Lead contamination. Chlorine and fluoride. E.coli. Fracking pollutants. Toxins and pharmaceuticals. There are so many things that might be mixed in the water that flows from the faucet, that turning on the tap may feel more like playing a chemical form of Russian roulette than getting a drink. But what if I told you that
Search Results for: harvesting justice
Harvesting Basil: Helpful Tips For How to Harvest and Preserve Basil From Your Garden
Where would we be, culinarily, without the mint family? This gregarious and generous tribe of plants gives us such kitchen stars as thyme, lemon balm, oregano, and of course, the many piquant mints. Vying for prestige as best of the family, however, is probably the large-leaved and aromatic basil. Sweet, spicy, attractive, a pollinator-magnet, a
Ethically Harvesting & Processing Aloe Vera
Had fun in the sun and now your skin is burned? Do you deal with irritating skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, or eczema? Are you constipated or have digestive issues? What about dental plaque? Do you have buildup? The list could go on, but let’s pause here and give a grand and beautiful solution
Harvesting Garlic: How To Gather, Store, And Enjoy Your Garlic Harvest
There are few garden plants I know that require as little upkeep as garlic, yet require as much time as garlic. If youโve grown this wonderfully spicy, flavorful bulb in your garden, you are well acquainted with the near-year wait time till you’re finally at the point of harvesting garlic. You also know that the
A Helpful Homesteader’s Guide to Harvesting Sunflower Seeds
The humongous, cheery blooms of sunflowers, nodding head and shoulders over the garden gate, is a welcome addition to any food plot or house corner. But these sun-following flowers arenโt just for show — they provide protein-rich, delicious seeds for both humans and animals. Hereโs our guide for harvesting sunflower seeds as well as cooking
Harvesting Lettuce: How to Harvest and Store Lettuce For Fresh & Delicious Garden Salads
Go to any cheap restaurant, and youโll see a sorry showing of lettuce. It usually is represented in two forms: either a single leaf of romaine, apologetically separating your burger from the bun, or the translucent, colorless chunks of a sodden iceberg that makes up the bulk of the salad you regretfully got instead of
Reduce Water Waste by Installing a Rainwater Harvesting System
Got a roof? Get a tank! Harvesting rainwater is a great way to conserve this one of the scarcest natural resources and save your dollars in the bargain. An average family uses about 107,000 gallons of fresh water every year. Much of this is flushed down the toilet or poured into the garden. If you
Foraging for Pokeweed
Elvis sang about it. Gardeners loathe it. Old-timers grew up on it. Suburban moms are afraid of it and pull it out with gloves … and foragers? They’re inconsistent about it. It’s a miracle cure, a deadly poison, a nutritious food, a pest, a gift. Itโs pokeweed! Watch the Video: This hotly contested, rich-historied, delicious
Cultivating And Harvesting Wild Rice
Wild rice (Zizania palustris) is known as the โcaviar of grains.โ Contrary to its name, wild rice is actually the seeds of wetland grass. Other common names include water oats, Canadian rice, marsh oats, and blackbird oats. A native, aquatic, ancient cereal grain that grows in isolated riverbeds, marshes, and shallow lakes across North America, wild
Growing Potatoes (The Best Varieties, Avoiding Disease, And Harvesting Tips)
Potatoes have a place in our kitchen and our culture that is unlike any other crop. They are cheap to buy and easy to grow. They are filling and delicious. From the Irish potato famine to the American potato chip, no other vegetable carries a legacy of such mythic proportions. And can you really call
Growing & Harvesting Corn
Corn is one of the most ubiquitous food ingredients in the world and is unusually suited to growing in hot weather. Since much of the growing land in the U.S. gets hotter than 90 degrees Fahrenheit on summer days, corn is one of the best grain crops in America. Why do corn plants heart the
Tropical Homesteading: How to Harvest Coconut for Fresh Water and Meat
Coconut palms are astoundingly useful to tropical or subtropical homesteaders. They provide everything from wood to medicine to nutritious, high-calorie food. Theyโre hardy, need minimal to no care, and produce (on average) anywhere from 50-200 coconuts per tree, per year. The icing on the cake? You can process the fruit to make oil, coconut milk,
Ocotillo Facts
Ocotillo, also known as coachwhip, Jacobโs staff, vine cactus, or by the scientific name of Fouquieria splendens, is a flowering spiny shrub thatโs a characteristic species of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. Desert Life Though this species resembles a cactus with its long spiny branches, it is more closely related to blueberries and tea. Ocotillos
Amaranth: Weed Or Superfood?
If youโve been in a health food store or a gluten-free bakery recently, chances are you have heard of amaranth. If youโre a gardener, youโre probably familiar with amaranth as a common weed. What is this plant anyway? The history and production of amaranth are full of contradictions. Amaranth is the genus name for a
Growing Gourds
To those unfamiliar, there may not seem to be much difference between a gourd and squash. Fruit-wise, they share a lot of similar attributes — cool shapes, hard rind, seeds hidden inside, and beautiful colors. But once you try to grow one, you will quickly notice the enormously long, trailing vines, the beautiful, night-blooming flowers,
Growing Shallots
I love growing shallots. Shallots don’t take up much space in the garden, are a flavorful addition to salads, salsa, soups, sauces, and stews, are easy to grow, and can be enjoyed both raw and cooked. Native to the Mediterranean, shallots are often thought to be a variety of onion, but they are a separate
What Is Fruit Tree Grafting?
Do you have an orchard or a beautiful fruit tree you would like to see produce more fruit? Are you interested in growing more fruit varieties but not necessarily planting more trees? And would you like to produce fruit quicker on younger trees? If the answer was yes to any of the above, you might
Growing Asparagus
If you had told my 10-year-old self that I would one day be deeply emotionally invested in growing asparagus, I would have said โGross!โ Love it, or hate it, this early spring crop has a unique place in both the kitchen and the garden. But even after I developed a taste for asparagus, I hesitated
Growing Blackberries
Blackberries are easy to grow. A diverse array of blackberry varieties are native to almost all of North America. They are especially abundant in areas with warm summer days, cool nights, and plenty of moisture. An aggregate fruit composed of many tiny fruits known as drupes, blackberries are similar in taste and growth habit to
Growing Saffron Crocus Bulbs
Known around the globe as a spice worth more than its weight in gold, saffron is expensive, but the intense color and incredible flavor it brings to food is priceless. A single grain of pure saffron will add distinctive bright yellow color to 10 gallons of water, or embellish the flavor of 10 pounds of
Growing Peppers
Peter Piper may have picked an inexplicably pickled peck of peppers (were they fermenting on the plants or something?) but in order to pick a peck, they first needed to be planted. Thankfully, the process of cultivating and harvesting peppers is a good deal simpler than the tongue-twisters they inspire! Planting Peppers Considering that store-bought
Foraging for Field Garlic
Winter is long. Even if you have a well-stocked root cellar brimming with canned goods and root vegetables, by the time January and February roll around, most anything that was green is long, long gone. And if youโre like me, your eyes and palate might start yearning for that verdant, lively color to return. Watch
12 Garden Tools to Start Spring Right
Can you feel it? That shift in the wind? The faint whiff of waking soil resounding with the chorus of sprightly spring peepers in the forest? Winterโs losing its grip, and for those of us with gardens and itchy green thumbs, the final thaw canโt come soon enough. Itโs time to bust out the tools
11 Plants To Consider For Fall Planting
As mentioned in an earlier article, this summer, rife with a serious drought and unrelenting heat waves, kicked my gardenโs collective butt. Even though I did my best to distribute the precious cache of off-grid water, it largely did no good. I learned this year (the hard way) that plants simply shut down when temperatures
Foraging for Violets
The rhyme says that April showers bring May flowers, but the experienced forager knows that March rains bring violets. The revision doesnโt have the same lyrical flow (or cheesy, following historical joke), but for those hankering for fresh greens after a long, cold, winter, poetry is found in leaves, not words. Furthermore, violets arenโt only
Foraging for Chaga
If you live within the circumboreal region of the Northern Hemisphere, and especially if you live near birch forests, this article could be pertinent to you. We will be talking about Chaga: What it is, associated health benefits, and how to forage for it. What Is Chaga? Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is a parasitic fungus that
Horseshoe Crab Facts
Horseshoe crabs are not crabs, they are in the arthropod family and related to spiders and scorpions. They have been on the planet for 445 million years and they’ve changed very little during that time. The oldest land animals date to about 415 million years ago. Those early land residents were scorpions, spiders and insects;
The Best Amazon Prime Day Deals For Homesteaders
Amazon’s massive Prime Day promotion started Monday, July 15th at 12 am PT. They’ll be announcing deals throughout the day. This year’s Prime Day will last for 48 hours. Each deal will be one of four types: Prime Day Deals: Deep discounts on top products that last until Amazon runs out of stock (in some cases,
How To Grow Hops In Your Backyard
We live in the rugged mountains of Western North Carolina. Some question the suitability of growing hops here, or think that growing hops is a new idea. To some it may be new, but those of us who are native to this area know differently. You only have to look back into the Agricultural Census
Growing Tomatoes
Delicious, versatile, juicy, nothing says summer to me like fresh tomatoes still warm from the sun. As the song goes, “thereโs two things money canโt buy: thatโs true love and homegrown tomatoes.” One of the home gardenerโs favorite staples is the tomato, but it can be a finicky plant, especially in cooler climates. Iโve grown
Companion Planting For Eggplant
If you enjoy grilling outdoors, eggplant is a must in the homestead garden. Companion planting and a bit of effort will help ensure a bountiful harvest of succulent, sun-blessed orbs. During the height of the summer season, you will harvest several eggplants a week. Plant a few more, and they are a profitable cash crop
Companion Planting For Beets
Do you want to improve the health and yield of your beet crop? Companion planting might be the answer. Companion planting is a time-tested, organic gardening method of planting compatible plants in close proximity to each other so that each may benefit from the other. Companion plants provide shade and shelter, control weeds, enrich the
Cultivating Thimbleberries In The Homestead Garden
Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus Nutt.) is a common bramble plant found growing in the wild on sunny, sub-alpine, mountainous slopes and avalanche tracks from Alaska to California. In fact, thimbleberries are a circumpolar fruit that grows wild in Japan and Russia, and all but the most southern regions of North America. Red when ripe, thimbleberries may
Foraging For Wild Berries
If you are looking to find berry variety beyond what your local grocery store or farmer’s market offers, you can look to berry foraging to seek and find a delicious array of berry options in your backyard or further afield. When foraging for wild berries, you’ll learn about your environment, connect with nature, and diversify
Growing Raspberries
Across the country, market demand for raspberries far exceeds availability and provides an ideal opportunity for homesteaders to cultivate the fruit for local markets as well as home use. A berry patch of an acre or less can provide a significant cash crop with little expense for equipment or supplies. Brambleberry production is ideally suited
DIY Pokeberry Ink
I love experimenting and creating things! The very first time I made pokeberry ink I was just playing around and had no real instructions. I suppose you could say I was just going with the flow. I had so many poke plants in my yard, and I didnโt want to see them just shrivel up
Getting Started With Off-Grid Water System For A More Self-Reliant Homestead
In my experience, it seems that discussions about off-grid water systems only take place in niche communities of homesteaders or preppers. If you were to bring it up in โnormalโ workplace conversation, I guarantee youโd get at least one set of raised โwhat a weirdoโ eyebrows. But considering just how crucial water is to life
Growing Eggplant
โWhat’s in your sandwich? It looks gross.โ Itโs a weird moment realizing you are THAT KID at school lunch. Surrounded by bologna, pb&j, and ham and cheese, the shiny, black skin poking out of my eggplant parmesan sandwich did look a bit unusual, I guess. With my Sicilian father often puttering at the stove, eggplant had been
How To Grow And Forage For Lady Fern
I am in love with lady ferns and tuck every variety into shaded crevices, niches, nooks, and crannies in my homestead rockery. Apple-green in the spring and a glorious golden-yellow in autumn, lady fern is one of the easiest plants to grow in moist, shaded locations. With hundreds of species of lady fern and dozens
Homestead Stories: How Does It Grow?
I use a lot of cinnamon when baking. I love the smell it leaves in my cupboard, the aroma that wafts through the house when Iโm baking, and of course, the flavor. That said, cinnamon is expensive. I think my last jar cost close to 15.00 USD. I use so much that I always buy
Long Beans: How To Grow, Harvest, and Cook This Delicious Legume
Our first year on the homestead, before we got all our gardens started, we bought the bulk of our fresh produce at the local farmers market. I remember one sunny, late-summer morning when I spied a glossy, purply-green bunch of unbelievably long beans at a vendorโs stall. Generous handfuls of beans were tied in neat
Foraging for Wild Mint
There are some flavorings that donโt seem to bear any resemblance to their natural counterparts. Artificial cherry sodas resemble cough syrup more than a juicy, tree-ripened fruit, freakishly purple grape drinks hardly bring to mind anything that ever came from nature, and donโt get me started on banana-flavored candy. I have a special loathing for
Foraging for Wild Strawberries
One of my earliest foraging memories is crouching in my childhood backyard. I nudged the leaves of a low-growing plant aside with a tiny, slightly grubby finger — and the white flowers that were there a week ago had changed into dimpled green spheres. I asked my mom, and she said they were strawberries. But
Foraging for Brambleberries
This is an open letter to the brambleberries of the world, particularly those blackberries growing along the edge of my ravine. Dearest Brambleberries: It is with great perplexity that I write to you. There is an understanding between berrykind and humankind that has endured for thousands of years. You produce delicious, sweet fruit. We eat
Foraging for Wild Tea
Tea is a simple infusion of plant material in hot water, yet somehow, itโs a lot more than that. It can be culture, conversation, or comfort. You can spend your money on tea and tea paraphernalia, if you want. But if you donโt, you can also get yourself a flavorful cuppa for the price of
Stinging Nettle: A Medicinal Herb
Stinging nettle (many gardeners’ adversary) can be a powerful medicinal plant. Generally, when we hear a plant name that has the word “sting” in it, the associations aren’t good. May this article broaden our horizons! Stinging nettle has been a staple herb medicine since ancient times, dating all the way back to ancient Egyptians using
What Is Toothache Grass?
If you live in the Southeastern United States, you may be familiar with a unique endemic plant. Toothache grass has been used for many centuries to help alleviate local aches and pains associated with toothaches (as the name implies). It is fire dependent, and it thrives (and can only be found) in fire-maintained environments with
Foraging for Dock
There are several plants that have become all but invisible due to their sheer ubiquity and the fact they can grow in less-than-desirable places. Watch the video: Dock is one of those plants โ a colonizer of empty lots, a squatter in industrial gravel piles, roadside inhabitant, and pasture weed. For years, its subliminal association
Growing Parsnips
I find it oddly infuriating when plants are described as old-fashioned — as if a living, growing thing occupies the same category as powder blue tuxedos, platform shoes, or rotary telephones. Youโll often find parsnips described with this unsuitable adjective, but thatโs merely because theyโre a root vegetable thatโs been around and depended on for
Hand Water Pumps: A Guide
“So let me get this straight. You want me to pull the electric pump out so you can put in a manual pump?” My husband and I nodded at the man who had come to remove our broken electric pump. He scratched the back of his head, a funny sort of half-smile creasing his cheeks. “You know,