The 7 Healthy Soil Habits (and How They Can End Garden Battles)
Today, so many people want to grow and eat food that’s healthy and safe. We plant. We tend. We try to use organic methods and get our kids involved. Yet we find ourselves overwhelmed by challenges and the garden we have in mind seems impossible to grow in real life. When I asked how your garden did…
Read MoreHow to Make Simple Plant Markers
Add a little pizzazz to your garden with homemade plant markers you and your kids can create in just a few hours. I love art in the garden. For me, art in our garden is almost as important as the plants. I have a particular obsession for plant markers.
Read MoreHow to Make a Bean Tipi
What do kids and beans have in common? They both love to climb! In today’s tutorial, we’ll show you how to make a bean tipi (or teepee!) for beans to climb. The kids? They’ll be hiding inside in another month or so. 🙂 This was a big project (and a big tipi!), so we spread…
Read MoreFaster Compost with the Berkeley Method
Often when gardeners make compost, we pile up materials in fall, hope for the best, and come back 6 months later. If it’s not done yet, we water, turn, and wait more. It works. But what if you want faster compost?
Read MoreBuying Compost? Be Sure You Can Say YES! to These 4 Questions…
Spring time…planting time…need-more-compost time! Let’s talk about what to look for and ask about when you buy compost.
Read MoreHow to Build a Simple Raised Bed
Start gardening this weekend with a simple raised bed your kids can help you create. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how we built a raised bed with three kids (under 5 years old!) in one weekend. Why a Raised Bed? To be honest, we wanted a raised bed for one main reason…
Read More10 Ways to #optoutside in Your Own Backyard
Do you know about #optoutside? I love this idea of opting out of the post-Thanksgiving consumer craziness. Being intentional about spending time outside with loved ones rather than spending time shopping for stuff. Now, I’m all for good deals. We’ll actually have a special one for you to celebrate our other two November birthdays 🎉 on Monday! For the weekend though, what…
Read MoreThankful Leaves: How to Make A Gratitude Garland
I’m looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving later this month. I love that we have a whole day dedicated to being thankful! At the same time, I’ve been thinking about how to make gratitude more of a daily practice. This simple project, Thankful Leaves, is how we’re bringing together thankfulness and the gorgeous fall colors for…
Read MoreOf Well-Worn Paths and Brand New Habits
In a curious juxtaposition, I find myself thinking about habits on a weekend when I’ve stepped out of many of my own. One notable exception? My morning cup of coffee…made even more enjoyable by the warm Florida breeze on the shady front porch where I’m writing.
Read MoreLife and Learning in the Garden: An Interview with Homeschooling Homesteader Kallie Vaughn
“I wonder how we actually thought that we would try to be farmers,” she laughed, thinking back to when it all started. Today, my friend Kallie Vaughn and her husband Matt are resurrecting an old farm on 25 acres in the rolling hills of the North Carolina Piedmont. Matt teaches high school, and Kallie homeschools…
Read MoreGardening Tasks To Do in September
Seasons change, but the garden is still full of life. I love fall. Crisp morning air, apples and pumpkins, and kids in sweaters crunching through fallen leaves. But it’s a bittersweet time. The boisterous growth of the garden slows, the days grow shorter, and I sigh as I think of summer pleasures passed. Back on the bright side,…
Read MoreGuerrilla Composting: How to Recycle Food Waste without a Compost Bin
The smashed remains of a nectarine, spent coffee grounds, a handful of egg shells, three banana peels…I can’t bring myself to throw this stuff in the trash. Is that weird? I mean, these are raw materials.
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