All articles filed in Gardening

So I guess when we do something day in and day out, we don’t realize that it could be completely foreign to someone else. Let’s take composting for example, well not for example because this whole post is going to be about composting but you get it. Anyway, for composting, we have a bucket under the sink, we throw our kitchen scraps in it without thinking anymore because it’s now apart of who we are. We take it out to the compost bin or to the chickens, again without thinking. Then someone asks as question like, can I put moldy fruit in my compost? My response is, um duh! Then I realize it may not be part of everyone’s daily…

Lets talk fish fertilizer for a bit. Fish fertilizer is an organic option to have when wanting to replenish your soil with much needed nutrients. Unlike chemical fertilizers, all natural fish fertilizers continually provide nutrients into the soil through different stages. Chemical fertilizers are quick release fertilizers which means, it will act quickly but will not be able to sustain past a certain point after use. Fish fertilizer is a slow release fertilizer. That means there are different stages to the release of nutrients or beneficial properties. Fish fertilizer need to be digested by bacteria, fungi and earthworms before they can provide the soil and the plant with much needed nutrients. This system not only gives the soil nutrients but…

  So, I am going to be honest here. I tend to kill plants. I don’t mean to, I really love them. But holy moly I’ve killed more than I’d really like to say. I am sure my husband is shaking his head right now as he reads this. Possibly even rubbing his face with exhaustion. But you love me hunny, remember that. Anyway, the odd thing is that I have been able to keep orchids alive. Which I hear are ones that can feel close to  impossible to keep alive. For whatever reason I have been able to hang on to three little plants. Well these three little ladies have been yelling at me to give them more space.…

Mother Nature is an incredible mysterious being. She brings energy, life, questions, answers, beauty and everything in between to this world. She can be loud and intense. She can be peaceful and serene. She is everywhere and the more you accept and work with her, the more you feel connected and grounded. When you do right by her, she sends this energy toward you that allows you to feel, see and love. It is when you fight against her that you feel disconnected and confused. There is no rhyme or reason to her but if you allow yourself to be open and accepting, she shows you the answers you seek. When gardening, or even just having a yard, there are…

Everyday I find something new in the garden. Something that has bloomed or sprouted. Something that says life is here. Our garden is slightly on hold due to our new little ladies, the chickens. We are waiting for a fence to be broken down just to be rebuilt back up in a different area. We are waiting for a new space to speak to us. A new canvas to be loved. But we still have all this life popping up. Every time I am out there I see more and more bees. Spreading pollen and love as they go from flower to flower. I see the few seedlings we have, starting to poke their life leaves through the straw they…

The day starts with a beautiful little voice yelling “daaaaddy, moooommy I’m awake.” Half eyed and still in a sleep daze he gets right out of bed to greet the beautiful soul we created. As I lay there waiting to cuddle with the sweetest thing in the world, I give my thanks to the higher energy that grants me this incredible life. Wild hair and all she climbs into bed with us. “How did you sleep baby?” “Like a princess!” She slides right under the covers and melts her little body in her mama and daddy’s bed. A place that she feels the safest, where nothing else in the world matters, where time literally stops and this moment is cherished.…

Listen yo, you have got to save your egg shells. Your soil and your plants will thank you. Just like your soil and plants need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium  it also may need calcium. Egg shells can help greatly with that. Saving your egg shells really is not that hard or inconvenient to do. They don’t smell and it’s just a behavior you make into a habit like composting. When my husband asked me to start saving them I thought, really? Now, it’s just second nature and our garden thanks us. Let’s get to it, shell we. Haha get it, shell we like egg shell, haha, ok no seriously let’s do this. You want to find a container to keep…

The beauty in life is learning how to be self sufficient. We have grown a deep passion for not relying on anyone or anything to keep us going. We have not mastered this homesteading journey, but strive to test our limits everyday. I have these moments when something just clicks and I think to myself, “hellooooo, YES, I’ve got this!” Then I have moments when I think, “man, I’m so far from the goal we have set.” But homesteading is just that, it’s a journey of learning and feeling and loving. We started our journey into homesteading 5 years ago. It started with a panic of “the worlds coming to an end!” Don’t laugh, it will hit you one day…

This is our life. It is filled with beauty. It is filled with hard work. It is filled with the deepest sense of connection to the earth we walk on. Our passion is to give more back to the land then when we found it. Our goal is to make everything we use go full circle, nothing should leave our homestead. Everything we use has a purpose. Our life is filled with a love for being self sufficient. A love to grow our own food, to preserve that food, to use the scraps for the compost and to put that compost back into next years garden. We live a life were there are no gender roles but where we have…