[My son says that fans of Game of Thrones will appreciate the title of this post. He said it should include a picture of Sean Bean sitting on a throne but since I’m constrained by copyright laws, you’ll just have to imagine it.] Spring is coming It may not look like it, but spring really…

Get the best out of your garden You probably already know that farmers rotate their crops every year. This is to prevent their soil from becoming depleted and to ensure a productive harvest. Good gardeners will do the same thing and for similar reasons. Some types of plants are heavy feeders. Others share similar diseases.…

Living a provident lifestyle is more than just frugal or self-reliant living. It also means cultivating a connection to your community and making economic choices based on your morality. Our food choices are  just one area that reflect our morality and community values. So much of our food supply is charged and impacted by politics…

Summer is close to over and it’s time to report on my tomatoes. We only plant heirloom or open pollinated tomatoes so that we can save the seeds. That means we don’t always get the disease or pest tolerance that is bred into hybrids. But since there are literally 100’s of varieties of tomatoes, there…

Now that we’ve had a couple frosts, it’s about time to put the garden to bed for the winter. Obviously we want the yard to look nice and clean, but putting the garden to bed is not just for cosmetic purposes. If we take care with the garden in the fall we lay the groundwork…

Right now it looks like spring is a long way  off. But don’t be fooled—before you know it, it will be time to plant your garden. This is the time of year to sit down and plan what you want this year’s garden to look like. What’s the Number-one Hobby in America? You guessed it–it’s…

Get off to a good start in your garden with the right garden tools. These are my favorite products, the kinds of things that I could not live without and that make it easier to produce a more bountiful harvest. Wheel Barrow or Garden Cart You’ll want something with wheels to haul around compost, dirt and…

Want an early start to your tomato harvest? Here is an experiment I did this year to see if using cold-weather protections (like Wall-o-Water) would really make a noticeable difference in production. Last month I told you about using protection to get an early start on planting crops. This spring I wanted to see how…

I know, I know. You are itching to start gardening but warm weather is still weeks away. That’s OK–it’s almost time to start your seedlings indoors. Tomatoes are at the top of the list of seeds to start indoors. But that’s not all–here are some other seeds you may want to start early: Eggplant Most…

This is our first year harvesting gooseberries and are they ever yummy! We planted them three years go. Last year it looked like we were going to have a good crop. But I didn’t keep a close eye on them ripening and the next thing I knew the birds and rabbits had eaten almost all of…

It’s still too early to plant your garden. But there’s still lots to do to get ready for this year’s garden. While you’re waiting for the weather to warm up, you can be getting ready for a great gardening season with these seven spring gardening chores: Test your soil and add nutrients if needed A…

Kale and collards are leafy greens in the brassica family (which also includes things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts.) I use them interchangeably because there is very little difference in flavor between the two. In the picture below, collards are labeled “dinosaur kale.” The main difference between the two is kale is smaller and…

Compost time! It’s the height of the garden season and an important component to gardening is composting. Don’t let anything go to waste—compost it. Every scrap of fruit and vegetable waste in your kitchen should go into your compost pile. Keep an ice cream bucket or any other container with a lid underneath or near…

The joke is “Leave your car windows rolled up in the summertime or someone will deposit a bunch of zucchini in your car.” But the truth is, there is no such thing as “too much zucchini.” Honestly, there are so many amazing ways to use zucchini, why would you ever want to give away this…

I’m in the process of converting my 40′ x 40′ garden into raised beds. The cost of materials to construct the beds and the soil mix make raised beds a bit expensive. So here are the details of how I am keeping the costs down on my raised beds. Keeping the costs down I used…

This carrot harvest this year was a good one and it’s time to make a report. First, the most notable thing is that this year I planted my carrots in a raised bed. I want to add 2-3 raised beds to my garden every  year until the entire garden is raised beds. So I made…