To till or not to till the garden is a question gardeners in the past did not have. Growing up on a homestead, our garden was cleaned up, fertilized with composted manure, and turned over. We did that every spring. The young adults in our rural town would form work crews to help to dig the gardens ...
How to Freeze Beets
We love beets, they are healthy and just so delicious. There are many ways to preserve beets, here we share how to freeze beets in 3 different ways. We like to grow Cylindra, a very sweet Heirloom beet that grows in a long cylindrical shape. Very nice for slicing. Sometimes they get really big, ...
How Much Food Can an Urban Homestead Grow for the Winter
How much food can an urban homestead grow for the winter? Here we share our Northern Homestead homegrown food storage as of today, Thanksgiving 2018. We are doing our best to live mindfully, kindly, sustainable and joyfully. Our food storage is filled to overflow because we have been blessed with ...
Preparing the Garden for Winter
Preparing the garden for winter, a time when gardens go dormant. Winter is an important time for the garden and the garden soil. You might have noticed that the colder an area is, the richer is the soil. There are a few important steps that can make the garden soil even better and also help the ...
The No-Plan Meal Planning Method
The No-Plan Meal planning method emerged out of disability to plan meals. Well, sort of. There are several reasons why I think meal planning is overrated and not everyone's cup of tea. If you have been struggling or feeling guilty for being a ‘not so planned person’, keep reading. After we discover ...
Thoughts on the whole-food plant-based diet
If you follow us on social media you might have noticed that we talk about the whole-food plant-based diet more often. I thought it was time to share our thoughts on the whole-food plant-based diet, what is it, why eat healthily, and the challenges that come with it. What is a whole-food ...
How Different Plants Survive Frost
Freezing weather conditions kill plants in the garden, right? Well, it depends. Plants hold up very differently to frost. In this post, we share a picture and video comparison on how different plants survive frost. I knew about this, but it was very interesting to observe it first hand. Why it is ...
Garden Update – Fall 2018 on Video
Hello and welcome to Northern Homestead 'End of Season' garden update. It's Fall 2018 and time for another video update. If you are new to our blog, you might want to know that we have garden updates since 2012. You can find them all tagged under Our Garden. Summer went by way too quickly. ...
Dozen Ways to Preserve Zucchini
Since zucchini is such a versatile vegetable and there is always an abundance of it available we need a dozen ways to preserve zucchini. Speaking of dozen, I don't mean a number, just many ways. Here are actually more than 12 ways in this post. We have used all of this at one time or another. Choose ...
Apple Sauce, Apple Jam, Apple Butter
The canner is running hot these days. There are so many goodies that are ready to be preserved and that we do not want to miss making. Apples are one of our favorites to preserve for winter. We make applesauce, apple jam, apple butter and apple chips. Also, the ajika salsa recipe includes apples. If ...