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The radishes and mustard greens that I planted in the greenhouse are starting to really grow, and that means that it is time to do some thinning so I can have the best harvest possible. Come along with me as I explain how to thin direct seeded crops and the reasons that you want to…
The vegetables are really starting to grow in the greenhouse. The seedling that I started in the soil blocks less than a month ago are ready to be planted out. The tomatoes and peppers need to be potted up. And the radishes and other short spring crops planted in the ground are desperately needing to…
Ian gets to work, and builds 20 wooden seedling trays, out of some scrap wood we had around the house. They are fairly simple to build, and a great plastic free way to use soil blocks for starting your seeds for your vegetable garden. You need: 1 – 9 1/2 x 20 1/4 inch thin…
I’m direct seeding most of the greenhouse with spring crops. Things have warmed up enough overnight, that the soil has started to heat up in the greenhouse, and it is time to test if we can get an entire spring crop out before we plant our tomatoes and eggplants. So come along and laugh at…
I love Justin Rhodes permaculture chickens gardening technique, but I don’t have any chickens. So instead, I’m talking about stacking function and using your resources to the best of your abilities, and highlighting the differences and similarities between our vegetable gardens. I’m excited for the summer garden, and for checking out The Great American Farm…
Now that the greenhouse is all cleaned up, it is time to start putting it to good use. I am experimenting with the soil blocker and doing my first planting of 2018. The cold hardy brassicas need a bit of a head start before getting planted into the ground, so I am hoping that the…
There is nothing else to harvest at the house yet, so I am making an infused oil with one of the few things that I have – violet leaves. They are supposed to have anti inflammatory properties that will make a perfect “hard work” salve down the line. So I am picking them and packing…
It’s a beautiful day in the veggie garden. I’m outside working in the greenhouse, making soil blocks for my next round of starts, and looking for signs of seedlings starting to grow. Come hang out and get an update on the garden.
I tried to make my first milk soap, and everything that could possibly go wrong, does. My milk and lye mixture separates. I get DOS (dreaded orange spots). And I even start to suspect I have lye pockets in some of my earlier soaps! Even though these are all some pretty big failures, I am…
I haven’t had any mold in my main kombucha brew, knock on wood, but I have been able to share out my culture to family and friends who want to start brewing kombucha, and for that reason I am glad I have a scoby hotel. Having a second culture alive and happy in case something…
Ian and Serina battle it out to determine which are better – cheap seeds or expensive seeds. Considering 3 different points of quantity, quality, and variety, they discuss which is actually the better deal. And sometimes cost isn’t as simple to determine as you would expect. So who do you think wins this fight? And…
Ian’s home for the Easter weekend, so we are eating chocolate and chatting about things and the garden. Come and hang out with us 😀
Fensterfarm Greenhouse tagged me to answer the 5 garden question. 1) Why do I garden? 2) Why do I You Tube? 3) How Long Have I been Gardening? 4) What is my favorite thing to grow? 5) What do I grow? Thanks for the tag. Check out his video too! https://youtu.be/Ifbbf3VJ3vg I can’t believe I…
The day was so beautiful that not only did the flowers come out, but also the bees. Come and enjoy the calming sounds and sights of spring with these bees and flowers, in this meditative video of my crocuses. If you know the variety of bees here, I would love to know! __________ Subscribe and…
Wait, everyone is talking about 3 new things we are growing this spring? I definitely am going to take this as an oppertuniyu to talk about seeds again, lol. Today’s seed craziness is brought to you by Instagram, and all the amazing pictures I saw all the “cool kids” posting last year. So get your…
The snow has melted, the crocuses are blooming, the garlic has sprung, and I am excited for it to be spring. Come join me for a walk about the yard, see how things are doing, and chat about things to come. It isn’t the most exciting garden tour, but soon the vegetable garden will be…
Spring has sprung, and it is time to clean up the greenhouse. Come join me as I spring clean the greenhouse, and fill the compost with my dead tomatoes. This is the first step for getting started on my new 2018 garden, and I am excited to finally have things starting.
I have a batch of bad soap that I need to fix, so I am grating it up, adding liquid, and cooking it down. Then I will be whipping it to create a finished soap that floats! Come hang out and chat soap making with me, and get a bit of an update on the…
Spring is just around the corner, which means that it is a perfect time to be buying all your seeds. So the annual seed swap is happening again in Kelowna. And despite the fact that the last thing I need is more seeds, I go and check it out. Join me for a quick visit…
Here’s my 100% undeniable proof that Wranglerstar isn’t a real homesteader, it’s his video, saying this whole thing is just silly https://youtu.be/k_h5AT–AgM I don’t understand why anyone needs to feel the need to come up with a strict definition about what does and does not qualify as “real homesteading”. But even more than that, I…
Starting a garden is as simple as, just planting something. But I always hear excuses as to why “it just won’t work.” The biggest obstacle to your long term success as a gardener, or any other goal you hope to achieve, is YOU. Until you can change the way you think, and start finding solutions…
I can’t believe how great this soap turned out! It looks better than I could have hoped. And it has me really excited for what I could do with the next couple batches of soap, as I work my way through more complicated soap recipes. I was pretty confident while making this bastile cold process…
Okay, this is stupidly long, but it’s also $500 worth of seeds, so… Also, don’t forget, the gear icon in the lower right corner of the video player gives you the option to watch me at an increased speed, if you actually want to see everything, but don’t have the time, lol. So what am…
I’m out of the basics, and on to more complicated soaping decorating techniques. I do an “‘in the pot” swirl with limited success, but overall I am happy with the looks of this soap. I also learn that castile cold process soap is a pain in the butt when you already struggle with soft soap.…
We got a nice enough day for me to get out and take a closer look at my kale that got damaged by a turn from warm early spring like weather, to -15c overnight temperatures. Our Winterbore kale is very cold hardy, and normally wouldn’t have issues with this weather, but we had some die…
This was a shocking success! I didn’t spill soap everywhere, the soap hardened and I was able to cut it, and the layers looked nice and clean. Even the colours turned out nice and bright like I wanted. I’m not quite at beautiful soap yet, but with my fifth batch finished I’m at least not…
