Finally Harvesting A Few Hazelnuts
Last month we finally harvested some hazelnuts from a few of our 4 hazelnut bushes. We planted the first one in 2021, and then planted 3 more in 2023.
How We Make Aged Black Garlic
We grow garlic every year, and it’s usually soft neck and elephant garlic varieties in raised beds. We plant cloves in the fall and it overwinters (zone 7b) for harvesting the next year in June. It’s quite easy to grow, there are no pest problems…we pretty much plant it and forget it until harvesting. It’s
Mellif 40-Volt Battery Powered Wheelbarrow Review
We are frequently hauling around garden soil, firewood, building materials, mulch, bags of feed, etc. There isn’t much of our property that is flat ground, so I’ve been looking into either converting a regular wheelbarrow into a battery powered version (check YouTube) or buying some sort of small electric utility vehicle like a Llama truck.
Mellif 40-Volt Battery Powered Wheelbarrow Review Read More »
We’ve Added 3 Pawpaw Trees To The Orchard
We have wanted to add Pawpaw Trees to our place for years, and this year we finally planted 3 of them. My parents are master gardeners and picked them up at their annual plant sale. Thank you! Pawpaw Trees produce the largest fruit native to North America. The fruit has a custardy pineapple, banana and
Meet Bindi, Our New Puppy.
We are smitten! She’s an 11-week old Australian shepherd (born March 5th), and she’ll make a wonderful addition to our homestead!
Building More Cedar Raised Garden Beds
Building more raised garden beds was supposed to be a winter project, but better late than never, right? We have a little less than 1/4 acre fenced in for a kitchen garden, which includes about 24 raised beds and 2 small greenhouses. We have several garden beds that don’t have hard sides. They are just
Ladder Levelers For Uneven Ground
A few years ago I was working on a small cabin in the woods. I was on a ladder putting up fascia boards. The ground was uneven so I used blocks of wood underneath the ladder legs to get the ladder somewhat vertical. All was well until the ladder slipped off the blocks which caused
Winter Storm Fern And The Clean-up
Winter Storm Fern blew through at the end of January depositing a lot of ice and some snow. In our area the grid power was out for about 5 ½ days. Enough ice accumulated on trees and rooftops to cause significant damage. We weren’t spared as we lost several trees, and many large branches. Some
Heating The Off Grid Cabin With A Diesel Heater
We wanted to heat the off grid cabin with a wood stove, but they do have a learning curve, and require frequent attention. Since this cabin may be used for guests we figured it might be wise to look for some other way to heat the space. A propane heater was the other option, but
DIY Honey Warming Cabinet, Honey Decrystallizer
We routinely have honey that’s starting to crystallize, and people generally prefer to buy honey that is a clear golden liquid instead of an opaque pale yellow glob…myself included. So, we need to have a good way to decrystallize honey in large quantities on occasion. Honey that’s crystallized doesn’t mean it’s gone bad or spoiled