I pulled out the remains of summer's snake beans from one of my garden beds and was amazed by the sight that met my eyes. The roots were a horrid, knotty mass of distorted lumps. Nematodes. In the spring the beans had done excellently so I planted a second round in the same area. It grew rapidly but seemed to have a much harder time producing a crop than the earlier set of … [Read more...] about Defeat Garden Pests With This Easy Trick
Subsistence Farming
Prepare Your Garden for Winter with Cheap Green Manure
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
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
How To Choose The Right Ax
I received an e-mail recently from a relative interested in finding a good ax. He was less than pleased with the selection at Tractor Supply and other local chain hardware stores. Rather than buying a piece of mass-produced subpar Chinese junk, he wanted something good. Problem: I'm no ax expert. I've never done much wood splitting, tree felling or log cabin building. In fact, … [Read more...] about How To Choose The Right Ax
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