The best gardening & homesteading channels on Youtube
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…
We got tagged by Life on Beagle Road to answer 5 questions about our YouTube channel. So Serina and a random guy (just joking, it’s Ian) answer the questions from their point of view. Here are the five questions that we were asked to answer: 5 Questions about Why We Do What We Do: 1.)…
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…
Holy clickbait batman! But this is the nitty gritty back-end of every video and every channel. I’m breaking all the customer service rules by showing it, but as I tell you in the video, I’m here on YouTube so I don’t have to follow the customer service rules. There are no refunds here, you can”t…
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…
We have had a beautiful week of warm sunny weather. So nice in fact, that the garden started to think it must be spring. Despite repeated warnings from me, it didn’t listen, and now it is paying the price. So let this be a warning to you all, it’s not spring yet, at least not…
What to do when you have too many scobys? Clean with them of course! So I took some of my kombucha vinegar, orange slices my kids left on the floor, and a month, and brewed up this weird concoction. Will it clean my oven? You’ll have to watch to find out.
I have spent way too much time overthinking this thank you for reaching 1000 subscribers. I doubt anyone is going to appreciate my attempt at art house imagery showing that trying to get people to watch your videos on YouTube is as futile as trying to dig for spring in the snow. But sometimes, when…
This is a bit all over the place, but I talk about the experiment that we are going to be doing this year in finding out which zucchini grows the best for us – by growing them all! Experimenting with different varieties and different plants is a good way to learn what grows well in…
For my 4th soap, I am learning to do a decorative swirl on the top of the soap. Of course I cheat, so I colour the main soap with cocoa powder, rather than just the swirl, and I use my own self-created recipe, rather than follow the one in the book. But I’m feeling more…
WARNING! This is a bad joke, lol. I’m celebrating by dropping the kids off to watch the show with the grandparents and trying to get some stuff done around the house! If only it would stop snowing so much, eh?
So, the internet can be a mean place. And I’ve found out that Pure Living For Life has been served a big ol’ steaming pile of it, over a comment about “playing homestead”. I took the comment to be about the image of homesteading being something fun and pretty, when the reality of it is…
For my 3rd soap, I was supposed to make a simple recipe and learn the skill of embossing. But instead I got excited and made some soap embeds, added activated charcoal and essential oils, and made pink moon and stars soap, that I stamped extra stars into. So much for taking this learning thing slowly.…
The backyard orchard is overgrown! It was time to prune the espaliers six months ago, but better now then never. I’m no pruning expert, but I got out there and pruned the apple tree and pear tree on this warmer winters day. And that is one less job for the spring.
So when I try to grow moldy kombucha I fail, and then when I don’t try, I get mold. This fermenting thing is hard. But I have moldy kombucha now, so I can show you all the disgusting details. And I also speculate why this happened, and a way that I can prevent this from…
To finish off my mountain of quince fruit, I made a jam. But not just any jam. This is super decadent, extra special whiskey and black pepper quince jam! With some heat from the pepper and some burn from the whiskey, this goes perfectly with cheese and crackers. And I will definitely be making this…
The weather was nice and sunny, and that doesn’t happen very often here in Kelowna, BC, Canada over the winter, so we all headed outside for a play. There isn’t much going on in the winter garden, but come and check it out with us, as the kids play and look forward to the warm…
As I learn to make homemade cold process soap, my second lesson is to add color and scent to the soap batter. And it was a lot more simple than I guessed. DIY soap is so much fun. The recipes and directions to learn soap making are all in this book which I highly reccomend:…
I have been slacking on my kombucha brewing over the winter, but it is time to start it again. Come chat kombucha while I set up my continous brew vessel, and try to figure out what to do with 4 liters of vinegar.
So, I got high on St John’s Wort. And no, that’s not a thing, lol. Having had this crazy experience with St John’s Wort has lead to me taking seriously a lot of claims about the power of herbs, even though I wouldn’t normally be inclined to believe. And more importantly, it has me very…
Well, I rotted most of my spaghetti squash crop. Opps! That was a lot of garden space to devote to such a big fail. But, I’ve learned that I need to rethink how to store my squash for future years, and some tips for how I could have done it better. Come and learn from…
I love seeds! I love all seeds. But the seeds I like the best, are the ones that grow the easiest, and create the most productive plants, best suited to my growing conditions and my personal taste preference. For that reason I don’t want to also limit myself to only heirloom or a specific price…
