National Preparedness Month (FEMA) Four days before the month ended, I learned that September is National Preparedness Month. Did you know that? What are your plans? Really, any month or day is a good time to prepare for emergencies – floods, earthquakes,...
Raking Leaves is bad. Never rake your leaves again. Today while driving on a short errand, I saw a gentleman with a leaf vacuum attached to a riding lawn mower in a small front yard sucking up his leaves to deposit into the street. Next I saw an old woman raking...
In this article, I’ve collected my favorite ways to start fires in wood stoves, fireplaces, patio fire pits, and campfire settings. I’ve been experimenting with the best ways to start fires for 25 years and I’ll cover only the absolute top tips...
Do you live in an urban area but still want the benefits of a rural garden? One of the biggest problems with having an urban garden is the space limitations. Many gardeners have less than an acre of land to work with, some may only have a few hundred square feet of...
Many people are not satisfied with the look and feel of their backyards. Often our property takes a lot of work to maintain, yet we don’t get a whole lot of satisfaction from it. So it is not a surprise that many people scour the internet and books to get...
The large jack-o-lantern pumpkins we carve in the fall do not make great pies. For that you need to Harvest them when they are small. But there are wonderful additional uses for your carved pumpkin leftovers! Roasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe Nothing beats homemade...
Dandelion Tops cut and ready to be battered and fried Eat dandelions? Yes, and the nice thing is that 100% of the dandelion is edible! Historically, Europeans brought dandelions to America as a food crop but now it is considered to be one of the most annoying weeds...
Is your skin so dry that it looks like a dried riverbed at high noon? Welcome to winter. Although these cold temperatures bring relief from many allergies, the risk of heat stroke, and clammy skin, they also reduce the amount of moisture in the air. For many, this...
One of the best fruits to forage for during the late summer and early fall in zones 5-10 are wild blackberries. In this article we will discuss how to forage not only for the blackberries themselves but for the plant too, so that you can grow these delicious,...
This is the fourth year in a row in which, when mid May rolls around, I declare, “Time to Sell the Yard!’ It all started when I decided to get rid of many of the things in my front yard landscape such as hostas, periwinkle, day lilies, lily of the valley,...
Our first freeze warning has come and gone. It’s the time of the year when many start making room indoors for outdoor plants or start shopping for indoor plants to offset winter’s monochromatic view. Pets will be spending more time indoors too. This can lead to bad...
Composting is not only a great way to improve the quality of your backyard soil, but is also a terrific way to reuse kitchen scraps and other household waste. This indoor waste recycling can dramatically cut down on the amount of trash that you generate per week. We...
A great way to improve the freshness of a linen closet or dresser drawers is to make these little all natural air fresheners. These DIY closet and dresser air fresheners are super easy, incredibly inexpensive, and highly effective. Items needed Small jars...
Spring sprang past and everything’s running to catch up. Flowers are blooming and invitations are starting to flow for garden parties, graduations, weddings, and the like. For some, flowers will be featured on the menu as well as on the decor list. In the 19th...
Weeds. The word seems synonymous with things abandoned, lonely, unkempt, not to mention unwanted and unloved. But for Those Who Know, many plants laboring under that unhappy name are associated with words like tasty, nutritious, and just plain yummy. They come in a...
On soup: “The transformation that occurs in the caldron is quintessential and wondrous, subtle and delicate.” – I Yin, 239 B.C.E. Spring is technically here although temperatures feel more like early summer than spring. But, hey, when is weather ever reasonable here...
On the food calendar, there are days for celebrating chocolate in various forms: dark (February 1; the whole month is devoted to chocolate and has multiple observance days), cake (January 27), candy (December 28), to name a few. This Friday, October 28, is a general...
Butternut squash is in the Cucurbita moschata family. Acorn, buttercup, carnival, delicata, hubbard, spaghetti, and pumpkin are also in the family. They are called winter squash because, planted in summer and harvested in autumn, they are available...
Ramps growing in the forest In Northern Ohio and many other places, April and early May is the time to go out into the woods and forage for Ramps, also known as wild leeks. Walk 10 feet into any deciduous forest during this time and you are very likely to see these...
One thing that can be easily incorporated into the urban homestead and which is very useful to the backyard farmer is the rain barrel. Rain barrels can be purchased in a lot of places these days but they are quite easy to make as well. We’ll discuss how to do...
Smoothies are all about health, nutrition, and feeling good. For many, it’s a no-brainer to incorporate herbs into their smoothie for flavor and functionality. While in past centuries herbs were a common feature of medical texts, such has not been the case here in the...
What is Aquaponics Aquaponics is the combination of 2 things: Aqua Culture: The practice of Raising Fish Hydroponics: The practice of Growing Plants using water, chemicals and a non soil medium like gravel Aqua Culture is pretty self explanatory. But let’s talk...
Permaculture zones are absolutely essential in organic garden design, but there’s nothing to be intimidated by. Basically you put things that you have to tend to more, closer to your house, like a vegetable garden; and you put larger things that don’t...
When cherry tomatoes are are in peak season and are ripening by the hundreds per day in your kitchen garden or backyard organic garden, it can be thrilling, but there comes a time when you simply cannot eat any more of them. A quick search on the internet reveals the...
