silos are expensive though. Maybe you don't have enough animals to make getting a silo worth while. Or maybe, like me, you are a cheap … [Read more...]
Canning Homemade Sauerkraut
Ever wondered how to can Sauerkraut so you can enjoy it all winter long? Recently I wrote about our Cabbage harvest and using some of it to make Sauerkraut. Water bath canning Sauerkraut is pretty easy; a beginning canner can preserve cabbage with confidence. It's an easy way to preserve some cabbage and Graham loves it along with perogies and sausages. Read here to … [Read more...]
Planting Fruit Trees
Fall is the best time for planting fruit trees - planting in very late summer or early Fall gives the trees time to settle in before the winter cold sets in. You can plant a fruit tree in the spring - just be sure to give it regular watering ALL season long until the winter comes. Here's how we got started with fruit trees on our homestead. We decided on planting apple trees. Now, our trees are … [Read more...]
