I was selling plants at my nursery booth this week when a woman walked up to me. "I did what you told me," she stated. I couldn't remember when we had talked but she looked familiar. And I certainly couldn't remember what I'd told her to do. I wondered... what HAD I told her to do? Did I tell her to knock off one of my mortal enemies? Build a perpetual motion machine? Start … [Read more...] about Prepare Your Garden for Winter with Cheap Green Manure
How To Compost
Patience: The Key To Homesteading and Gardening Success
Many preppers join the survivalist ranks in a mad rush. Most of us have been there. We remember the one event, news article, lost job or crisis that pushed us firmly into the "I'll be ready no matter what" mindset. Oft-times our conversion leads to a mad rush. We buy buckets of beans, generators, guns, silver, etc.... just in case. This is a good thing, certainly, but it's not … [Read more...] about Patience: The Key To Homesteading and Gardening Success
6 Unexpected Uses For Oak Trees
When I first bought my homestead there were a couple dozen oak trees in the yard. Unfortunately, they were water oaks. Those are the kind of oaks that spontaneously fall over and crush things. Since I needed sunshine in order to plant my food forest and create my garden beds - and since I was terrified of multi-ton wrecking logs falling through my roof - I hired a local tree … [Read more...] about 6 Unexpected Uses For Oak Trees
Easy Gardening Solutions for Lazy Gardeners
Sometimes I wonder: does a person's garden follow his personality? Is the love of weeds, praise of borderline chaos and embracing of wild animals simply an outgrowth of a disordered mind? On the flip side: are perfect beds, straight lines and precisely timed plantings the result of latent OCD? (I once created a quiz on gardening personality types - you can take the quiz … [Read more...] about Easy Gardening Solutions for Lazy Gardeners
Book Review: Edible Landscaping With a Permaculture Twist
It's no secret that I dig (sometimes literally) edible landscaping. I've written about its value before, particularly in a crash situation in which obviously edible plants are liable to be stolen. I gave a talk a few weeks ago in The Villages. For those of you not familiar with that particular slice of Orwellian central planning, The Villages is a huge community … [Read more...] about Book Review: Edible Landscaping With a Permaculture Twist