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 ...
Summer Vegetable Curry Recipe Year Round
With this summer vegetable curry recipe, we want to demonstrate how ‘growing what you eat and eating what you grow’ can work year-round. It is one of our favorite plant-based dishes that we can make mainly from homegrown and/or home-preserved ingredients. Serve it with rice or noodles. Why grow ...
Troubleshooting in an Indoor Edible Garden
An indoor garden is an unnatural environment. There is less light, no pollinators, and no natural air movement. We have addressed most of it in our previous posts. The closer you can come to a natural environment, the less challenging the growing experience will be. However, since we can't avoid ...
Growing Food Using the Simple Kratky Hydroponic Method
"Growing Food Using the Simple Kratky Hydroponic Method" is a topic of interest. Let's discuss this hydroponic method that allows plants to be grown without electricity or pumps. Growing food is becoming a priority for more and more people. Homegrown food tastes better, is healthier, and is much ...
Temperature for an indoor edible garden
Temperature for an indoor edible garden is just as important as for an outdoor garden. Neither will you grow successfully cool weather crops during the hot summer months nor heat-loving plants during the cool season. Indoor edible plants also need to be planted according to room temperature. The ...
Additional light for an indoor edible window garden
To grow edible plants successfully you need around 12 hours of daylight (except for sprouts and microgreens). It does not have to be all sunshine, but it has to be a bright light. A plant will not die if it does not get the light needed, but it will not grow much either. Additional light for an ...
