The “Stay Outta My Garden” Sign

July 9, 2025 Sarah

Kirk picked up the best sign for me recently on Amazon. It’ll join the other signs I have had up at our various gardens (which I took down and brought with us), once the fencing is up on the new garden.

I’ve often thought that fences and signs make for good neighbors. I’ve nothing against sharing, but it is on my terms, not someone just wandering by and looking for a free snack.

They are welcome to pick weeds, though.

With our garden closer to the road, I figured this sign would politely remind people to stay out – a friendlier alternative to a No Trespassing sign.

I’ll need to drill holes in the signs so I can zip tie it to the fence. That is my only complaint about the design, it should have been prepunched for using with screw/zip ties. Otherwise, it is a solid piece and easy to read.

Found on Amazon for under $15.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Gardening 101: Why Density Planting Matters

July 8, 2025 Sarah

Long ago, I followed the “rules” of gardening. Such as using a measuring tape to ensure I planted my seeds and plants correctly “x” apart, as dictated by the back of the seed packet, or on the start’s tag. But as I got deeper into gardening, I started squeezing more in, wherever I found space, for it is easy to buy too many plants or to grow too many and run out of space, when following those rules.

And let’s be real here: why do those rules even exist? Much of it comes from people who decided they were an expert and declared that was how to do it.

I won’t disagree that it can have a valid point – for example, with root crops like beets and carrots, the size between plants does matter if you want large individual harvests. Or you want a perfect-looking permanent garden (where the items are not pulled out at the end of the season, for example).

But lettuce? Not so much.

You have to know when it matters. And when it doesn’t, cram the plants in tighter.

An example is square foot gardening, often used in raised beds. If one were to follow the directions and use a template, one would find one’s garden to be pretty spare and open. Yes, those plants will grow and leaf out. But during that time, you could be growing spring crops that harvest in early summer. Plant tomatoes? Surround with lettuce, basil, kale, and such. It will grow before the tomato plant gets massive.

It also saves you time and money, such as reduced watering and weed suppression. When your rows are narrow and stacked more tightly (for example, the seed packet instructs you to have rows 36″ apart, but you plant 18″ apart), or when you plant 2″ apart in a row instead of 6″) you may find you don’t have to water as often. and that there is less open space for dandelions and similar to pop up.

Currently, I am growing only in containers at our new place until I can build a big garden. I have multiple plants that I am growing in large grow bags so that I can move them to the new garden this fall. I have found the Olive Tree, Blueberries, and Grape Vines are loving having flowers crammed in, under their leaves. It attracts pollinators and helps regulate the soil.

Examples from the past gardens we have had?

I nearly always grow peas for more dense than called for on the packet. Just make sure they stay well-watered and fed, and they will grow great.

Herb gardens/beds? Yes, they will grow quite a bit once established. But you have room to add more than you think. You can always prune back herb plants as they grow, so that it continues to fit into the area.

In this area, two houses back, we were putting in new areas in the ground. We had the crops just inches apart, but with walking paths where I could reach in at least 2 feet over to work on the items growing. This worked well. The weed suppression was excellent.

As it filled in during the summer.

Another example is that the beans would take a long time to grow, so consider planting something like carrots below. They’d be harvested before the beans covered the entire bed.

Enjoy your time growing, and get the most you can!

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

June In The Garden

June 30, 2025June 30, 2025 Sarah

My first June in West Virginia. Hot, wet, and thunderstorms. But what plant growth!

I have never gardened where I am harvesting so early, or enjoyed such growth.

Meanwhile, it is almost 30 degrees cooler daily at our old place. My friends in the PNW are discussing how small their plants are. It is a massive difference for me—no need for a greenhouse in June here.

Yellow Nasturiums.

I grew bush peas to see how they did. They were not big, but were tasty. The early heat did play on them hard. I will try them as a fall crop this year.

Bok Choy will be a fall crop here. It grew from seed well, but went to seed quickly. At the same time, free seed isn’t a bad thing. Again, fall crop shall be tried.

Orange Nasturiums.

Green Bell Peppers forming in early June.

Picking zucchini in mid-June.

June 10th.

Cucumbers growing up, and putting on babies.

First harvest of tomatoes in mid-June.

The “heat dome” that hit the East Coast last week was real – it reached at least 99°F for 6 days straight. We did early morning deep watering every day, to keep things alive. This weekend, the thunderstorms returned and dumped deep rain. The herb plants all took off and doubled to quadrupled in size in a blink.

The harvesting made it worthwhile, though.

We are basically out of last year’s drought, which is a good thing. The heavy rains in June protected crops across multiple states from the heat wave.

But you don’t weed midday here.

We shall see how hot July is here….

~Sarah

Clean Living · Reviews

Reviewing The Big Berkey System

June 21, 2025 Sarah

When we moved to the island, Kirk had picked up a Big Berkey to run our water through. We had good well water there, and once we had the house’s water redone, the Berkey wasn’t needed. It ended up sitting in its box, unopened, for 6 to 7 years. We moved it with us to West Virginia. Our well water here isn’t great. It is extremely hard. We knew that moving here, we’d need to remodel the water system in the house. We do NOT drink the tap water here. It’s been tested, and while in theory it is “safe” for consumption, too many people locally warn about drinking it straight, blaming chronic kidney stone issues on it (though that is up for discussion if that causes them). So we don’t even give it to our dogs. You can see the hardness of the water even in cold water; it leaves a heavy bloom on pots and glassware, especially when canning. My black kettle was white after the first run.

We are saving for the remodel of the water system, and once done, it should be great. But until then, bottled water is our answer. Buying it, though, isn’t cheap, and with the water so hard locally, most people buy water to drink. By Sunday every weekend, many stores are fully sold out of the 5-gallon carboys. It leaves me nervous as well, for if we can’t get water, what do we do? I had already had one weekend where I went to three stores to find water.

The average price is $15 for the bottle the first time, and approximately $8 for each refill when you return your empty bottle. I am unable to lift the full bottles due to my arm injury from last year, so one of the boys must accompany me to load them into a shopping cart, into the car, and then into our house.

That alone was enough to get me off my rear and find the Berkey Filter box.

After blowing off the dust, I opened it up.

The current model hasn’t changed much. You can buy a stainless steel spigot, however. That is nice to have less plastic. I might upgrade it.

The directions are IKEA-level in terms of complexity, but I eventually figured it out. It came with four filters, but you could opt to use only two at a time, and use two plugs. I decided to try this way first. The filters supposedly treat about 6,000 gallons of water, an average four-person family that is about 2 years. We shall see.

I added the first fill of cold tap water. At first, it barely drips through. I left it overnight, and the water had gone through nicely.

I drained it as instructed and refilled it. We went and ran errands, came home to it having drained, so it was much faster the second time.

I decided to purge it a third time, just to be sure. It’s no different than using any filter; you need to rinse it, essentially, before using the water.

Then, with it ready, we proceeded to test and compare the water. A basic science experiment, if you will.

I ordered a water testing kit. We tested three times: Well, Berkey, and as a test control, bottled water.

Our water had been tested twice before, by plumbers, but I wanted to do it myself, as I hadn’t seen the results in person – just what I was told.

The strips are very easy to use; lining up the colors can be interesting, and you might second-guess yourself at first. It gets easier, though.

Well Versus Filtered:

What I wanted to know was: What is in our water, and does the Berky improve it?

The Results:

Our issue lies in the hardness of the water. All three samples came back with 0 for Free Chlorine, Iron, Mercury, Total Chlorine, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Manganese, QAC, Flouride, Sodium Chloride, and Hydrogen Sulfide.

Hardness: 250, 150, and 0 (Well, Berkey, bottled water)
Total Alkalinity: 240, 180, and 0 (Well, Berkey, bottled water)
Carbonate: 240, 240, and 0 (Well, Berkey, bottled water)
PH: 9,6, and 5 (Well, Berkey, bottled water)

So yes, the Berkey did help with the hardness in general. While it can’t compare to the bottled water, it does help. I will test it again in a week to see if it lowers further as the filters are used. I have no issues giving our dogs this water and using it to cook with, make ice, and so on. The water comes out clear of the Berkey visually. Not Carbonate clouding the water, until it settles.

The test kit also tested beyond the basics:

It’s reassuring to know that your water, straight from the well, is free of nitrates and nitrites.

No Tin or Nickel as well.

Sulfates are something the Berkey doesn’t affect, and even our bottled water had the same reading, so I am choosing to ignore it. It doesn’t seem to be considered a huge issue, that the most significant risk is getting GI issues if not used to it.

I feel safe using the Berkey for now, which helps with our water consumption, and I also feel a lot better about our well water in general. I don’t fear drinking it now, though it is brutal on appliances. Once we have a water system in place, I will feel better about that.

And my hair will undoubtedly feel better. That is probably what I hate most about the water here – my hair never feels clean due to the hardness.

~Sarah