“There’s something wrong with your oranges. Would you like me to get another bag?” The lad packing my groceries spoke with concern. “These are fine, thank you.” “But they’re all dark and …
Winter Fruits: 8 Delicious Garden Additions For The Cold Months
As the summer winds its way into fall, it's a good time to start thinking about preparing your garden for the darker, cooler days ahead. Hopefully, you've made dandelion wine, dried all your herbs, …
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15 Different Types of Alaskan Berries
The Last Frontier, the 49th state, land of the midnight sun, or in other words, Alaska. The state many dream to visit and few actually do. Alaska is home to some of the world’s most beautiful …
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Homestead Stories: The Mighty Apple
Let’s talk about apples. Why apples? Over the past year, I’ve gained insight and appreciation for apples: their history, as a life strategy, in new ways to eat them, and their associated health …
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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 …
Homestead Stories: Black-Skinned Apples
What’s your favorite apple? I have many favorites: Braeburn, McIntosh, Snow, Northern Spy, Wolf River, Cortland, or Cox's Orange Pippin. I don’t think there’s an apple I don’t like, though I have to …
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15 Tropical Fruits You Should Know About
Ever been to an international grocery market and didn’t recognize half of the fruits that were stocked? Or how about a tropical vacation where you had the opportunity to feast on new and exotic …
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How To Make Muscadine Wine
Ever wanted to try your hand at vinification (winemaking)? Not sure where to start? Think it's too expensive, time-consuming, or complicated? Well, I've got news for you. It can be expensive, …
Homestead Stories: Growing Vegetables Indoors
The growing season is too short and I long for fresh vegetables year-round. Whilst most supermarkets have fresh produce (at a price depending on where it came from), there’s nothing quite like growing …
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How To Eat A Persimmon: 4 Easy Steps To Enjoy This Unique Fruit
When I first moved to California, the house we rented had a mature Fuyu persimmon tree in the front yard. I had never tasted them before and didn't know what to make of them or even how to eat a …
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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 …
15 Weird and Wonderful Tropical Fruit Trees for Tropical Homesteads
Living in the tropics allows the homesteader to go wild with unique tropical fruit trees and shrubs. You really can’t get a better climate for fruit production. The majority of the tropics worldwide …
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Tropical Homesteading: Growing Bananas
Bananas are a fruit instantly recognizable to just about anyone, anywhere in the world. Yet they grow only in tropical and subtropical areas. So how is it that grocery stores in temperate zones the …
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10 of the Best Wine Grapes to Grow at Home
If you’re a wine enthusiast looking to venture into creating your own vintage, a relocation to Napa Valley isn’t necessary. Using some of the best wine grapes grown in a home garden will allow anyone …
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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 …
Growing Grapes
Grapes are one of the oldest propagated crops and with good reason! These beautiful fruits are delicious and versatile foods used for snacking, canning, freezing, and of course, winemaking. Even if …
Pruning Apple Trees
Apple trees truly are giving trees. In spring, their fragrant, pale blossoms dot the landscape with a welcome, hopeful change from the soggy grays and browns of late winter. In summer, their lush …
8 Low Sugar Fruits: A Safer Way To Snack
Fruits are nature's candy and offer an array of flavors, colors, and textures for us to enjoy. But these sweet treats are so appealing because of their high sugar content, and if you're on a low-sugar …
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Wild Grapes
Among the wild food just waiting to be plucked from open fields, deep forests, lush riverbanks and country roadsides, wild grapes have got to be a favorite. If you’re a fan of the delicious fruit, …
Growing Strawberries
Everyone who gardens knows that homegrown food is more delicious than what you can buy in the store. Strawberries are the prime example. Since a perfectly ripe strawberry is even more juicy and soft …
How To Tell If A Watermelon Is Ripe
To say my daughter is a melon fan is a gross understatement. This child could live on melon alone, and left to her own devices, she probably would. Her favorite melon being the watermelon, we made it …
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9 Tasty Apple Varieties You Should Try
Dad climbed into the passenger seat. The children were already settled in the back. We were off to the orchard to pick apples, bring them home, and make some much-loved applesauce and apple pie. Dad …
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Homestead Stories: Great Grandpa’s Rhubarb
The first heavy frost has just hit and the temperature has taken a nose dive well below freezing. The gardens are all tucked in their beds, well covered with leaves. Little nobs still poke their …
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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, …
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How To Start A Blueberry Patch With Three Plants
There are many reasons why you should introduce blueberries into your landscape, and the first is they’re delicious. Blueberries are a tiny, but mighty fruit that packs a punch. Full of …
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Planting Currant Bushes
Currants are a great addition to any homestead. Native to the United States, currants are a flavorful and versatile berry used in jellies, jams, wine, cordials, puddings, and pies. Currants, no matter …
Companion Planting For Melons
As any experienced gardener will tell you, it takes a whole lot more than sun and soil to successfully cultivate a homestead garden. Moisture, nutrition, as well as weed and pest control are …
Companion Planting For Strawberries
The sweetest, juiciest strawberries you’ll ever enjoy will come from a home garden. By growing strawberries at home, you'll enjoy fully ripened, chemical-free berries. Like other homegrown …
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Best Canning Recipes
Canning is a fun project that gets your hands dirty, keeps your food fresh, and gives you a last-minute gift option when the holidays roll around. The key to successful canning is starting with a …
Too Many Apples Broke This Apple Tree
My Dad's running a gardening experiment in his backyard. What happens if you let an apple tree fully fruit, instead of thinning the smaller fruits in the spring? This is what happens: Yes, …
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Best Dehydrator Recipes
If you're lucky enough to have an overabundance of fruit, veggies, or meat, you also have a problem. How to preserve this bounty? Refrigeration may only keep the stuff fresh for a few days. Freezing? …
Organic Codling Moth Control
In Western Washington, our apple trees have two major enemies: codling moths and apple maggots. While codling moths can be a nuisance (they don’t ruin the apple), apple maggots can leave the entire …
Organic Choices
CC Photo by Roving-Aye! on Flickr Fruits And Vegetables with Lowest Pesticide Loads: For detailed USDA specifics see below... Onions: Insects leave onions alone. Scallions: Insects leave them …
Best Fruit Trees for Seattle
At my permaculture design course last weekend the guest speaker was Douglas Bullock, of the well-known Bullock Brothers Permaculture Homestead on Orcas Island. Douglas was lecturing on the …
