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How To Successfully Harden Off Seedlings

March 30, 2018 by MSmith Filed Under: Gardening, Urban Homesteading 18 Comments

How To Successfully Harden Off Seedlings

What Is Hardening Off?

Successfully Hardening Off Seedlings isn’t hard but it is an important step in gardening. In order to give plants a chance to grow from seed to mature, fruit-bearing plant, gardeners need to start plants indoors during the winter and transplant them outside once the temperatures are warm in the spring. “Hardening off” is simply moving plants outside for a portion of the day to slowly introduce them to the sunlight, dry air, and cold nights. [Read more…]

Henbit Lamium amplexicaule: Edible, Medicinal and Loved By Bees

March 8, 2018 by MSmith Filed Under: Beekeeping, Gardening, Urban Homesteading 1 Comment

Henbit Lamium amplexicaule: Edible, Medicinal and Loved By Bees

Henbit: Edible, Medicinal and Loved By Bees and Many Other Animals.

The common name, Henbit, comes from the observation that chickens like it. Hummingbirds also enjoy this wild edible for the nectar. Henbit provides valuable erosion control in many cropland fields in the southern U.S. Unlike many of its relatives in the mint family, henbit does not have a strong or distinctive mint scent. Henbit is easily confused with Purple Deadnettle (L. purpureum), which has petioled leaves all the way to the top leaves. The middle and upper leaves of L. amplexicaule (Henbit) do not have petioles. Henbit leaves are also typically smaller than those of Purple Deadnettle. Henbit is an important early season source of nectar and pollen for honeybees. [Read more…]

The 5 Must-Have Supplies For Starting Seeds Successfully

February 2, 2018 by MSmith Filed Under: Gardening, Urban Homesteading 1 Comment

The 5 Must-Have Supplies For Starting Seeds Successfully

When we began starting our own seedlings I really had no idea what I needed. I looked around at local shops and talked to friends and quickly became overwhelmed. Then a light bulb went off. Plants sprout every season in nature without anything fancy. I took a deep breath and began planting with just the basics. Soil, water, light, and seeds.

Over the years I’ve attended many seminars, read countless books and articles and when it comes to supplies most gardeners will tell you all you need are the 5 items I’m going to share with you. [Read more…]

How To Build A Sturdy Tomato Cage: Video Included

January 28, 2018 by MSmith Filed Under: Building Projects, Gardening, Videos 17 Comments

 How To Build A Sturdy Tomato Support Cage
In this video, we’ll show you How To Build A Sturdy Tomato Support Cage from a cattle panel. This cage can also be used to support many other types of vegetables. This project makes cages strong enough to stand up to the crazy spring storms while being large enough to hold large varieties of tomatoes.

[Read more…]

How To Save Bean Seeds From Your Garden For Replanting

December 16, 2017 by MSmith Filed Under: Gardening, Urban Homesteading, Videos Leave a Comment

How to save bean seeds for replanting

How To Save Bean Seeds From Your Garden For Replanting

Bean seeds are one of the easiest vegetables to collect seeds from. In this video and blog post, I refer to green beans but the process is the same for pretty much all beans. When you harvest seeds from your own plants you can be sure that the seeds are fresh, what the variety is and that they are organic! [Read more…]

Harvesting, Drying, and Storing Herbs

October 22, 2017 by MSmith Filed Under: Food Preservation, Gardening, Urban Homesteading Leave a Comment

Harvesting Herbs

 

Whether you grow them for their many medicinal purposes, for use in the kitchen, or simply for their beauty and fragrance, herb gardening can be a lot of fun! Knowing when to plant and how to care for your herbs is only half of being a successful gardener. Knowing the proper techniques for harvesting, cleaning, and storing your precious herbs is the other half. [Read more…]

How to Wash, De-Stem and Dry Kale

March 22, 2017 by MSmith Filed Under: Gardening, In The Kitchen Leave a Comment

how to wash, de-stem and dry kale

This week we pulled most of the kale from our garden to make room for our spring plants. This meant I had about 20 heads of kale to wash, de-stem, dry and store. In this video I’ll show you how to wash, de-stem and dry kale. This process works with other types of greens too.

[Read more…]

How To Build A Compost Bin

March 14, 2017 by MSmith Filed Under: Building Projects, Gardening Leave a Comment

How to build a compost bin

Have you stopped to notice just how quickly yard maintenance and food preparation accumulate? Leaves, trimmings, grass clippings, coffee grounds, apple cores, banana peels and all the other organic kitchen scraps you have can be turned into something wonderful, compost! Turing it into compost is a great idea but if you’re like me and live in the city your neighbors probably don’t want to see it piled up and you probably don’t want it falling over into the yard. What’s the solution? A compost bin of course! Building a compost bin is a great way to get rich compost for your garden. [Read more…]

How To Clean and Sanitize Gardening Pots

March 7, 2017 by MSmith Filed Under: Featured Post, Gardening Leave a Comment

How To Clean and Sterilize Gardening Pots

Starting your own crops from seed is a satisfying and economical way to grow your own plants, flowers, and veggies. Reusing your containers each year is a great way to save money but it can be a problem unless you clean them. Let’s take a look at washing pots before planting so you can grow healthy plants.  [Read more…]

First Urban ‘Agrihood’ In America Feeds 2,000 Households For Free

December 14, 2016 by MSmith Filed Under: Featured Post, Gardening Leave a Comment

The agrihood is located in Detroit, Michigan, and feeds thousands of families in the area. Children and adults can learn about sustainable agriculture when they take part in the food forest’s development.

Credit: Michigan Urban Farming Initiative

Credit: Michigan Urban Farming Initiative

Have you ever contemplated the fact that humans are the only species on Earth that pays to live on the planet? This continues, despite the fact that there is presently more than enough resources to care for every citizen.  [Read more…]

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  • Ordering Bees For Your Beehive: How To Obtain Your Bee Colony
  • How To Successfully Harden Off Seedlings
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  • The 5 Must-Have Supplies For Starting Seeds Successfully
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