With the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend upon us, it's time for the End-of-Season garden update for 2025. Our urban garden has usually been productive, but I think it’s safe to say that this year it has truly outdone itself. If you are new here, we garden in Alberta, Canada, in plant hardiness zone ...
A Dozen Ways to Preserve Apples
It's apple time around here, and apples are everywhere. Apples are one of the fruit crops that do well in cold climates and short growing seasons. Here are a dozen ways to preserve apples for a variety of options. The apples we can grow here are often smaller and less sweet than those grown in a ...
Apfelrotkohl (Red Cabbage with Apples) Recipe
Apfelrotkohl (Red Cabbage with Apples), also called Rotkohl or Blaukraut, is a favorite side dish of ours. It is a traditional German recipe. We enjoy growing our own red cabbage and preparing the dish once it is harvested in the fall, accompanied by plenty of apples. Then I freeze it, and it is all ...
Growing Food – Garlic
If you enjoy growing your own food, garlic is an essential crop to have in your garden. Read on to learn how to plant, grow, harvest, store, and use this superfood. Garlic is easy to cultivate and can greatly enhance the flavor of many dishes. While some people have a stronger affinity for garlic ...
Fermented Cherry Tomatoes
Fermented cherry tomatoes are a delightful treat. They have a sweet and sour flavor, bursting in your mouth with a refreshing explosion. Yum! The only problem is getting them to that stage. I have made fermented cherry tomatoes for years, but to be honest, the results were always ...
How to Safely Reuse Canning Lids
It is officially not recommended to reuse canning lids. No company would invest in testing a one-time product to ensure it can be safely reused, as that would not be profitable. However, this does not mean that canning lids cannot be reused safely; it just means that we assume the risk ourselves. If ...
Plum Jam Recipe and other Plum Preserves
Plums are a delicious summer fruit that come in various colors, flavors, and sizes. One thing they all have in common is that they spoil fairly quickly, so the window to enjoy them fresh is quite short. The good news is that plums can be made into delicious jam and other preserves. In this blog ...
Picking Fruit and Berries at Their Peak
As fruit and berry growers in a home garden, it's important for us to pick the fruit when it is at its optimum stage of ripening. But how do we know the best time to harvest? This blog article is a home gardener's guide to picking fruit and berries at their peak. Climacteric and not climacteric ...
Russian Dill Pickles Recipe
Pickled cucumbers are a specialty enjoyed worldwide, with each country having its own unique variations. This Russian dill pickle recipe features a delicious pickled cucumber that you should definitely try for a variation of flavor. What makes this recipe special is that it uses garden ingredients ...
Build a root cellar in the basement
A root cellar is an excellent addition to any homestead. Ideally, it should be built into a hillside, featuring an entry space and a cellar room. However, most of us do not have that option. Modern houses often lack a cold room. What can you do? Build a root cellar in the basement. A relatively ...
