Blog
Filter by topic or see all below.
Filter by another topic or see selection below.
Homesteading
Should you quit your job and live off the land?
Are you fantasizing about quitting your job to live off the land? This idea can seem very appealing, especially if your work isn’t in line with your values. However, it may not be a great idea to quit your job in order to pursue a land-based life, unless you have ... Read more
Perennial Primer
Perennial crops are some of our favorites. They’re the starlets of the permaculture world for many reasons. Not the least of which is that once they’re established, they keep giving and giving with (usually) less maintenance than annuals. There are tons of different perennial crops, from giant trees to ... Read more
How to Make Maple Syrup
To make maple syrup, collect sap from sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) and cook it down. This is done by placing small tubes (also known as “taps” or “spiles”) into shallow holes in the tree’s trunk; they direct the sap into buckets or other receptacles. After collecting it, pour the ... Read more
Seed Saving for You – The Home Gardener
Most of us gardeners peruse seed catalogues in the fall and winter. After checking out what’s new and interesting, plus covering the bases with our trusty standbys, we place our orders through independent garden seed companies. At that point, all there is to do is await the arrival of ... Read more
How to Eat Acorns
Image courtesy of OrganicFacts.net Acorns look delicious, don’t they? They’re so smooth and appealing in their cute little “cupules” (hats). They are full of nutrition, but they’re also full of bitter, astringent tannins. These are compounds that make raw acorns distasteful and hard to digest. However, people all over the ... Read more
Pickling techniques: Lacto-fermentation vs. Vinegar
Aren’t pickles fun? They’re such a great way to preserve the harvest, plus making pickles gives you a chance to experiment with flavor combinations. Not to mention, pickles of all kinds make great snacks and accompaniments to meals. Here we explore two very different ways to turn vegetables into pickles: ... Read more
How to Stake Tomatoes
It’s that time of year when garden vegetables and weeds alike are growing inches overnight. If you’re like us, tomatoes are a darling in your garden, but it can be tricky to keep these wily vines in check. There are lots of ways to stake or trellis tomatoes and ... Read more
Grow your own sweet potato slips
What are sweet potato slips? Sweet potato slips are the surprisingly diminutive tuber sprouts that grow into sprawling, productive sweet potato plants. Unlike potato potatoes (a.k.a. Irish taters or white potatoes, Solanum tuberosum), you don’t just cut up sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) and plant them in the ground to ... Read more
The Glorious Garden Journal
Learning as you go is one of the most rewarding things about growing a garden. Keeping a garden journal will help you do this. Whether you planted your first tomatoes this year or you’ve been tending a plot for 40 years, there are always new things to try and practices ... Read more
Direct Sowing in 5 Steps
Spring is here and it’s time to get planting. There are many ways to fill your garden with verdant, fruitful beauty. Direct sowing is one of the simplest, lowest-input (and low budget) ways to grow vegetables. In the right circumstances, it has lots of advantages over growing or buying transplants. ... Read more
How to Grow Mushrooms on Inoculated Logs
They’re delicious, healthful, beautiful and fascinating, so we’re going to teach you the basics of how to grow mushrooms. There are many kinds of mushrooms (over 10,000 known!) that live in all kinds of habitats, including wild mushrooms and cultivated ones. Here we’ll focus on general cultivation strategies for decomposers of wood, ... Read more
How to Prune a Fruit Tree – Winter Pruning
Many modern varieties of fruit trees benefit from pruning. How to prune a fruit tree depends on the age, size, and type of tree, and your desired results. There are several reasons to prune, including: Shape the tree as it grows Stimulate growth Improve light and airflow around flowers/fruits Remove ... Read more
Join Our Community
Sign up below to get $50 off your first class!
You'll also get our newsletter, which is full of how-to's, seasonal tips, specials on classes and more! Don't worry, we won't share your info with anyone. We care about your privacy!
On Facebook
On Instagram