It's apple time around here and apples are everywhere. Apples are one of the fruit crops that do well in cold climate and short growing season. We sure need a dozen ways to preserve apples. We do not always make them all, but love to have the options for many varieties. The apples we can grow ...
How to Freeze Berries
How to freeze raspberries, blueberries, currant, strawberries, and other berries. The good thing about most berries is that they are great fresh or frozen. Berries are the most nutritious in the fruit category, plus they grow well in cold climate. We grow many varieties of berries in our garden ...
Canned Zucchini Spread (Ikra) Recipe
Finally, I'm sharing with you the Canned Zucchini Spread (Ikra) recipe that I mentioned in the dozen ways to preserve zucchini post. I was not sure what to call it, spread, relish or condiment? Zucchini Ikra is delicious on bread or on top of a baked potato. It can also be enjoyed as a side dish or ...
Dehydrating Greens
Growing your greens is great, eating them is better. Seriously, to grow greens is very simple, as of right now, in mid-August, our whole garden is green. Most of the greens growing are edible, including some common weeds. Do we eat them all? No. With the abundance also comes pickiness. We have ...
Garden Update – Summer 2019 On Video
Summer is well on its way, time for a garden update - summer 2019 on video. We toured the garden on August 8. Summer 2019 has been slow to start and cooler and wetter than usual. But then again, I do not really know what is usual here at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta ...
Growing Tomatoes Summer Update
Growing tomatoes in cold climate and harvesting ripe tomatoes in the summer is something we write a lot about here at Northern Homestead. Today we are sharing a 'growing tomatoes summer update' in pictures. Starting from seeds, planting and harvesting ripe tomatoes in July. This (2019) is a good ...
Animal-Free Homestead
Technically we are not an animal-free homestead, we have always had some pets. It started with our daughter wanting a bunny. Over the years we have had several bunnies, a guinea pig, a hamster, and several cats. The real homesteading animals that we have raised were chickens before we gave up on ...
Gardening Without Pain
Just over a year ago gardening without pain was a dream for me. After an x-ray, I knew it was nothing acute but just a beginning of a painful road ahead. If what I felt was early osteoarthritis, I knew I did not want to go any farther with it. The joint stiffness hindered me to bend over, and the ...
Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Garden Update
We have been growing a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse garden since 2011, it's time for an update on what we like most on this greenhouse. Our first GeoDome was an 18-foot all wood structure with windows and a door. It had a water tank and passive heating and cooling using a car radiator. We ...
Making Progress on One Thing a Day
You know the feeling when there are not enough hours in a day, you are always behind trying to keep up with personal, job and home chores. If you would need a single management tip that was to help you to accomplish more and feel great at the same time, here it is: Making progress on one thing a ...