• We all know what a home is – a place where you live, raise a family, each, sleep, play, socialize, perhaps work. A homestead is all that and more – it’s also a place where you grow and preserve food, raise animals, make compost, create biodiversity, build for the future, set roots and stay put, reduce consumption, invest in the land, and ultimately, find an ever-deepening relationship with self-sufficiency and independence....

    18 March, 2020

  • “My back is killing me, and my knees hurt!”
    “My soil is all clay – I could spin a pot with it!”
    “My dogs keep trashing my garden beds!”

    There are loads of reasons to not garden, and trust me, we’ve heard them all. Frequently, a raised garden bed is the answer....

    14 February, 2020

  • Pollinators range from butterflies, bees, beetles, small mammals, birds and bats that are responsible for facilitating 90% of the pollination of our world’s flowering plants. They may feed off pollen or distribute seeds. These pollinators do a lot of work that benefits humans, as they provide us with fruit, vegetables, nuts, and one half of the world’s oils, fibers and raw materials. They also help prevent soil erosion and increase carbon sequestration. To put it simply, we, and ecosystems in general, depend on them for our very survival....

    12 February, 2020

  • Whether you use the most sophisticated and expensive in-ground irrigation with the latest tech, or your basic hose and nozzle system, you will need to shut things down for the winter. Not doing so can lead to broken hoses, burst pipes, a lot of waste and potentially great expense....

    07 November, 2019

  • Autumn is a bittersweet time of year. The days are getting noticeably shorter yet garden-weary plant-lovers can now look forward to a winter rest. But before that can happen there is much to be done before putting your gardens to bed and putting your feet up with a hot toddy. ...

    11 October, 2019

  • Microgreens are densely seeded edible plants that are harvested and consumed prematurely. Microgreens are a nutritional powerhouse, holding up to 40 times more vitamins and nutrition than their mature counterparts.

    Personally, I love how a sprinkle of microgreens can instantly transform my go-to meal of nuked frozen vegetables (don't judge me!) from slimy mush... to a posh affair worthy of the name "salad bowl"....

    10 October, 2019

  • Question: Why did the chicken cross the road?
    Answer: There is no right answer.

    Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way: WE HAVE CHICKENS!...

    06 September, 2019

  • Attention garlic lovers! Why buy grocery-store garlic grown half way around the world when you can grow your own right at home? It’s an easy-to-grow, low maintenance crop that produces two harvests - first the edible flower stalk (called a garlic scape) in early June, and then the fat, juicy bulb in late July to early August....

    15 August, 2019

  • So you’ve harvested all your garlic, and it’s curing in a nice, cool, dry place. Maybe you’re eating some that’s fresh from the ground (I hope so!) And once again, you’re looking at your too-large harvest wondering “what the heck am I going to do with all this garlic!?” There are a few things you can do to make your garlic last, abating that otherwise inevitable “ack! I let it rot!” guilt, the gardeners’ dilemma....

    14 August, 2019

  • We've always struggled with powdery mildew at the BUFCO Lab, so when Arlene heard about compost tea, she immediately tried spraying a compost tea concoction on a rosemary plant covered with powdery mildew. Lo-and-behold, the compost tea appeared to reversed the disease. So, when we saw the first signs of powdery mildew on our otherwise prolific tomatoes last month, we knew we had to try applying compost tea....

    13 August, 2019