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5 Common Fertilization Mistakes

How much do you know about plant fertilizer? While your level of knowledge depends on your gardening experience, as well as how much research you’ve done on the topic, this doesn’t mean that you don’t make mistakes when applying yours. It’s very easy to use the wrong type of fertilizer, not mix it correctly, or even apply too much (or too little) of it. Since fertilizer is an important part of the growing process, you need to know which mistakes your making so that you can avoid them in the future. Here are some of the most common ones. Using […]

8 Items to NOT Include in Your Compost

Creating a compost pile is always a good idea. You’ll get to reuse food scraps that would otherwise end up in the trash, and then eventually in a landfill. On top of this, compost piles create new, fresh soil that contains plenty of nutrients. Your plants will love it. However, before it gets to that point, you need to understand the basics of composting, which involve knowing what you shouldn’t put into a compost bin. Many of these items are downright harmful to your compost and will cause a number of problems. Avoid adding them to the pile at all […]

11 Simple Ways to Practice Sustainable Gardening

How much do you know about sustainable gardening? These useful tips might just fill in any gaps in your knowledge! The more you know about these practices the better. Do you think that you’ll use some of these in your garden this year? 1) If you own cats or dogs, brush them and then sprinkle some of their hair around the edges of your garden. Sure, it might look weird, but it will keep any critters away. They’ll smell your predators and steer clear of your vegetables. 2) Place a laundry sink in your yard, near where your vegetable garden […]

7 More High Tech Tools and Tricks for Modern Homesteading

Modern homesteaders can take advantage of a number of different high tech tricks and tools in order to make their lives easier. Technology has changed quite a bit since the original homesteaders claimed parcels of land back in the 1800s. Just because you’re trying to recreate that lifestyle, doesn’t mean that you need to utilize their old technology, like pot-bellied coal stoves and outdoor bathrooms. Instead, use these seven tools in order to make your modern homestead run much more smoothly. You’ll be glad that you did! 1) 3D Printers When something breaks, it can be hard to run out […]

Urban Homesteading Alternatives

You don’t need to live on a farm or even in the country in order to be a homesteader. In fact, even people who reside in the suburbs or even the city can homestead in their own ways. Homesteading generally means using the land to provide for yourself and your family in one way or another. You can get a little creative with this and find ways to make it work no matter where you live, even if all that you have is a small apartment. Here are some great suggestions that you can utilize. Build off of them and […]

5 Things to Consider When Building an Aquaponic System

Setting up an aquaponic system, although quite an easy task, requires some basic knowledge of aquaponics. If you have decided to install such a system in your house, then you probably know what this is and how it could help you. However, there may still be things which can interest or help you. Below you will find 5 essential things which you should know in order to obtain spectacular results. 1. Location The place where you put your aquaponic system is highly important for the way in which the plants and the fish will develop. In order to obtain great […]

Easy Checklist to Winterize Your Garden

As a homesteader, you may be wondering where you’re going to get the energy for preparing your garden for winter after all the hard work of harvesting the vegetables from your garden. Remember how happy you were when you realized that you wouldn’t need to buy any vegetables all winter long? Keep that in mind along with the fact that it will now be cooler to work outside. You can print out the below list to check off items as you complete them and before long you’ll be done so you can take a break for a few days. Those […]

3 Keys to Choosing the Perfect Livestock

A farm or homestead without livestock seems unusual, to say the least. Whether you see yourself with a flock of cheerful chickens, a herd of graceful goats or a few calming cows, livestock are a valuable food source that should be planned for carefully, then cared for consistently. Are You Ready to Be Available Every Minute of Every Day? Are you prepared to be “on-call” for your animals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year? When you enter the world of livestock, a few things to be aware of are: Newborns usually come in the […]

The Right Way to Water Your Plants

You may not have realized it before, but there are proven best practices for watering your plants and garden. Determining just when and how to water for the healthiest, most productive crops is all about paying attention to a few key factors. It might seem a little silly; is there really a wrong way to water plants? Not necessarily, but there are certainly better ways! There are no rules written in stone that apply to water all plants in all situations. You can make your call depending on the type of plant, the soil, the weather, the time of year […]

Guppies for the Garden

When one thinks of raising animals that offer benefits for your garden, chickens are probably the first to come to mind. But not everyone has the ability or the desire to have animals that require as much care as chickens do, or make as much noise as chickens do. Luckily, there are animals that offer several benefits for the garden that require barely any attention and make absolutely no noise: guppies! Yes, the little fish. Guppies are freshwater fish that don’t require pumps of filters in their aquariums or ponds. Females can reproduce at 2 months Yes, the little fish. Guppies […]

Mistakes to Avoid When Planning Your Garden

To assure that the plants in your garden thrive, there are several mistakes you should avoid when setting up your garden. Getting things right from the start can save you time and money and eliminate a lot of stress and frustration. Determine the size Ambition is a wonderful thing, but being overly ambitious and planting a garden that is too large for you to manage is a mistake you want to avoid. Deciding how much time and energy you have to devote to maintaining a garden should be the basis for determining its size. Choosing a location Most vegetables require […]

Are Snakes Good for the Garden?

Snakes get a bad reputation, and that’s unfortunate. Too often, people kill them as soon as they see them. Many types of snakes are entirely harmless to humans, but they can be very good for your garden. In fact, garter snakes, rat snakes, and a number of species can be very beneficial. Let’s look at some of the good reasons to keep them in your garden. One of the best things about snakes is that they will eat the vermin from the garden. This means, you won’t have to worry about rats and mice. Some snakes will eat insects as […]

How To Use Extra Cucumbers

Many gardeners find themselves trying to give away zucchini squash year after year, but did you know that a once mildly performing cucumber plant can produce a bumper crop out of nowhere? Like many other homesteaders or serious gardeners, you can easily find yourself with cucumbers coming out of your ears. Pickles and salads get old very quickly, so here are some other ways you can use up those surplus cucumbers. 5 Ways to Use Surplus Cucumbers Sandwich spread and other dips are the perfect way to use cucumber. Add cucumber and dill to a Tzatziki sauce for Greek recipes, […]