We Like Making Our Own Stuff

The month of April has been a cold and snowy one here in Wisconsin, but finally, here in these last days of the month, Spring has finally decided to show her warm, sunny face.  With temperatures now hitting the sixties and seventies, I have taken to the outdoors and begun cleaning out my flower gardens.  I'm pleased to see some crocus bulbs coming up, and the green returning to my thyme.

Another summer has come and almost gone here in central Wisconsin.  The night temperatures are now regularly dipping into the 40's, signaling the impending arrival of fall.  This summer has proved to be challenging, mainly because we've hardly gotten any rainfall!  Thankfully, our area is only considered to be "Abnormally Dry," so it could have been much worse. However, we were still forced to water quite a bit this year, and many of our garden plants did not do as well as we had hoped--most notably the squashy plants, like the pumpkins, butternut, zucchini, and crookneck.  These plants are finally setting fruit, but I have my doubts as to whether or not they will reach maturity before it gets frosty. But what may have saved the rest of the garden was our wash water and other gray water saved from the house.  My husband has rigged the washer machine discharge hose up to some large barrels outside; the water is then pumped through a hose and into the garden....

Since we love homemade ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and salsa (okay, well I love salsa anyway), tomatoes have become one of our favorite garden plants.  It's so nice having some garden tomatoes in the freezer to cook with all winter long--say, for some good Italian or Mexican food. Since we use lots and lots of tomatoes, it means we must also grow lots and lots of tomatoes.  Growing so many tomato plants, we have always been presented with the problem of what to use for cages or trellises.  You see, tomato plants can grow to be quite large and heavy, which means that if you have no support for your plants, the fruits will wind up developing on the ground--leading to rotting, slug infested tomatoes!  There is nothing more disappointing than having to throw away half of your tomato harvest because pests got to them. Tomato plants that are kept up off the ground typically have better yields, less instance of disease and pest infestation, and are easier to harvest, so w...

Whether you grow your own beans, or would just like to save money by buying dried beans, freezing cooked beans, legumes, and lentils is a great idea.  It is as convenient as having a can of beans in your pantry, only less expensive !  It's a bit more work to prepare, but the savings are worth it in my opinion. When I grow my own beans, such as black beans, I will allow the beans to stay on the plants in their pods until the pods have turned yellow and crumble easily.  I have learned the hard way not to wait too long to harvest the beans--if you leave them on the plant for too long, the pods will split open, and your precious beans will be on the ground.  Great if you want them to self-seed, but not so awesome if you were planning on storing them for food use! These black beans have a ways to go before they are ready to harvest . Purchasing Dried Beans If you are not growing your own beans, you can purchase dried beans from many sour...

No herb is better suited for first-aid uses than the cheery, golden flowers of Calendula officinalis. Calendula is easy to grow from seed and produces an abundant amount of flowers, which can be used in the kitchen, medicine cabinet, and for beauty products.  One of my favorite preparations to make out of Calendula blooms is Calendula Salve.  This salve is wonderful for skin health, and can be used for dry skin, cuts, scrapes, burns, eczema, blisters, and rashes.  So plant some Calendula , and begin harvesting the flowers as soon as they start to bloom, cutting off a few inches of stem along with it.  Hang them in bunches to dry, and keep them in jars or paper bags.  Alternatively, if you cannot grow Calendula yourself, find someone locally who can supply it or order it online . To make Calendula Salve, you will first need to make Calendula Infused Oil.  The oil is simple to make, and you can make extra for other uses besides the salve.  The inf...

Seed starting is underway on our little urban homestead! We had a year's worth of toilet paper and paper towel tubes to work with.  We cut the toilet paper tubes in half, and the paper towel tubes into quarters.  Then, we lined them up in trays and filled each with dirt (we made our own soil this year by blending some topsoil with our compost).  Finally, we planted one seed in each tube, and watered. We also had some seed starting trays and inserts left over from previous years that we used.  We hope to stick with using toilet paper tubes in the future, rather than the plastic inserts.  The toilet paper tubes can be planted right in the ground and will decay with time; whereas the plastic inserts will end up in the landfill. In other news, my husband is still working on a solar method of heating the greenhouse during these cold spring nights.  For now, we are using a kerosene heater: He is hoping to have another, cleaner, heating method in pl...

When you are starting seeds this year, consider planting some birdhouse gourds ( Lagenaria siceraria ).    This viney plant is fast growing and very easy to care for.  Once the gourds have matured, they can be harvested for use as a birdhouse or bird feeder, or even more creatively as bottles or bowls. Growing Birdhouse Gourds Birdhouse gourds can be grown as an annual in any zone.  In cooler climates, you will want to start your seeds indoors about a month before the last frost.  These gourds will need approximately three months to mature. Plant your birdhouse gourds in a sunny location, four to six feet apart, and be sure that they have plenty of room to grow!  These plants love to climb, so I would recommend using a trellis if you have limited space.  The vines are strong, and will support the large fruits even if they are growing vertically.  My husband is such a handy guy, he built us some trellises, and they worked beautifully: ...

I'd like to introduce Chicken, Big Mama, and Girlfriend: We have had these three hens for about two years now on our little city lot.  While raising chickens is relatively simple, it has been quite an investment in time and money.  There are costs associated with feeding, housing, and caring for them properly, along with the time all of that will take from your day.  The reason we are willing to spend this time and money on our girls is simple though:  we get so much back in return! Top 5 Things Our Chickens Help Us Make or Do: 1.  Compost A backyard compost pile is an easy way to improve any garden, and helps keep some of the more than 29 million tons of food waste a year out of our landfills.  Compost is decomposed organic matter that is used to fertilize gardens and improve soil structure, and a compost pile is easy to make and maintain.  We have found that our compost improved greatly with the addition of ch...