“A rose?” I glanced at my friend. Was she pulling my leg? I knew she loved roses, but to claim this bloom as a rose?“No way! Too poofy. It looks more like cotton candy.”“Cotton candy?" She …
Homestead Stories: St. Benedict’s Herb
“A rose is a rose is a rose,” I muttered as I worked through my herb garden. “Unless, of course, it’s St. Benedict’s herb.”The shady perennial plant from the rose family (Rosaceae) has many names: …
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Homestead Stories: Alexander’s Great Siberian Bugloss
I love my hostas -- large-leafed with many varieties of color (mostly green) combinations. Tall stems covered in tiny flowers; it's a great ground cover. The only problem with hostas is the deer love …
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How To Grow Victory Gardens
During both World War I and World War II, people with land (even small parcels) planted victory gardens -- also known as war gardens or food gardens for defense.It was a means to feed the family, …
How To Care For Easter Lilies
Walking into church Easter morning, the air is rich with the powerful scent of Easter lilies. But not just any lily, the prolific white lily, popularly known as the Easter lily. Its symbolic …
Homestead Stories: Pineapple Lilies
“Are those pineapples?” asked my friend.“Nope,” I replied (admiring the newest addition to my spring garden). “They're actually called pineapple lilies.”“Fragile, I expect.”“Very,” I said. …
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Homestead Stories: The Burglar Bear
We were living down the canyon in a big, round house with a 45-minute drive one way just to get to the grocery store. So we grew some of our own produce and raised chickens (and a duck) for eggs. …
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Homestead Stories: The Mighty Oak Tree
The arborist was following me around the property. It had been a hard winter with several damaged trees and a lot of large limbs downed. Rather than use the chainsaw to clean up the mess, I preferred …
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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 I’m baking, and of course, the flavor. That said, cinnamon is expensive. I …
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Homestead Stories: The Poison Garden
There are a lot of beautiful plants in the world. Some have medicinal purposes, others are edible, and there are those that are purely decorative. There are also many plants that are dangerously …
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Homestead Stories: What Color Is Your Bleeding Heart Flower?
“And what do we have here?”I shook my head as I worked around some sprouts that had poked through the ground. It was early spring and the garden was coming back to life. I wasn’t talking to …
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Homestead Stories: Forget-Me-Not Flowers
I have a special affection for the tiny blue wildflower that appears every spring. Forget-me-not flowers, the state flower of Alaska, is known to have special meaning and reflect compassionate …
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9 Of The Best Decorative Plants For Christmas
Have you started decorating your house for Christmas? Hung a holly wreath? Dangled some mistletoe over the entryway, decorated a Christmas tree, and bought your poinsettia?Are they all real? Or …
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Homestead Stories: The Monkey Orchid
If my Insteading readers have been following the orchid stories, you’ll know how much I love this charming plant. There’s my general, informative article on orchids, the unusually-shaped bat flower, …
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Homestead Stories: A Colorful Mosaic Of Nasturtiums
"I love my nasturtiums,” Mom declared years ago as she led me on a walk through her extensive garden.The nasturtiums were everywhere. Every color imaginable -- from solids pinks, reds, yellows, …
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Homestead Stories: The Purple Passionflower
“Did you know there are hundreds of varieties of passionflowers?”I thought I was talking to my husband, but he had wandered off to another part of the nursery while I studied the array of color …
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Homestead Stories: Swaddled Babies Or Baby In The Cradle?
“I have a swaddled baby to show you,” a friend said over the phone. “Like a baby in the cradle. Want to come over and see?”The words caught my curiosity. My friend was too old to have a baby in …
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A Guide To Organizing A Log Cabin
After moving to our mountain cabin, it took us over a year to find the best ways to organize it. We had to learn how to get creative with our space and think about storage in new ways. How you …
The Brazilian Grape Tree
I had spent another morning doing battle with the proliferous wild grape that grew across my rock wall border. I had nothing against grapevines, especially when they bore fruit (which these vines …
Homestead Stories: I Love My Birds, But…
Several years ago, my daughter informed me (with great excitement) there was a mourning dove nesting in my hanging fuchsia on the front balcony.“No way,” I declared.“Come see,” she …
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5 Tips For Raising A Baby In A Tiny House
Raising a baby in a tiny house has both challenges and benefits. When we moved to our tiny house, I was seven months pregnant and incredibly nervous about how we would fit into the space!The …
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Homestead Stories: The Kudzu Monster Plant and Other Invasive Species
“What are those creepy figures?” my youngest asked.We were driving the back roads to Florida for a family vacation.“I believe that’s what they call kudzu,” I explained.“They look like …
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Homestead Stories: The Spider Flower
“You know I don’t really like spiders.”I scowled as my friend led me around her garden. Large or small, spiders really do give me the creeps, and sometimes they bite. Yuck! I do know they have a …
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Lessons Learned From Our First Year of Cabin Life
Last year, my husband and I moved from Austin, Texas to a little log cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We changed our entire lives over the course of 20 days: quit our jobs, sold most of what we owned, …
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Homestead Stories: Glass Gem Corn
“Oh my! That is colorful. And it’s really corn?” I was flabbergasted.I loved growing and eating corn on the cob. Usually the standard yellow corn or the peaches-and-cream which is a combination …
Homestead Stories: The Tulip Tree
“Oh my! The flowers on those trees look like tulips.” I was taking a walk with my grandmother along a country road just north of Lake Erie. It was spring and the weather demanded some outside …
A Green Rose for St. Patrick’s Day … Why Not?
“What’s wrong with your rosebush?” I asked.We were standing in front of my mother’s profuse garden of rosebushes. She loved her roses and was always adding a new color to the collection. “That’s a …
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Moving from City to Country: The Long-Term Transition
When we moved from a city of 200,000 to a homestead in a hilly, Ozark town of 2,000 residents, my husband and I fully anticipated there would be an adjustment period. As I wrote in my first article …
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Morel Mushroom Hunting
It's spring in Minnesota when the trees are sporting their new green leaves and the ground is warm and damp. It's also time to get into the woods and look for morel mushrooms. Morel hunting has become …
Caffeine-Free Coffee Substitutes That You Can Forage In The Backyard
Coffee is something I really used to enjoy. In my memories, that roasted, dark liquid is synonymous with warm cafes, good conversation, and air perfumed with delicious aromas. But now that I'm more …
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How To Get Rid Of Yellow Jackets
My young son was playing with some rocks and sticks nearby while I was pulling weeds from our perennial herb garden. I kept his small frame in the corner of my eye while I worked, smiling to myself as …
Homestead Stories: How Dumpster Diving Made Me a Better Cook
The first zucchini I ever ate came from a dumpster—or, rather, from a cardboard box next to a dumpster, also filled with various greens, peppers, and hummus. Many of the foods in the box were foreign …
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Homestead Stories: The Balloon Flower
“It’s a balloon flower, Mom.” My youngest jumped up and down with glee.“A what?” I asked. I have to admit, I’ve heard some pretty strange names for flowers but balloon flower was a new one to …
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Homestead Stories: The Outhouse Flower
I have fond memories of the outhouse at the family cottage. Years ago. When I was a youngster. Dad had built it far enough from the cottage that it didn’t project its noxious odors into the place …
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Bee Balms Or Bee Bums?
“Mom,” my six-year-old called from the front walk where he had been riding his bike back and forth. He had paused in front of my display of red and purple, firework-like flowers and admired them. At …
Homestead Stories: The Holly And The Ivy
“The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown. Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.” I hummed the tune happily as I dialed my parents' number. I would be going …
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Frugal Living: Everything You Need To Know
It’s no secret that modern living is a bit of a morass of consumerism, waste, and debt. In a world where the latest smartphone debuts less than a year after its previous iteration, where the Joneses …
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Jack-In-The-Pulpit: A Beautiful Flower With A Weird Name
Growing up in the 1960s, just about everyone in my class at school went to church, and most churches were similar in layout, including, at the front by the choir, a pulpit. So, when the lessons turned …
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Homestead Stories: What’s False About False Solomon’s Seal?
“False Solomon's seal? What’s that? And why is it false? What’s the real thing?” Questions. Always lots of questions. Each new discovery on my country property opened up a new page of learning, …
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Homestead Stories: How I Accidentally Grew Trout Lilies
When I first moved to the country, I was amazed at the bounty of both wildlife and wildflowers. I had a big job ahead of me—tidying the forested part of our property. I wanted to clear out the …
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Making Homemade Soap
I started making my own soap out of necessity, but eventually it became one of our farm products. Around 2000, I started having severe rashes. I had combination allergies, which made me allergic to …
Why You Should Keep Your Dandelions
Yellow, yellow everywhere. Interspersed with the yellow, were just as plentiful white puffballs of fluff. Hardly any green. It was a dandelion haven.As a child, I recall picking dandelions as a …
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Lighthouses For Sale
Buying a lighthouse is more than a real estate transaction. It's a lifestyle change that links you to a proud American tradition.The best way to find lighthouses for sale is via a US Government …
Homesteading Stories: Maple Sugaring
There are a lot of different types of maple trees – at least 128 species. Some grow better than others. Some are a harder wood, making them ideal for use on bowling alley floors, while others are …
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How To Care For Orchids
“You should be advised, sir,” the clerk advised my husband, “that when the blossoms die, it doesn’t mean the plant is dead. It does go through a dormant stage. And don’t over-water.”My husband …
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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Jerusalem Artichokes
I first discovered Jerusalem artichokes about four years ago in Arkansas. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw the 5-foot stalk with a yellow flower that looked like a miniature …
Lessons From Facing Death On The Homestead
As a small girl in my suburban neighborhood, dealing with death was something unusual. So when my pet fish died, tears were shed and a solemn, toilet-side funeral was held, complete with …
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Homestead Stories: Memories Of Carving Pumpkins
The shape isn’t perfect – it never is. It’s rather flat on one side since that’s the way it laid on the ground while it grew. Its shape adds character. At least, one can imagine that it …
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Homestead Stories: Dealing With A Copperhead Den
I knew before making the move to Arkansas several years ago that I would get to see a lot of snakes, especially since Central Arkansas is hot, humid, and rocky. The climate in combination with the …
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