This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
In the balancing act of family life, finances, and managing a home, the thought of cultivating your own garden to feed your family might appear overwhelming. Yet, with a sprinkle of planning and a dash of dedication, this venture transforms into a deeply fulfilling endeavor. Cultivating your garden provides not only the joy of nourishing your family but also serves as an effective strategy for budgeting better and tackling food scarcity head-on.
Start on Solid Ground: Embark on your gardening adventure on a modest scale. Opt for a handful of foundational crops that promise ease of cultivation alongside plentiful nutrition. Staples such as tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and beans make perfect partners for the beginner gardener. Selecting crops should be influenced by your family's taste buds and nutritional needs.
Maximize Your Plot: Whether your farm sprawls generously or you're working with more limited spaces, every nook and cranny holds potential for growth. Raised beds, container gardening, or transforming idle patches into vibrant veggie plots are great ways to extract the most out of your available space. Techniques like vertical gardening can help in getting the most out of limited spaces.
Tread Lightly and Grow: Adopting sustainable practices in your garden isn’t just good for the environment; it's also a wise move for ensuring your garden’s vitality in the long run. Simple methods like composting, companion planting, natural pest control, and water conservation can significantly boost your garden’s health and help shave some dollars off your expenses.
A Family-Grown Feast: Inviting your children to participate in the garden's lifecycle – from seed planting to kitchen prep – isn’t just educational; it’s a way to cultivate a deeper appreciation for homegrown food. Such activities nurture life skills and foster a profound bond with nature.
Continuous Bounty: Implement succession planting to maintain a steady flow of produce. By constantly introducing new crops post-harvest, you're ensuring an endless supply of freshness. Remember, timing is key, especially with quick-to-grow greens like lettuce or spinach. If you live somewhere where the growing season is short, succession planting is harder for longer season crops like brassicas, tomatoes and peppers.
Preserving the Prosperity: Extend the life and enjoyment of your yield through preservation techniques such as canning, freezing, or drying. This ensures your pantry stays stocked with your garden’s gifts all year round.
Celebrate Each Step: Every little achievement deserves recognition. From the thrill of picking your first homegrown tomato to relishing a meal crafted entirely from your garden’s yield, these are the moments that underscore the richness gardening brings to family life.
While the garden path may have its set of hurdles, the fruits of your labor are immensely rewarding. By leaning into simplicity and holistic practices, the experience of feeding your family from your own backyard is not just practical but deeply enriching.
Need more guidance or wishing to connect with fellow farm wives in the same boat? Join our free support network on Facebook, Thriving Through Farm Loss: Wife’s Support Network, and explore more gardening insights through our blog series. Here’s to a bountiful, homegrown life!
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Thriving Through Farm Loss: Wife’s Support Network! In our community, we embrace the challenges of farm life and provide a supportive space for wives facing the complexities of managing a family farm. Whether you're navigating financial pressures, day-to-day operations, or seeking ways to create a thriving home, we're here for you. Explore gardening tips for cultivating your own oasis, share insights on animal care, and discover practical family budgeting strategies. Together, let's grow through challenges, flourish authentically, and sow the seeds for a resilient and thriving farm life. Join us on this journey of resilience and abundance!
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So, I MADE MY OWN. You can look at it on the link below and buy it on amazon below.
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally from the Inside Out community!! This community is for Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically, all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years of my journey. We have moved off Facebook, to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly options for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Summer is an excellent time to tend to your garden. Whether you’ve been gardening for years or are just starting out, there are a few must-dos that will make sure your garden blooms and bears fruit all summer long. Let’s take a look at some of the tasks that can help you get the most out of your summer garden this year.
Watering & Weeding
The two most important things you can do for your garden in the summer are water and weed, both of which should be done regularly. Watering is essential for keeping plants alive and healthy, especially during the hot summer months. Make sure to check soil moisture levels before watering, as overwatering can be just as damaging as not watering enough. As for weeding, it goes without saying that these pesky plants need to be removed from your garden or else they will choke out other plants and steal nutrients from them.
Check Canning Jars & Freezer Supplies
If you plan on preserving any of your harvest, make sure you have enough jars and lids on hand. Check each one for cracks or chips and replace if needed. While you’re at it, go ahead and check freezer supplies like plastic bags or containers so you can freeze any harvests that won’t fit into jars, or you don’t want to can.
Harvest & Plant Early Crops
Now is the perfect time to get started harvesting some of those short season crops like lettuce, radishes, kale and spinach - these will be ready before the heat of summer kicks in. You should also think about starting any fall seedlings like broccoli and cauliflower now too - these will take a bit longer, but they will be worth it come harvest time! Plant Fall Crops Mid-Summer, once midsummer rolls around (around July), it’s time to start planting those fall crops like broccoli - you want them planted early enough so that they have plenty of time to mature before frost hits!
Summer is a great time of year to tend to your garden! With just a few simple steps—like watering and weeding regularly, checking canning jars and freezer supplies for preserving harvests, and starting fall seedlings—you can ensure that your garden provides plenty of fresh produce all summer long. So don't wait another minute; get out there and get gardening!
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Spring is coming, and with it comes a whole new set of gardening tasks. Now is the time to get busy in the garden! Whether you’re a mom or a beginner gardener, there are certain things that need to be done in the springtime to make sure your garden is ready for the upcoming growing season. Let’s take a look at what needs to be done and why.
Till the Garden if Needed
If you haven’t done so already, now is a great time to till your garden beds if needed. Tilling helps break up any compaction in the soil caused by winter weather and encourages drainage, aeration, and nutrient absorption. This process will help ensure that all your plants get off to a good start. Just be sure not to over-till as this can damage plant roots and beneficial organisms such as earthworms.
Source Mulch
Another important step in prepping your garden for spring is sourcing mulch. Mulching helps keep down weeds and retain moisture around your plants while making your garden look neat and tidy at the same time. You can use anything from straw to shredded bark chips as mulch material—just make sure it's organic and free of any chemicals or other contaminants that could harm your plants.
Check Soil Temperatures
Before planting anything, it’s important to check soil temperatures with a thermometer or even a handheld infrared thermometer gun (which will give you an accurate reading within seconds). Some cold tolerant plants, like potatoes, carrots, and lettuce can be planted as soon as the soil reaches 50 degrees Fahrenheit but most vegetables won't start germinating until temperatures reach about 70 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Knowing when it's safe to start planting will help ensure success with your vegetables later on.
Plan Where You're Going To Plant Everything
Once you know what you want to plant and when it's safe to do so, take some time to plan where everything should go in the garden. Different types of plants have different needs—some thrive in full sun while others prefer partial shade—so make sure you do some research before deciding where each type should go in order to maximize their potential yields come harvest time! This also saves you time when you are trying to plant with kids helping.
Clean Out Any Flower Beds But Wait Until The Bees Wake Up
Finally, take some time to clean up any flower beds that may have been neglected over winter but wait until after bees wake up before doing so! Bees tend to hide under dead leaves during colder months for protection from predators like birds but they'll be coming out soon enough when temperatures rise above freezing (usually around mid-April). Once they're back out buzzing around flowers again, then it's safe for you to clean up without fear of disturbing them!
Start Planting!
Once everything else is taken care of—the tilling is done, mulch is sourced, and soil temperatures have been checked—it’s finally time to start planting! Pay attention to seed package instructions and plant accordingly; some seeds may need light or darkness in order to germinate properly while others may need warmer or cooler conditions than expected. Keep an eye on them after they are planted so that you know when it's time for waterings or other maintenance tasks like weeding or pest control.
Getting ready for spring gardening doesn't have to be daunting task! Taking care of these basic tasks will help ensure that your garden is healthy throughout the entire growing season. Till if needed, source mulch, check soil temperatures, plan where to plant, clean out any flower beds but wait until the bees wake up, and get planting!. With these steps in mind, you'll be well on your way towards having a beautiful backyard oasis! Happy Gardening!
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Even though winter is here and it's cold outside, that doesn't mean your garden has to be dormant. With careful planning and a little bit of effort, there are still plenty of things you can do in the garden this winter. From trimming roses and berry bushes to ordering seeds and starting seedlings, there are lots of ways to get your garden ready for spring. Let’s explore some of the best winter gardening tasks so you can make the most of your garden this winter!
Trim Roses and Berry Bushes
If you have roses or berry bushes in your garden, now is the perfect time to prune them back. Pruning roses helps stimulate new growth and encourages better blooms during their next flowering period. To prune roses, start by cutting off any dead branches or stems that appear blackened or shriveled. Be sure to use clean shears when trimming—this will help reduce the spread of disease among plants. As for berry bushes like blueberry, raspberry, or blackberry plants, you'll want to wait until they've gone completely dormant before pruning them back. This will help ensure they produce vigorous new growth in the spring.
Order Seeds
With winter being a slower season in terms of gardening tasks, it's a great time to plan out what types of seeds you'll be planting come springtime. Now is the perfect time to order seeds online or pick up packets at your local nursery or home improvement store. Take into account what did well last year as well as what didn’t perform as expected—this way you can adjust accordingly for this upcoming growing season! Be sure to read each packet carefully so you understand how long it will take for these particular seeds to germinate and grow as well as which type of soil works best for each plant type.
Start Seeds Indoors
If you want an even earlier start on the gardening season – or if there are certain plants that don’t grow well in your area – why not try starting your own seeds indoors? Tomatoes and peppers are two popular choices but there are many other vegetables (and even flowers) that can be started indoors. It may seem intimidating at first but it really isn’t that difficult once you get into it. All you need is some fresh potting soil, containers (preferably biodegradable), light fixtures with grow lights if necessary, and patience!
Fertilize Garden & Fill Raised Beds
Now is also a great time to give your garden beds some extra love by spreading compost over them or fertilizer if needed, if you didn’t already do that in the fall. You can also use this opportunity to fill raised beds with soil if they settled after harvest last season. Adding compost or fertilizer will help replenish essential nutrients in the soil so that when spring arrives your soil will be ready for planting!
There's no need for gardens—and gardeners—to hibernate all winter! As you can see, there is still plenty of work for gardeners during the winter months! From trimming bushes and ordering seeds to fertilizing beds and starting plants indoors – all these tasks will help prepare your garden for springtime. Whether you're an experienced gardener or just getting started with gardening basics this winter season is a great opportunity for moms and beginner gardeners alike get ahead on their spring plans! So, grab yourself a warm cup of tea (or cocoa!) and get started on tackling those winter garden to-dos today! Happy gardening!
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
If you have kids, you know snacks are a must for life to run smoothly. Around here the afternoon snack is the biggest to avoid the pre-supper hangry meltdowns. Supper can be delayed on the farm, especially in the summertime. But how do you keep easy snacks on hand on a tight budget?
Summertime is honestly the easiest. Part of the garden is planted specifically for easy kid access. The snack bins in the house are usually pretty empty in the summer. For the simple fact, there is food to eat in the garden. If I have the snacks in the house the kids return and eat the snacks inside, instead of the garden produced snacks.
What snacks do we grow? My kids love peas! The good news is the snap peas we can usually plant early and then plant again for a fall run. I only plant one row along the fence for them, because they take more time than I am willing to currently dedicate to preserving them for winter. Strawberries are another quick snack that can be everbearing and give snacks throughout the summer.
Cucumbers take a bit longer to get going but fill the gap nicely for variety in peas and between pea crops. Radishes are another quick growing snack my kids will grab while playing and can be planted a few rows at a time, 1 week apart, to have a continual supply. Lettuce and spinach are also something kids can grab and go, with the same planting strategy as the radishes.
End of summer and fall the fruit starts to come in here and the kids know those are also free range for snacking. They pick it and they can eat it. If we are harvesting a bunch for preserving, they eat from the plants, not the basket.
I do usually buy a few fruits to keep on hand. The secrete here is to buy what is in season and on sale. Local farmers markets can also give you good deals. You can also use this strategy if you find a really good deal. Break out the dehydrator and dry the fruit for snacks in the wintertime or road trips.
The wintertime we snack on more starchy things. Some that we preserved in the fall, like the dehydrated fruit. I usually buy bulk for the other snacks. A giant bag of oats, I can use for oatmeal, baking, and making granola for snacking.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Feeding Your Family: Spend Less & Grow More group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision. Join the Free Community
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
At this point most of us have had to water the garden at least once. Was it manageable? Could it be better? Depending on where you live how judicious you need to be with water. There are different methods that have their own advantages and disadvantages.
If conserving water usage is a big one for you, a drip line is the way you will want to go. Drip lines deposit the water close to the ground at the base of the plant, so the water gets exactly where it needs to be, and no were else. You can even plum them up for raised beds by running the pipe along the base of the bed, then a hose up to the surface. These can be pricy to install the first time, but worth it in the amount of time saved watering individual plants and water saved. Make sure to have a drain or flush valve at the end for water to escape once the freezing temperatures arrive.
Hand watering is the cheapest and most water conserving method. Unless of course you have a 5- and 3-year-old running the hose. Then all bets are off. This works well for small beds or garden patches close to the house or hose. They are perfect for seedlings as well but can be difficult to get enough water to the plants as they mature. You can also control where the water lands to some extent and water the base of the plant avoiding getting wet leaves.
Broad cast sprinkler is probably the easiest method to cover a large area. The downside is you can lose quite a bit to evaporation, you will get the leaves wet, and will probably water the leaves and lawn a little. The big benefit is you can set it and walk away.
To get the proper amount of water to the plants, set a timer on your phone. You can also buy automatic water shut offs, but I have never actually tried them.
When plants are small seedlings, they need water frequently until their roots develop and can handle a bit of stress. Seedlings will need water about every 1-2 days depending on heat, wind, etc. Just make sure the top doesn’t dry out too much. Bigger plants can do with a good soaking about once a week.
My garden is divided into 5 areas. Now that it is established, each area is watered once a week and receives a good 3–4-hour soaking. I aim for morning, that way the leaves are all dry by night fall, to avoid mildew.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
When you have a garden weeding comes with it. There is the tender time between planting and the plants canopying that weeding is a daily job. It is the most tedious and possibly least rewarding part of gardening. However, it is the most important. Neglect the weeding you will not have a garden. Get the plants to the canopy stage and they can usually handle the few weeds that survive.
How do you keep up with all the weeds in that time? There are several strategies, to minimize weeding and keep the weeds manageable. Most of these strategies will work in both in ground gardens and raised beds.
First, plant close together. I know I’m telling you to break the rule on the packet. But seriously plant those rows close enough you can walk between them but that’s it. I usually do 1 foot max. As the plants grow the canopy will close off the sun to the ground between the rows and then weeds will not come up.
Second, mulch and mulch deep! This is not the 1-2 inches to keep water close, but 4-5 inches between the plants and rows. This keeps the weeds down and makes the few that do come up easy to pull.
Third, pick a small area and weed something every day. It doesn’t have to be a large space, but by weeding a little at a time it doesn’t become overwhelming.
For the larger areas that are more open, like in landscaping, there are a few options. The garden hoe works, but the weeds seem to just come back. You can use a strong vinegar and salt spray to knock the weeds back. You will still have to pull them out, but they will be easier to pull. I personally don’t like to spray chemicals to kill the weeds, but that is an option.
Another option is a weed burner. You can get handheld weed burner that literally burns the plant up. You can get electric, or propane powered ones. I prefer this method for my rock and patio areas.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
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This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
I originally wanted chickens and guineas for the bug control they offered when free ranged. Our property has to many trees to make a simple movable pen for them as well. The first year wasn’t a problem. By the time the chicks were old enough to let out of the pen, the plants were established enough they didn’t bother them.
The second year though….they tried to destroy everything planted. Now its not really the plants they were interested in, but the fresh dirt and bugs. But in the process, they would dig up and scatter any plant or seed in the area. Before I go into how to chicken proof your garden, lets talk a little on the messages the chickens get when it comes to gardens.
A chicken’s brain is quite simple. Dirt = Bugs = want to eat that. Fresh dug dirt = easy to find bugs. Mulch = delicious bugs. As far as fences go, you got to make sure it’s a hole free one, because a chicken sees dirt or fresh mulch behind a fence and thinks “she’s depriving me of the best food, and I must have it!”
Now that you understand the reasoning behind a chicken’s motives, how can you protect your plants, while still free ranging the chickens. A simple hoop of chicken wire over the plants won’t work. I tried that, they figured out they could sit on in, smash it down and still eat the greens under the wire. Hail fence or welded wire is stronger, and may work for a bit, but I never tried it.
For raised beds, putting an 18-inch-tall hail fence with 1x1 squares has done the trick. I didn’t even have to put a top on it for the seedlings. The raised beds are 12 inches off the ground plus the 18-inch hail fence. Why this keeps them out, I’m not sure as they will jump/fly 4 feet onto a barrel then over the 6-foot nursery pen fence. But it has been up for months, and no one has offered to try and get in the beds. 18 inches is also low enough you can still reach in and garden easily. 
Electric fence is a method that surprised me. It’s not fail proof by any means, but does work for smaller areas you are trying to establish before letting everything run through. To electric fence for chicken (works for raccoons and dogs too) place one wire about 2 inches off the ground and the top wire about 12 inches off the ground. The problem with this is as soon as it is dead, they are all over it. And some still get smart and run through really fast.
PVC frames work ok, but I had a really hard time keeping them sturdy, in place, and the netting attached. If looks are something for you, they can be a bit of an eye sore.
The simple solution you would think would be chicken wire around the garden, but alas not so. I had a 4-foot chicken wire fence around my garden for several years before chickens for rabbits, and the chickens saw that as a simple exercise and jumped the fence or found holes in the bottom and slipped under. If you can support it doubled it could work, but the bottom doesn’t hold up to lawn mowers and weed eaters.
The best fence for a permanent area, is hail fence. The hail fence is stronger and build to last better than chicken wire. We chose 2x4 openings 4 foot high, doubled, with a top for our garden. Why the top? Because I also run guineas and have seen them easily perch on top of the swings right next to the garden. At this point I’m not taking chances and build a beautiful fortress.
Whatever method you decide to use, make sure you always shut the gate. They find an open gate in about 10 minutes from across the acreage.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
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This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Kids on a farm or homestead are a big thing to worry about. Many of the day-to-day tasks can be dangerous for kids. So, what do you do with them when you, the adult, are out caring for the animals or tending the gardens? Usually, they are right there with me. The older kids, walking age and up, are helping or playing nearby. The baby is on a blanket, in the stroller, or pack in play. As they become mobile, they enjoy playing close to me as well.
It's never too early to start teaching your child how important it is for them not only listen, but also obey. Our kids have been taught from a very young age that there are times when if they don’t do what you say right away then bad things might happen and this leads into our next point: helping around the farm with work or animals as well as gardening in order teach responsibility.
Are they forced to help? All day no. But they are expected to help with some of the chores. Simple chores like filling waters and collecting eggs are easy ways for them to help and lighten my chore load a bit. Once chores are done, they can play in the area I am working in.
Boundaries have been set up, and firmly enforced, as to where they are allowed to be. As they have gotten older and more aware of the dangers, they have been allowed a greater area. They breach the boundary; they must stay by my side.
The kids love being able to help out in the garden and with animals. I find a job they can do that is simple, like holding tools for me while I work or pulling weeds alongside their mama! Both older children are expert weeders too - at 3 & 5 years old we've found these tasks perfect for them because it is easy to learn, get one on one time with mom, and they can leave easily when they are ready to play.
It takes time and training, but it is well worth it when they enjoy helping you. Tagging along and being included in your life. In summary, train your children young to listen and obey. Give them age-appropriate specific tasks to help you out. Set specific boundaries for where kids can safely play in the area you are working.
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I may receive a commission if you make a purchase using these links, with NO additional cost to you.
Do you ever worry about where your next meal is going to come from? Many moms do, and that's why food security is a hot topic. But what if I told you that you could bring food security right into your own home? It's true! You can start by growing your own fruits and vegetables. Not only will you know where your food is coming from, but you'll also save money on groceries. Interested in learning more? Keep reading!
First what is food security and why should you be concerned about it. From the Oxford dictionary, “food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.” According to the USDA, in 2020 10.5% of family’s were food insecure. With todays rising food costs, inflation, supply chain disruptions, food security is about to become harder.
What can you do about it? Take steps to grow your own food. No matter where you live, you can grow some of your own food. Even in an apartment. There are hydrophobic food towers now that work well for this and can grow an amazing amount of food. A balcony can house a small raised bed and grow more. I highly recommend the square foot gardening method if space is limited.
If you have a yard, even a small one, and city ordinance allows you can also have some chickens and or bees. This will give you a source of protein and a sweetener as well as help your garden be more productive.
You can start reducing your reliance on processed foods even before your garden is ready to harvest. Whole foods, like fresh and frozen vegetables, fruit, potatoes, squash, are good sources of nutrient. They are minimally processed, if at all. Start shopping the outside of the store instead of the middle isles. As you start to eat less processed foods, you’ll find you don’t eat as much or crave the boxed meals. Why? Because your body is being fed with for that nourishes your body instead of just filling it up. This will also help you save money at the store.
Buying in bulk when possible is hands done the best was to purchase the food you need. It keeps your pantry full, and helps your pocket book in the long run. But how do you store or preserve fresh produce for long periods of time? Some like squash and potatoes can be placed in the basement where it is cool and dry and keep for months. Check them occasionally, but I’ve had squash and potatoes in my basement all winter. Most fruits and vegetables you can vacuum seal and freeze. Vacuum sealing is the best, and fastest, way to preserve the nutritional value of the the food. Some, like carrots, need to be blanched before freezing, but something like Brussels sprouts do not.
One of my favorite meals to make that is nutrient packed and easy is the one pan roasted medley.
Take a meat, chicken breasts is a favorite, place on large baking pan.
Drizzle with oil, salt, rosemary, pepper, and garlic.
Add veggies, sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower are fantastic.
Bake at 350 until meat is done. Usually at least 30 min
As I've grown in my journey as an entrepreneur, mom, gardener, and livestock owner, I struggled to find a planner that met my needs and kept me organized. So I MADE MY OWN. You can take a look at it on the link blow and buy it on amazon below
Don't want the whole calendar part? I got you! I pulled the gardening and animal care pages out and put them in a book all their own.
Wanting a community to lean into? Join the FREE Helping Your Family Homestead for Food group! This community is for the Mommas, looking to stay home and raise their kids, but unsure how to keep everyone fed and make ends meet. I share tips from my journey from the office, to half the income and feeding my family from home, while maintaining good nourishing food. Tips include: gardening, bulk buying, caning,/preserving, livestock, homesteading, and home remedies. Your family is precious and this group is to help you gain the knowledge and tools to keep your family well and not reliant on outside professionals. Remedies and tips are easy and simple for the busy momma, time is precious after all, including pregnancy, birth, young kids, and illness. Trust your Momma gut again! This community offers the resources + community you need to help get started on your journey and prepare for whatever future you envision.
Starting to garden doesn't have to be hard! I gathered all the tips I've learned over my gardening learning curve and made them into a simple course to jump start your gardening your life.
Supporting Your Family Naturally From the Inside Out community!! This community is for the Mommas, looking to Support Your Family from Nature for Wellness. Tips range from nutrition, herbals, detoxing, natural cleaning, and essential oils. Basically all the things I’ve learned slowly over the past 5+ years if my journey. We have moved off Facebook, so to better serve our community and be able to discuss openly option for providing for your family in the best way possible.
Join the FREE Community
Join the FREE Community
I've had 3 very different pregnancies. After the first traumatic birth, I learned better and how to care for my body naturally and prevent common pregnancy and birth problems before they arise. This quick course will get you the tools you need to have a naturally healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery. My first pregnancy I had a normal western medicine all the things pregnancy. My second? I flipped to completely natural, no medicine. Bonus: Preventing Preeclampsia Without the Aspirin & Healing from Birth Trauma
Click here to get the stories straight to your email:
For more on wellness tips click here:
For more on homesteading on your budget click here:
For more simple DIY updates click here:
