Traditionally Lecho is a pepper and tomato stew. We love it and share our favorite recipe here. Then I came across this unusual canned cucumber and tomato lecho recipe. We had to try it, and glad we did. If you like traditional Eastern European recipes, this will be right along with your ...
How To Make Lightly Salted Half-Sour Pickles
This lightly salted half-sour pickle is a traditional recipe that I learned from my mother-in-law. No family gathering was complete without this yummy treat. Crunchy, mildly sour, lightly salty, they complement nicely a festive dinner as well as a snack in between. For these mild half-sour ...
Dozen Ways to Preserve Zucchini
Zucchini is such a versatile vegetable, and there is always an abundance available, more than we can use fresh. Here are over a dozen ways to preserve zucchini for winter. We have used all of them at one time or another. Pick one or two, or use them all. There are many varieties of zucchini, and ...
Easy Frozen Strawberries Recipe
This easy frozen strawberries recipe is just right for the season. It's summer and hot outside, so besides eating strawberries fresh right from the plant, having them in breakfast, and meals, we want an easy way to preserve them for winter. Strawberries can be frozen like any other berries, ...
Growing Fruit Trees in Cold Climate Part 1
We love fruit. Juicy, sweet, delicious fruit. Growing up in Central Asia, fruit was a big part of our diet. My (Anna) father moved our family to that area to grow fruit. With hot, dry summers, the fruit was our best crop. Growing fruit trees in a cold climate is a bit of a different story. We are ...
Cutworm in the Vegetable Garden
A garden is always shared with many organisms, wanted and unwanted. Most of them we are not even aware of. However, a cutworm in the vegetable garden will make itself known in a quite unpleasant way. We do not suggest starting a war on cutworms, neither to hate nor despise them. They are just ...
Garden Update – Spring 2021 On Video
Welcome to our garden update spring 2021 on Video. Northern Homestead is in Alberta, Canada – plant hardiness zone 3A, elevation 1,037 m (3,402 ft). We turned our yard into a garden and the old garage into a food production place. We have been publishing garden updates since 2012. You can find ...
Perennial Flower Favorites in our Northern Garden
Even though we focus on growing food, the perennial flower favorites in our northern garden bring us a lot of joy. Many beautiful and hardy perennial flowers grow well in zone 3. With a little love and care you can enjoy an abundance of flowers all season long. Perennials are planted ...
Gardening for the Weak, Sick and Lazy Gardeners
Since I write a homesteading/gardening blog you could get the impression that I am a hard-working gardener, always on top of things. Well, that is not true, and I feel that I have to apologize if I have given you this false impression. The truth is that I am a weak, sometimes sick, and a bit lazy ...
How to Start Tomatoes from Seeds
Growing tomatoes is just as much fun as it is rewarding. In this article, I'm sharing how to start tomatoes from seeds using a 'no-fail method' that involves less work, which has worked for me for many years. With this method, you can go from seed to harvest in less than 4 months. Where ...
