Carrots are one of the most popular vegetables for the homesteader to grow. They are tasty, easy to store and they can be grown in a relatively small area. Carrots are biennial, meaning they produce their roots in the first year, then send up a flowerhead that produces seeds in their second year. Sometimes however …
Why Have My Carrots Bolted (and can I still eat them)? Read More »
There is no doubt in my mind, that carrots are one of my favorite vegetables to grow on the homestead. Somehow it always amazes me that such tasty orange spears can grow from those tiny round, paper-thin seeds. Carrots pose a real challenge for the homesteader as they are so easy to get wrong. Homegrown …
Why Are My Homegrown Carrots Bitter? (how to prevent it in future) Read More »
Tomatoes are one of my favorite plants to grow in the greenhouse. No matter what other plants I have growing, I always have space for 3 or 4 varieties of tomatoes. Although tomatoes are considered a staple of the homestead, they can sometimes be a little finicky to grow. It is not uncommon to find …
Why Are My Tomato Plants Collapsing? (and how to prevent it from happening) Read More »
Over the last 10 years or so I have been growing fruit and vegetables for my family. During that time I have found myself moving further away from using chemicals and artificial fertilizers and moving toward more natural, organic methods of gardening. Growing one plant in close proximity to another with the aim of improving …
Can I Grow Green Beans Next To Tomatoes? (answered & explained) Read More »
Over the last 10 years, I have grown countless different fruit and vegetables from the staples like cabbages and beans to the more exotic ones like kohlrabi and Cape Gooseberries. However, there are a few plants I am never without, and one of those is the tomato plant. Every year I grow 4 or 5 …
Why Are My Tomato Plants Drying Up (and how to prevent it) Read More »
There can be nothing more satisfying them heading out into your backyard and collecting a handful of fresh vegetables ready to add to the pot for dinner. Picked, cooked, and eaten within hours rather than days or even weeks as grocery store vegetables might be. It can however be incredibly frustrating to spend many months …
Over recent years, chili peppers have grown in popularity both here in the US and across many other parts of the world. Dedicated growers have made strains that have increasing levels of heat. There are a number of different ways chili peppers can be preserved for use throughout the year, making them an ideal crop …
Why Are My Chili Pepper Seedlings Dying? (Resolved!) Read More »
Potatoes are one of the staple foods grown by homesteaders around the world. We plant the seed potatoes in the spring, water them, feed them and watch the plants grow and flourish, but we don’t know how good the harvest is until we start to dig the plants up. If you have a poor harvest, …
Why Are My homegrown Potatoes So Small? (7 Reasons with Solutions) Read More »
Carrots are one of my favorite vegetables to grow on the homestead. I grow hundreds of them every year. Carrots are so versatile and can be stored for months, both in the ground or in the freezer. One of the most common questions I get asked when I do homestead talks around the country is ‘Why …
Why Are My Homegrown Carrots So Small? (Surprising!) Read More »
Potatoes are the staple of every successful homesteader. They provide the backbone to a wide variety of meals, and when the right selection of varieties is grown, they can see us through up to 10 months of the year. However, one question I am being asked more and more frequently is ‘Why are my homegrown potatoes …
Why Are My Homegrown Potatoes Going To Mush? (Resolved) Read More »
