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It’s time to order the seeds for the garden. The seed catalogs have shown up in the mail, and the fun is about to begin! But wait! Before you even think about buying anything, you need to have a plan for the garden, and take stock of the seeds that you already own and can…
💛 📖 See the GrowVeg book here: https://www.growveg.com/growveg-the-beginners-guide-to-easy-gardening.aspx. Birds are the gardener’s valuable allies, helping to keep pests in check. But during the colder months there are fewer bugs around to fill their bellies. Feeding Garden Birds in Winter Provide sustenance for birds during the winter and they’ll stick around to help snap up pests…
💛 📖 See the GrowVeg book here: https://www.growveg.com/growveg-the-beginners-guide-to-easy-gardening.aspx. Good soil provides moisture, nutrition and support for crops. It’s essential to take care of your soil to guarantee a great harvest. Any soil type can be improved using one simple technique. In this short video we show you how to identify what type of soil you…
Well, there really isn’t too much going on out there today. But both the garden and I have something in common, and that is that we are getting prepared for the new year and the garden that will grow in it! The perennials are getting prepared for their early spring debut, while all the annuals…
Well, that literally took 24 hours to make, but it is good enough to make up for all the stirring. If you have quince, then I highly recommend trying to make membrillo or quince paste. I had to do some trouble shooting to get this to work out, so if you are having any issues…
💛 📖 See the GrowVeg book here: https://www.growveg.com/growveg-the-beginners-guide-to-easy-gardening.aspx. Gardeners are a pretty thrifty bunch and it’s in the garden where repurposing old items into new really comes into its own. From transforming tins into planters to repurposing old furniture for storing produce, there are countless ways to put worn out or unwanted items to good…
Who doesn’t like a fun and fizzy bath bomb? And when they are as simple to make as this, the whole family gets them for Christmas presents. This recipe really is simple enough that even a toddler could make it. The hardest part is finding the citric acid, but in my town it is very…
Don’t I look beet-utiful, lol. I’m making homemade beet root powder with some of the beet harvest, to be able to make some DIY lipstick for Christmas gifts, as well as having a natural food coloring on hand. It takes some time, but is really simple, and I am super happy with the results. You…
Thanks so much everyone for watching our videos and subscribing to us! It means so much to us (Serina and Ian) and we just want to say thank you. We are also going to be beginning to create some Christmas themed content, so we wanted to give you a heads up so we don’t freak…
The snow has melted and it has even got dry enough for the kids to be able to go and play in the leaves. Lia has been waiting impatiently for months for this moment – jumping in the leaf pile. She was less excited about the cleaning up of the leaves though, lol. Daily Beetle…
You’ve hunted everywhere and have finally found some quince! Now begins the timeless struggle of man vs fruit, where rock hard quince does its best to try and get you to cut off your hand while trying to prepare it. Don’t let it win! And follow these simple tips that I have discovered to make…
I like to say I grow jerusalem artichoke, or sunchokes, but the truth is they grow themselves. These sweet roots are so simple that it is more of an issue to learn how to not let them spread, than how to grow them. As I clean up my patch and do some harvest on this…
I timelapsed the couple hours it took me to dig up, and then clean, all of my root crops that survived the winter snow. Come spend a couple hours homesteading with me, as I fill my fridge with a couple of months worth of work. Some of my veggies were super tiny, so I baked…
After a week of snow and overnight lows down to -10c it has warmed up enough to have the snow start to disappear. Serina is out in the garden, excited to see what has survived. With temperatures getting so low, there is a good chance that the large fall root crop of beets, carrots and…
Are you making more kombucha than you can keep up with drinking? Do what I did, and forget about a batch for a month or two – and tada, you have vinegar. I’m really excited to start making vinegar because I buy a lot of it, for clean and cooking. And the idea of having…
💛 📖 See the GrowVeg book here: https://www.growveg.com/growveg-the-beginners-guide-to-easy-gardening.aspx. Gorgeous garlic packs a pungent punch, making it an indispensable addition to so many recipes – and every vegetable garden. Garlic is best planted before winter in many areas. It’s very easy to grow – all it needs to thrive is a sunny spot and good drainage.…
With the end of the 2017 garden season, Ian and Serina are getting excited for next year and all their new plans. We have a lot of construction jobs on the books for spring, and a front yard food forest makeover. Also a raised bed garden extension, and best of all – CHICKENS! So, if…
We may be experienced gardeners, but we still have plenty of fails every year. Failures and mistakes are one of the best ways that we learn about our garden, and what works best for us. Serina and Ian go over 5 big failures in the 2017 garden, and look forward to the way that they…
Since the garden is still covered in snow, it seems like a good time to admit defeat, and officially call it an end to the 2017 garden. Ian and Serina think back over how the season was, and celebrate some of their wins. After a bunch of years, we have started to narrow in on…
Moldy kombucha is a complaint that I hear about all the time, so I am experimenting to find out ways that can cause issues for your kombucha culture. So I try out 3 different ways to get mold growing, including using a crazy mold culture that I going to say I grew on purpose, lol.…
It’s only November 2, and it is snowing! What is up with this weather. I know we are Canadian, but come on! And as I sit here uploading this, and the day gets later, it is even starting to stick. Serina and Ian can’t believe it, so come and join us as we complain about…
Around here right now, you can’t walk down the sidewalk without tricking over buckets full of horse chestnuts. So I was very excited to learn that you can make a laundry soap out of them exactly like soap nuts. Since I love free, I packed the kids up and we brought home a bucket full…
Gardening is about thinking ahead, and with the freezers full of food for Christmas, I’m starting to think about decorating, lol. Lia and I weed out our nasty weed – Virginia Creeper vine – and transform it into a pretty and useful wreath. And it is so easy, that you could do it too! After…
We grow a lot of the same crops, and part of that is so that we can have a year long supple of homegrown. Our freezers are one of the ways that we are able to be self sufficient year round in these crops. Come check out our freezers, and the system that we use…
Today just got a whole lot less productive, because the van won’t start – again. Join Serina as she connects the battery charger to the car (with some help from Ian) and talks about her dreams for a carless future.
I talk about clothing swaps for day 7 of #wastereductionweek As well as my final thoughts on the entire week. I love going to clothing swaps because it feels good to know that someone is appreciating getting your stuff, and then you can replace your items for free as well. Being a mom, I have…
For day 6 of #wastereductionweek we are discussing swap share repair with the idea of trading your repairing skills with other people as a way to save money and save things from the landfill. I am super frustrated with how unrepairable most of the items in our lives are. Built in obsolescence makes zero waste…
💛 📖 See the GrowVeg book here: https://www.growveg.com/growveg-the-beginners-guide-to-easy-gardening.aspx. Cats make delightful pets, but they can be a nuisance in the vegetable garden. Cats make delightful pets but not everyone has such a positive relationship with them in their garden. It can be very frustrating when your vegetable beds become the toilet for the neighbourhood felines,…
I am guilty of food waste, even though I know just how much work goes in to creating it. But having a garden teaches me to appreciate food with imperfections. And it also shows me ways to eat in season, and to consider foods I wouldn’t normally buy. Come and join me out in the…
Okay, I grew the most perfect specimen of kham yeast that anyone has ever seen, and have proven myself to be the worst fermenter of all time, lol. If you are wondering what that funky stuff on the top of your ferment is, look no further for a kham yeast comparison, lol. Luckily, it isn’t…
