When my niece heard that we raise backyard chickens, she was hooked. However, her husband wasn't as thrilled. Chickens are work, they can smell, and make noise, too. But, do they? How much work is actually involved to raise backyard chickens? Here is a reality check on everything that needs to be ...
How To Make Quark Cheese
Note: This is an older recipe. We have since changed to a plant-based diet and love it. It's better for our health, all living and the planet. Quark is a type of fresh cheese made from cultured milk. It has a very smooth and creamy texture and is slightly sweet (unlike sour cream or yogurt). If ...
Garden Update – May 2016 on Video
Another gardening month has come and gone and we have enjoyed it very much. We had some nice summer weather and real winter weather, but that's part of a normal spring here in Alberta. In this garden update video we talk about frost protection with a greenhouse, roofless greenhouse, Plant ...
Garden Update – April 2016 on Video
This is our 5th year of monthly garden updates here at Northern Homestead. It has been helpful to record what was growing and how. 2014, for the first time, we went till November, and started again 2015 in January. There is a lot of winter growing in those posts. We do these updates mostly for us, ...
Winter Garden Update 2016
Spring is here, and we are so excited. But before winter is all gone and forgotten let's have a quick winter garden update 2016! It was our first winter that we were able to grow all our greens all winter long. We used the hydroponic Tower Garden indoors with grow lights, and loved the fresh leafy ...
Homemade Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas
Homemade whole wheat flour tortillas are a favorite in our house. We enjoy them in so many ways: traditionally as tortillas with filling made from mushrooms, sweet potatoes, or beans, topped with salsa, greens and cheese (we prefer nut cheese); or topped with some pizza ingredients as a thin and ...
Growing Aloe Vera in Cold Climate
Aloe Vera is one of the most well-known and used medicinal plant. The benefits of Aloe Vera are almost endless, a real must have plant in your garden. But the plant is only hardy to zones 8–11 and loves well drained soil. Not a good fit for a cold climate, to say the least. Still, we too can grow ...
3 Reasons To Grow Your Own Salad Greens and How To Do It
3 Reasons to grow your own salad greens and how to do it in the soil in a square foot garden or in hydroponics, aeroponics or the Kratky method. A retired M.D. still remembers how he and his wife started in our rural area. His wife wanted to buy some salad greens from a local store, but there ...
End Of Season – Garden Update 2015
Another gardening season officially is coming to an end, and with it our monthly garden updates. We have been doing monthly garden updates for 4 years now. It was fun every month to record what was growing and how. Last year, for the first time, we went till November, and started again this year in ...
Free Chicken Coop From Recycled Doors
Using recycled material to build new structures is fun. It is also very easy and best of all free. Our chickens are indoors in our garage greenhouse. Since we are in zone 3, our winter can be very unpleasant for chicks to be outdoors. Plus caring for them outdoors is no fun either. Our solution to ...
