by Texas Homesteader ~
Herbs grow so easily that I always have plenty. I mean P-L-E-N-T-Y! So I’m constantly either harvesting & using or drying and preserving those herbs for cooking all year long.
But I’ve found my new favorite way to use handfuls of these herbs and enjoy a delightfully fresh way to make supper easier and more delicious.
by Texas Homesteader ~
We’ve all done it – that zucchini is relished when it first starts producing in the garden. But after a while you find yourself (and your family) growing tired of the excess. Even your zucchini-loving family moans when they hear it’s on the menu tonight… yet again!
But you hate to waste it. I mean, you planted that seed, tenderly took care of the seedling and delighted in its production. What can you do?
A few years ago I started something called my ‘Blessing Basket’. Here’s how it works:
by Texas Homesteader ~
Well guys, my garden was put behind schedule this year due to a colder/wetter than normal spring. There was plenty of water, but no warmth or sunshine! But now that it’s starting to dry out a bit & warm up too, things are finally starting to grow. C’mon in and take a look!
by Texas Homesteader ~
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The heat & humidity here in Texas during a typical summer can create some gardening challenges. And in our area of NE Texas, we’ve been in drought conditions for several years in a row. It can feel like an expensive losing battle to keep your garden watered.
But I don’t pay for treated water to irrigate my gardens. They’re all watered with harvested rainwater. Come see three rainwater harvesting systems that work best for us.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Several years ago our daughter mentioned casually that she was growing Stevia. Wait, Stevia? You mean, the sweetener? You can GROW THAT!!?? I had no idea!
Excitedly I sat out to find a place to purchase the plant. I found it at a local discount warehouse-type store and brought it home. I plunked it into my landscaping bed as part of my edible landscape. It’s a pretty enough plant, so why not?
I’ve had this plant for a couple of years and it always comes back in the spring. But now that I’m growing my own zero-calorie sweetener, what should I do with it?
by Texas Homesteader
May is typically a great month for veggie gardening in NE Texas. In May the temps usually haven’t heated up too drastically. And in a normal year there’s still spring rains swinging through each week so you don’t typically have to struggle quite as much with your garden maintenance workload.
C’mon and walk with me through the garden & let’s see what’s “growing” on these days.
by Texas Homesteader ~
Y’all know I have to have my hands in the dirt. I don’t have any control over it – that’s just something buried into my DNA. But do you wanna know a secret? I don’t really enjoy gardening (I know, REALLY??! gasp!)
But it’s true. I don’t enjoy the planting, weeding, watering, maintenance, etc. But I really love the harvesting and that makes it all worth the toil.
Harvesting fresh veggies from my own garden minutes before supper is healthier than veggies traveling all those miles to get to my supper table. Plus food this fresh just tastes better! And I’ve often said that growing your own food is like printing your own money. Pounds & pounds of fresh, organic produce for just the price of a small packet of heirloom seeds? Yes please!
Wanna see how my garden is doing? C’mon in, I’ll share my April garden update!
by Texas Homesteader ~
I love the concept of edible landscaping. Just because a plant provides something you can eat doesn’t mean it can’t be beautifully incorporated into your landscape plan. I’m fond of adding carrots along the perimeter of my plantings for it’s lacy greenery border. And I love using the bold crinkly leaves of a spinach plant for interest, or to anchor a planting area with a vibrant zucchini plant. I’ve used blueberry bushes in place of typical landscaping bushes. The possibilities are endless!
Recently we had an Outdoor Living room built to extend our back porch. I sat out to Landscape It On The Cheap. As always I strove to plant edibles in two huge galvanized trough planters.
by Texas Homesteader ~
This is my first year to plant strawberries, y’all! I’ve included them in my Edible Landscape this year. But I’ve been reading lamentations from other gardeners about the birds stealing those strawberries riiiiiight before harvest time! Now I don’t remember where I saw this hint (so sorry to whomever opened my eyes) but this is brilliant.
Someone suggested painting rocks to look like strawberries to fool the birds. You simply place the fake strawberries around your strawberry plant soon after you plant them. A few pecks on the hard faux strawberries and the birds decide that I’m such a lousy gardener that they don’t want ’em! LOL
by Texas Homesteader ~
A popular garden planting strategy often attributed to the native American Indians is the 3-Sisters Garden. This is a garden in which corn, beans and squash were planted. But they were planted for very specific reasons. Each vegetable helped the other. And by helping each other, each vegetable also benefited by growing strong and producing a crop.
