To say the growing season of 2022 was trying...is putting it lightly. As I have talked about since mid winter in early 2022, this winter/spring and into mid summer was cold and wet (see a post I did end of April "The Cool Spring"). Trees didn't bloom at all for some. The bees came out… Continue reading Growing Food In An Off Year Of Weather
Category: Homesteading
Air Drying Herbs and Flowers
Drying herbs and flowers is easy to do, and takes little work to put away a years worth. And you don't need a dehydrator either. My method is very simple: Take a clean brown grocery bag outside and pick, tossing into the bag as you do. Then fold over the top to keep light and… Continue reading Air Drying Herbs and Flowers
Dehydrating Mushrooms
Overall I prefer freeze-dried ingredients for long-term storage over dehydrated, but there are a few things i far prefer dehydrated. Mushrooms are one of those things. The act of dehydrating changes the structure of the mushroom. Freeze-drying mushrooms leaves them intact and raw, but when you dehydrate them, the heat slowly cooks them. It removes… Continue reading Dehydrating Mushrooms
May On The Homestead
It was cold. It was wet. But even then things grew. And if anything, it has been lush due to the cooler month of May that was. The hours of daylight increase even if it doesn't seem as strong this year. Tiny stalks of aspragus. Apple trees blooming. The first bell pepper blooms. Tomatoes in… Continue reading May On The Homestead
Growing To Eat Versus Growing For Hobby
One of the things I do yearly is test my boundaries. The boundaries of growing plants. To see what can I push to the edge, and still work. But to explain it, not that many years ago we were urban homesteaders, living off the luxury of having our mini-farmstead right out the back door, with… Continue reading Growing To Eat Versus Growing For Hobby