Read more about the article Crop Rotation Basics
Write it all down to keep track of plant locations from season to season.

Crop Rotation Basics

Continue ReadingCrop Rotation Basics

Crop rotation is an essential part of a healthy organic gardening. Why? Plants take up specific nutrients and can leave behind diseases in their wake. Moving crops to new soil each season ensures that diseases don't build up in soils, and nutrients are more evenly extracted across the garden. But we often get asked, "what is crop rotation?" Crop rotation is simply rotating crops from one bed to another each season, and avoiding planting any specific crop in the same…

Read more about the article YouTube: Honey Harvesting Tricks for Home Gardeners
Bees take advantage of arugula that has bolted to seed in last week's heat.

YouTube: Honey Harvesting Tricks for Home Gardeners

Continue ReadingYouTube: Honey Harvesting Tricks for Home Gardeners

It's honey harvesting time and we documented our latest harvest so you can see how it's done. We provide visual aids in this video for our favorite way to get bees out of the super you plan to harvest. We show you our harvesting equipment (handmade by our friends at Honeylove.org), and our other favorite tools to use during the process. Homegrown honey is the best. It's wild, it's treatment-free and it's raw. No heating, no filtering, just crushed and…

Read more about the article Wordless Wednesday: October Gardening
8 different kale varieties are protected by floating row cover. No cabbage moths/worms here!

Wordless Wednesday: October Gardening

Continue ReadingWordless Wednesday: October Gardening

Fall gardening is in full swing. Here are a few prompts for October tasks and enjoyments. There's still much to do to get the fall garden ready, but we're enjoying the process. Happy fall gardening to you!

Read more about the article Field Trip: Gourmandise Grain Conference
Presenters at the Conference all have Twitter or Instagram handles to follow.

Field Trip: Gourmandise Grain Conference

Continue ReadingField Trip: Gourmandise Grain Conference

When someone says "whole grains" my ears perk up. Homesteaders try to make food as often as possible with unadulterated ingredients. Whole grain baking and cooking is an ongoing effort that requires education, persistence, and experimentation to get right. Enter the 2016 Gourmandise Grain Conference. Imagine an entire day dedicated to baking, milling, and cooking with whole grains. The WHOLE grain--meaning flour that includes the bran and germ--made into pastas, grain bowls, breads, and sweet treats. Sounds like heaven, right? …

Read more about the article Ask Gardenerd: How to Get More Volunteer Tomatoes
A volunteer tomato sprouted from under our compost storage tub.

Ask Gardenerd: How to Get More Volunteer Tomatoes

Continue ReadingAsk Gardenerd: How to Get More Volunteer Tomatoes

I do believe my favorite question to date just came in to Ask Gardenerd from Jeff Bremer: "Hi Christy, How do I encourage volunteers? Over the years in my tomato garden, a few volunteers would appear each season. Last year, in hopes of getting a lot of volunteers (for this year) whenever a tomato was damaged or half-eaten by some critter, I buried it in the soil. However, this year, not one volunteer arose. Is there anything I can do…

Read more about the article Field Trip: MoonWater Farm
Recycled ficus trees enclose a pond and seating area for contemplation.

Field Trip: MoonWater Farm

Continue ReadingField Trip: MoonWater Farm

We hear more and more about urban agriculture and small farms cropping up in the middle of big cities. MoonWater Farm, the collaborative effort of Kathleen Blakistone and Richard Draut, is exactly that. But MoonWater Farm is more than just a homestead microfarm, it's a learning experience for kids of all ages. Want to learn how to milk a goat or build an inexpensive compost bin? Have a burning desire to take care of horses or create a dry garden?…

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