Category: Gardening

Gardening

Growing Celery

by Krystal SmithLeave a Comment on Growing Celery
Growing Celery

Let's grow some awesome celery y'all... Let me just start off by saying how incredible celery is. If you haven't already read all about the health benefits of celery, I highly suggest you read all about it. Today, let's talk about how we grow the stuff. We've got two ways to do this thing... From seed. From store bought celery. Wait.......WHAT!!!!! From store bought celery??? I know right, is your mind blown too?! All you need is about 2 inches of the bottom part of the celery, some water and tooth picks. That is it y'all. Wanna grow some? Let's do this. Growing celery 1. First and foremost, when buying celery it is always better to buy organic. 2. Bring [...]

Gardening, homesteading, Preserving

How to Freeze Sweet Potatoes

by Krystal SmithLeave a Comment on How to Freeze Sweet Potatoes
How to Freeze Sweet Potatoes

Let's freeze them sweet potatoes shall we. We, aka my husband, harvested our purple sweet potatoes recently and we ended up with more than we expected. Unfortunately, we don't have a basement or a cellar that we can store these bad boys in so, I had to get creative. First thought was, let's can these beauties. Then I did some research and found that while canning sweet potatoes was definitely an option, the only real way to use them after they were canned would be to mash them up. Sweet potatoes are already a softer potato than let's say russets or red potatoes. And because we MUST can them in a pressure canner for a specific amount of time, which [...]

Essential Oils, Gardening, Herbs, Medicinal Herb Series

Medicinal Herb Series: 10 Benefits of Lemongrass

by Krystal SmithLeave a Comment on Medicinal Herb Series: 10 Benefits of Lemongrass
Medicinal Herb Series: 10 Benefits of Lemongrass

Medicinal herb series: Lemongrass Lemongrass is an amazing medicinal herb. Not only does it smell absolutely delightful, it has incredible benefits for your body and your soul. Lemongrass, also known as Cymbopogon, is indigenous to India and Asia. It is a tall grass like plant with stalks. This plant tends to grow in a bush like manner and loves full sun and well draining soil. The leaves tend to be sharp on the sides and are incredibly hardy. It has a powerful fresh lemon smell that is often times used as a lemon flavor in teas and other beverages. Most importantly, you will find that lemongrass comes in a few different forms. You can usually find the stalks in most grocery [...]

Gardening, Homemade Everything, Preserving, Recipes

Preserving Purple Pole Beans

by Krystal SmithLeave a Comment on Preserving Purple Pole Beans
Preserving Purple Pole Beans

The time finally came. We canned our beautiful purple pole beans y'all. And they came out perfect. Purple pole beans are so much fun to grow. They are these perfect little beans that are the most gorgeous shade of purple. Give them an upright fence to grow on and boom son, no huge planter space taken up. This year, we planted them along this old ladder we had just sitting on the side of the house. We plopped the ladder in the middle of the garden and planted seeds that we harvested last year and we couldn't believe how happy these little plants were. This whole gardening thing is pretty incredible. Especially when you have the pleasure of utilizing your [...]

Gardening, Herbs, homesteading

How to Harvest Lemongrass

by Krystal SmithLeave a Comment on How to Harvest Lemongrass
How to Harvest Lemongrass

  Ahhh lemongrass, how you smell so fresh and lively. If you have never experienced lemongrass, I highly suggest you run right out and find yourself some and take a big fat inhale. You will immediately feel ten pounds lighter in energy. Lemongrass has this incredibly clean, bright uplifting smell that can change your mood from crappy to dancing on roof tops within seconds. Seriously. Let's talk about growing and harvesting lemongrass shall we. Growing Lemongrass Lemongrass, Cymbopogon Citrates, is incredibly easy to grow. It is a sub tropical plant, so it thrives in full sun and in warmer climates. If you can't find yourself some already established plants, you can head on over to the grocery store (usually specialty stores) [...]