The Germans have many pickle recipes, this yummy German dill pickles recipe is one of them. It is a traditional recipe, and like so often with recipes from other countries and continents, it does not comply with the US rules. So as always use at your own risk. Pickling ...
Bull’s Heart Heirloom Tomato Variety
Bull's Heart or also called Ox Heart, Beef Heart or Coeur de Boeuf is our favorite heirloom tomato variety. We grow many heirloom tomatoes but this one stands out and deserves a separate post. Bulls's Heart was a tomato I grew up with. It must have been my father's favorite because I remember him ...
Growing and Preserving Basil
Basil is a great culinary and medicinal herb. Fresh and preserved (dry, or frozen) basil is great to use. Not just the taste, but also the scent of basil is unique. Fresh basil adds a summer fragrance and taste to a dish or salad. Basil is also great for teas and oral health. The basil herb is ...
Growing Food – Cucumbers
Growing food is important to us, and we have covered many edible plants already. Today it's all about growing food - cucumbers. Growing cucumbers in the northern climate, using cucumbers in yummy recipes, and preserving them for winter. Now, I have to admit that I have not been able just yet to ...
The No-Plan Meal Planning Method for Gardeners
The no-plan meal planning method has been developed over years out of the necessity to combine planning meals with using what grows in our garden. It is a process and I don't feel like we have arrived yet. But we are getting closer to growing what we eat and eating what we grow. Rethinking the ...
What To Do if Plants Fail to Grow
If you have been gardening for a while, you know things do not always go well. Usually, we don't talk much about it, and that might give the impression that it does not happen to experienced gardeners. Well, it does, and here we share what to do if plants fail to grow. We have had a lot of practice ...
5 Ways to Preserve Food
Living in a cold climate with a short growing season - food preservation is a must. In order to be able to eat homegrown food all year round, we have to store it away. Here are 5 ways to preserve food that we use. Long time storage Into this category fall simple dry storage, root collaring, and ...
Planting a Fall Garden in a Northern Climate
Our growing season is short, just over 100 days. It seems that with most plants we have just one shot. However, to use succession planting for a fall garden has been a goal of ours for many years. We started experimenting with it pushing the boundaries for planting a second crop, aka a fall garden ...
Car Radiator for Heating and Cooling a Greenhouse
After using a car radiator for heating and cooling a greenhouse for many years now, we thought it is time for an update. To control the temperature in our Geodesic Dome greenhouse, we used a Water Tank for passive temperature regulation and also an old car radiator for active heat exchange. To ...
Why we are not prepping
Survivalists or preppers who actively prepare for an emergency, disaster, end of the world, or the coming of zombies seem to like our blog. We are sometimes asked about prepping, or what we think about it. In our world, it would seem that everyone should be prepared. However, we do not consider ...