As the weather warms up, many of us begin to feel motivated to do a good spring cleaning in and around our homes. Spring cleaning is an essential part of clearing out the stuffy remnants of winter and making room for the new. There are a few misconceptions about spring cleaning, and it is important…
Time for another garden tour! August, what can I say about August? Well, that’s the month the weeds got away from me…..again. The smoke was so heavy most days that we could smell and taste it and well…I just didn’t want to be outside breathing in that nastiness when I had the choice. So, here…
Hello friends and welcome to our first Just Dabbling garden tour of 2018! Before we get started, I just wanted to remind you that I am not a perfect gardener so you will see weeds and a few other things you wouldn’t see on a perfect Instagram or Pinterest post. But, here’s the thing, this…
You planted several cucumber plants in your homestead garden, so you could enjoy them in salads and probably to can into a bunch of pickles. But you have more cucumbers than you think you’ll need. What do you do about it? How do you go about making use of excess cucumbers if you don’t want…
Fresh herbs are a great way to bring the flavors of your dishes to life. Unfortunately, they can be expensive to buy at the grocery store and they aren’t always in season. Although you can use their dried counterparts in your favorite recipes, they just don’t deliver the same flavor profile. Fortunately, you can enjoy…
One of our family’s favorite dishes to make and bring to gatherings is deviled eggs. They are easy, use a homestead staple (thank you chickens!), and are delicious! More often than not we choose to make the classic style but sometimes it is fun to try a change and spice them up a bit. I…
As a tomato gardener, you will no doubt encounter a whole host of common garden pests. Creepy critters like cutworms, flea beetles, grasshoppers, spider mites, and root weevils are all too eager to feast on your beautiful, healthy plants. Three of the most common tomato pests you’ll want to guard against are aphids, stink bugs…
The terms “Heirloom” and “Hybrid” seem to create a lot of confusion among novice and experienced homestead gardeners alike. There are those homesteaders who swear that heirlooms are the only way to go because they think hybrids plants are inferior. On the other hand, hybrid fans are convinced they are a better all around choice,…
A huge part of being a homesteader is growing your own food. In order to grow your own vegetables, you need to know when to plant them, right? Figuring out when to plant vegetables in your area requires a little detective work. In addition to your geographic location, you’ll need to consider a few other…
Failure is such a harsh word, isn’t it? But, sometimes it feels like we are failures at this whole homesteading thing. Just this past year we have struggled with: A garden that was, shall we say, severely lacking in real vegetable growth. Losing most of our outdoor animals. We lost our ducks and then most…