Insteading
Homesteading & Sustainability
I have been waiting for this day all fall. Specifically, I’ve been counting down the days until November 1. You see, now that the money-grabbing fall holiday has passed, the money-grabbing winter …
Continue Reading about How to Find & Store Cheap Leftover Pumpkins After Halloween →
There’s a huge amount of anticipation when the first frost is close. It sometimes feels like you’re preparing for some sort of icy nighttime raid. Should you panic-pick all the remaining green …
Continue Reading about Shutting Down the Garden for Winter Checklist →
“I haven’t seen those for a few years. Tulips in autumn? Strange, isn’t it?” “Actually,” my friend replied. “They’re not really tulips.” “But the flower is shaped like a tulip, and it’s so …
The first summer my family and I moved to our homestead, we were not able to get a garden into the rocky, wild ground, but somehow we had a fantastic fall harvest and started accumulating jars of dry …
Continue Reading about Eating Acorns: From Foraging To Cooking & Recipes →
If you want a bold display of color in the spring, fall is the time to start planting! Spring bulbs like daffodils, tulips, crocus, alliums, and hyacinths, as well as tubers, tuberous roots, corms, …
Continue Reading about 8 Gorgeous Spring Bulbs To Plant This Fall →
Fall vegetables offer a bounty of color, flavor, and nutrition. The vegetables that are in season in the fall include pumpkins and squashes of all sorts, cauliflower, potatoes, and hearty greens like …
The rhyme says that April showers bring May flowers, but the experienced forager knows that March rains bring violets. The revision doesn’t have the same lyrical flow (or cheesy, following …
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 …
Continue Reading about 15 Different Types of Alaskan Berries →
The resourceful and knowledgeable homesteader knows that there’s plenty of food to be grown overhead and underfoot. But there’s an unexpected cache of food that often goes unnoticed -- the leaves of …
Continue Reading about 10 Unexpectedly Edible Leaves in Your Garden →
If you’ve been an Insteading reader for some time, you probably know that we love the idea of upcycling pallets! Not only does it utilize scrap wood that might otherwise end up in a landfill, it’s a …
Continue Reading about 25 Fun and Festive Fall Pallet Projects →
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 …
Continue Reading about Homestead Stories: The Mighty Apple →
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 …
Children pick these leaves out of the lawn in idle fidgeting. The plants crowd edges of streets and sidewalks. Counselors fashioned tiny boats from them at summer camp -- with an acorn cap as hull and …
Sweetgrass, regarded as a sacred purification plant by indigenous people around the world, is a hardy, perennial grass that deserves a special spot in your homestead landscape if you are serious about …
For centuries, bamboo has been considered one of the most useful plants on the planet. Without bamboo, life would be radically different for people who rely on it as a food source, medicine, fuel, …
As mentioned in an earlier article, this summer, rife with a serious drought and unrelenting heat waves, kicked my garden’s collective butt. Even though I did my best to distribute the precious …
Continue Reading about 11 Plants To Consider For Fall Planting →
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 …
I love orchids. I have dozens lining my plant stands in the sunroom, and I nurture the wild orchids that pop up, unexpectedly, on my property, but they are just a few of the varieties that exist in …
Originally hailing from 4th-century Persia, Spinacia Oleracea or spinach has a long and storied past as a health tonic, a poor man’s food, a favorite of big-forearmed sailor men, and a choice food of …
This summer has been unusually hot (in case you haven’t noticed). In my part of the Ozarks, it’s been bone dry to boot. That deadly combination of searing heat and clear skies has sent my state and …
Continue Reading about 14 More Tough Plants That Can Survive Drought →
I have a couple of gardens that do well in the spring when the sun isn’t as intense but come late July everything dries up. It doesn’t matter how much I water those gardens (which I do sparingly as I …
Continue Reading about Homestead Stories: A Colorful Zinnia Extravaganza →
Tea is a simple infusion of plant material in hot water, yet somehow, it’s a lot more than that. It can be culture, conversation, or comfort. You can spend your money on tea and tea paraphernalia, …
If you’re an herbal tea fanatic or a home remedy solutions type of person, this article will be a great read for you. And if you don’t meet either of these descriptions, you may read on to learn …
Take a glance at anyone’s backyard garden. No matter where you go, you’ll likely find a squash plant growing. There’s something about these easy-to-grow and generous plants that demand a place in your …
We all make gardening mistakes, especially when we’re attempting something new like going back to the land and growing our own food. But when you take to social media for a bit of solace, it won't be …
Continue Reading about 8 Gardening Mistakes That Are Easy to Make and Easy to Fix →
Summer squash does everything but plant itself. If you seek a vegetable that is easy to grow, flavorful, and nutritious, look no further. You can help summer squash thrive by planting it …
Continue Reading about Companion Planting For Summer Squash →
Rhubarb pie does eternal battle with apple in my heart -- each of them vying to reign as favorite. But I have to admit, there’s something about the tart-sweet of rhubarb that demands attention, and …
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 “Gross!” Love it, or hate it, this early spring crop has a unique …
“It’s that time of year again.” My friend groaned as we made our garden rounds. “What time?” I asked. “Springtime,” she said. “Time to clean up the yard. Everything comes to life.” “Even …
Continue Reading about Homestead Stories: Pollinator-Friendly Plants →
Culinary herbs are edible plants that feature an incredible aroma and add flavor to foods and beverages. You’ll often find these herbs in grocery stores and farmers markets. These herbs …
Continue Reading about Complete Guide to Culinary Herbs and How to Use Them →
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 – …
What Are Cover Crops? Cover crops are planted in rotation with other crops to improve soil health, control erosion and hold nutrients. With the right rotation of cover crops for your climate and …
Delicious, versatile, juicy, nothing says summer to me like fresh tomatoes still warm from the sun. As the song goes, "there’s two things money can’t buy: that’s true love and homegrown …
If you’re wondering how you can attract hummingbirds to your garden oasis, look no further. Here are 20 flowers you can plant that have bright colors, high-quality nectar, tubular-shaped flowers, and …
Continue Reading about 20 Eye-Catching Flowers That Attract Hummingbirds →
I love my trees, and I’m always looking for something unusual or different from forests around the world. Imagine my delight to discover a tree that grows in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua …
Continue Reading about Homestead Stories: The Rainbow Tree →
If you're interested in cultivating dynamic, healthy, nutrient-rich soil, and are keen to incorporate nature's natural composters, worm farming may be a perfect option for you. While rather less …
Lawns, as we know them, have held their landscaping tyranny over our yards for far too long. Backed by out-of-touch homeowners associations (HOAs), zoning requirements, cultural expectations, and …
Continue Reading about Traditional Lawns: Their Environmental Harm & Practical Replacements →
Inflammation is a common and seemingly widespread health ailment that many people experience. Most have either heard of or dealt with it, but what is inflammation? And how can we provide …
Continue Reading about 4 Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Plants →
There is a huge variety of plants that we can choose from when we want to start our own garden. But starting your garden isn't as simple as just throwing some seeds in the ground. You have to …
Continue Reading about 10 Perennial Vegetables To Start Your Garden With →
“I’ve read about black apples,” I said as we were served at our favorite restaurant. “But black carrots and black potatoes?” “You’ll be pleasantly surprised,” the server replied. My vision of …
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 …
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 …
One of the delights of foraging is realizing just how much food is --quite literally --beneath your feet. It can be exhilarating to go out into the field or forest with a basket in hand, and return …
“Your garden reminds me of an English cottage garden.” A student’s mother had stopped to chat as she dropped off her child for piano lesson. “So pretty, colorful, and full of life. Just like …
Tomatoes are a staple of the American diet. You can grow many varieties of tomatoes—pick the ones that make the most sense for your garden based on your preferred texture, appearance, and …
Many homesteaders are lovers of the beautiful, nonhuman, natural world and want to see this world thrive on their land. They put bird and squirrel feeders, birdbaths, and perhaps, salt licks on their …
Continue Reading about How to Incorporate a Wildlife Habitat on Your Homestead →
Wild rice (Zizania palustris) is known as the “caviar of grains.” Contrary to its name, wild rice is actually the seeds of wetland grass. Other common names include water oats, Canadian rice, …
Continue Reading about Cultivating And Harvesting Wild Rice →
A medicinal herb native to Europe and Asia, mugwort has had known benefits for centuries throughout the world. Its earliest introduction to North America was in the early 1600s when Jesuit …
When you start gardening, you start the process of raising your own food from the soil and cooking meals you grew with your own hands. It’s an amazing feeling, but as you begin to read gardening …
Continue Reading about 6 Different Ways To Use Thinnings and Scraps →
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 …
Continue Reading about Homestead Stories: Black-Skinned Apples →
