When I was younger, my father and I always discussed planting him as a fruit tree when he passed away. He passed away this year and while I knew he wanted to be a tree, I really could not decide which tree.
I mean, how do you pick the best fruit trees to plant?
I have had fruit trees, but somehow the idea of planting one with my father’s ashes seemed so permanent. I really began thinking it over on what tree exactly he would be best as based on a variety of factors.
This is highly dependent on your area. Citrus will not do well in Alaska. But like, I mean, that is pretty much a given.
For me, deciding what the best fruit tree to plant is entirely up to you and your family. My family loves eating apples. I’m talking like 5lbs a week. This makes apples an important part of my homesteading plan.
Not only that, but deciding on the best possible variety is important, too. All of these are based on your location. This is also based on the availability of varieties; luckily with the internet, getting varieties is easier than ever!
With code NEW10, you can get 10% off your order at Garden Goods Direct! This company has so many amazing trees that I love!
For me, I love my orange tree. It has produced hundreds of oranges with little maintenance. But honestly, I really think this is dependent on your environment.
The truth of the matter is that there is no true easiest fruit tree to grow. Most trees require some work. Unlike a garden, the amount of work is usually pretty minimal!
I have also found that more native fruit trees are much easier to grow than others. Like mulberry trees and elderberry. These grow wild around me and the ones we own have flourished with minimal effort.
Elderberry is known to contain immune-boosting properties and is renowned for making gorgeous syrups!
Peaches are by far the fastest to produce fruits. This is because they mature much faster than others. They have been hands down one of my favorites to grow due to their beautiful blooms and delicious fruits.
I have also found that peach trees are much hardier than other varieties like citrus. You can grow them in colder environments and will not need to cover them as much as a citrus tree.
While this is mostly a personal opinion, I have really grown to love the look of cherry trees. The blooms are unmatched in beauty.
Cherries can be slightly more difficult to grow. For sweet cherries, you need two trees for pollination. This can be difficult for those of us who struggle with space.
It is said that cherries contain melatonin, which can be great for those of us who are sleep-deprived with children!
These trees also do not do well in the heat and need a cooler climate. This makes them a poor choice for Florida.
Overall, I love all fruit trees and find each one unique and purposeful! Choosing one for you is just about finding what you eat and combining that with a tree compatible with your location!
Disclaimer: Some products listed below I have an affiliate link for. This in no way sways my views on them!
When I was younger, I always struggled with growing vegetable gardens. Not sure if it was the soil, my knowledge, or if I just was not taking care of it, but my gardens forever sucked.
I remember the dying plants that filled my small corner of the backyard; they obviously died of neglect and teenage me was off showing rabbits, forgetting to water my thirsty plants.
It wasn’t until the pandemic that I truly discovered my love for the garden. I always raised chickens for food, but in the garden, I saw no point in it.
I will say that no matter what, there were always a few vegetables that I could grow no matter what. These were the easiest vegetables that really anybody, including teenage me, could grow!
This is the question of the hour, I remember really asking myself what would grow in my yard of death. I needed plants that would thrive with no water, occasional dogs trotting through them, and, well, the chickens.
Beans for me have always been foolproof. This can be true for both pole and bush beans and I always have a great harvest. Every year, I grew beans in our garden and we ate those even as everything else died.
Now, I love to pickle the beans and grow many varieties to change up our colors. Purple beans are one of my favorites to feed to the kids!
There are a few considerations to be had before growing beans. While they are more hardy and resistant than plants like tomatoes, knowing if they are pole or bush is important.
Pole beans grow up and bush beans bush out. If you have a pole bean variety, you will need to trellis them. Bush beans can produce the entire season too, and will only produce more as you harvest!
There are so many varieties of lettuce that can make wonderful plants in an edible landscape. They come in a variety of colors and flavors, so the possibilities are endless for the amount you can try!
I love making refrigerator pickles! This makes growing cucumbers important for my family!
I also just love snacking on these and so, I learned quickly to grow them. They trellis but I just grow them along a fence.
The biggest problem I have run into is cabbage worms. I spray neem oil on my plants and use Diatomaceous earth to help stop them from boring into my cukes!
Cucumbers just grow like crazy for me so I love growing them!
Disclaimer: Some links below I have an affiliate link. This means I make a small commission on purchases bought through my link! It holds no representation of how I feel about these products.
I was sixteen when I discovered permaculture. I was a major agriculture nerd, but I felt a severe disconnect from what class was teaching me. I saw the pig farms with crowded animals and the various other issues in agriculture and I began to wonder, how do we fix this?
It was then that I realized that my longing for a natural farm was intertwined with permaculture.
Permaculture has since called to me in every aspect of my life. When my father passed I swore I would start the homestead we planned together.
I find peace within my garden and chicken coop. By watching the way the ecosystem interacts with one another, I find myself also interacting within my garden and farm systems. Rather than working against these forces, I work with them.
Catch and store energy
This is one that I have yet to fully work on. It is a plan for the future when I am on my permanent homestead. Though the idea of being able to use solar to run my home really appeals to me considering our electric bill was over $300 last month!
Obtain a yield
The yield for me has been the happiness and joy the garden brings me, but also, being able to feed my family diverse and healthier food options.
It is the happiness that my garden brings that keeps me going. Because, as my husband often points out, bell peppers are 50 cents in the store.
Apply self-regulation and feedback
I began trying to reduce my family’s waste through cloth diapers when I had my first son! Now we compost and recycle.
Slowly, I am learning to reduce my impulse shopping and other factors that draw me into consumerism!
Use and value of renewables
As I said previously, we really began researching solar energy! I have tried to switch to other renewable energy sources like a rain barrel. However, this is not our permanent homestead so I do not want to continue
Produce no waste
Aside from cloth diapers, we use reusable products like menstrual cups, reusable zip lock bags, and other sustainable products.
I love the way natural shapes look in the garden! I find that it brings me far more joy than bricked-out beds do.
While I do have square raised beds, I try to position them in more natural ways to help add to the eye!
Integrate don’t segregate
When my father was still alive, my garden drove him insane. He always told me I had no real order and I always told him it was the natural order.
I still live by this. Let the garden thrive in neglect. These plants are in their own ecosystem and are flourishing in whatever way I have them going.
Use small, slow solutions
This was always a struggle. I have always gone massive in life. But lately, I really have stopped to smell the roses, you could say.
As much as I want to start a massive at-home dairy and goat yoga studio, I think a nice garden is a step – for now.
Use and value diversity
Diversity for me looks AMAZING when it comes to gardening. I truly value my ability to grow foods we do not see in the grocery stores.
I mean – purple carrots, blue eggs, and the weirdest of the weird. I think it is all beautiful! I also love the way my plants work together to stay healthy!
Use edges and value marginal
I have been expanding the garden this year. I want to trellis onto the chainlink fence all my cucumbers and other vine vegetables.
Yeah, the deer might get some, but I am using space that otherwise just sits there.
Creatively use and respond to change
This has been the biggest change in my life. When my father passed, it was a devastating blow since he was my partner in gardening.
Now, I plant this year’s garden without him for the first time in 5 years and it saddens me. But I relish in those years we did have and use it as fuel for my future goals!
I use permaculture and you do too in far more aspects of your life than just homesteading! It is an amazing philosophy to view.
This is a question I hear all the time – rather than a statement telling me why someone can’t grow food using permaculture.
Any amount of space works! Whether you place a hydroponic salad grower in the corner of the kitchen of your studio apartment or have multiple acres, permaculture can be done!
The only thing that is holding us back from growing is ourselves. Keep reading about that until you realize that it is the excuses that hold us back from greatness.
With the uncertainty of the world, many of us are turning to self-sufficiency to help ensure the security of our families’ food. This can seem like such a daunting task when you first begin to look at doing homesteading.
Like you, I once wondered where to start when it came to homesteading.
Homesteading can be relatively simple with the right planning and resources. Here we will discuss resources to help simplify the process of becoming more self-sufficient.
There are a few things to think about when you start to decide how you want to go about growing food. The main one is planning out your garden. A well-planned garden can help simplify your growing season and thus help amplify your overall yield.
I am a big fan of Jess from Roots and Refuge. Last year she wrote The First Time Gardener: Growing Vegetables and honestly, it is amazing! She goes over in-depth on starting gardens and is a valuable resource for every beginner.
Deciding what your family eats can go a long way when you are planning your garden. Why would you want to take up valuable space with beets if you do not eat them?
The closer your garden is to your house, the more likely you are to visit your garden. Frequent visits are key to making sure your garden stays healthy!
Transitioning to homesteading was probably the hardest part for my family. We love our sleep! But, the fresh food made it worth it.
Set alarms
Start small
Don’t quit your day job!
With these three tips, your transition will be much easier!
Setting alarms before you have a cow to milk and chickens to feed can help you adapt to the lifestyle well before you are in it. This can help the transition into the lifestyle since you will not have the exact responsibilities of homesteading!
Please start small. I see it every day where someone goes all out. You can burn yourself out and overall, set yourself up for failure. Many people will try and expand faster than they are ready. Start out with a few chickens before moving on to a flock of a thousand.
Some may be tempted to quit their job and follow the calling of homesteading. While for some this is a valid thing to do, it may not be feasible for everyone.
Homesteading can be done anywhere that you want. This question can be slightly overthought when many ask me this.
There are considerations that need to be thought of when deciding where you want to homestead and many of which have to do with legality.
Goals on your homestead
Zoning laws
Cost of living
Climate
These all should play a factor in where you decide to permanently settle down. Some states have laws in regards to living off-grid and some counties do not allow certain animals. If these are important for you considerations should be made when deciding where to live.
Other things like the cost of living should always be considered when settling down. These are factors that affect our everyday lives.
Your goals should be first above all. Deciding where to homestead is somewhat permanent and shouldn’t be taken lightly! Climate is another factor because if you are wanting to grow things like citrus then Alaska is not the place for you!
Homesteading can save money. This is only if done correctly.
Having a budget in place is important to help you and your family save money when growing your own food. This and careful planning are on the front lines to success.
By saving your own seeds, you are also creating a plant that is better suited to your environment. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to grow heirlooms to save the seeds.
Heirloom seeds just mean the plant has been grown and passed down for years. Hybrids are just plants that have been crossed, and occasionally in our gardens, we accidentally grow hybrids!
For most, gardening has become a way to provide their family with a cheaper alternative to fresh, healthy vegetables. From composting to finding free seeds, finding free gardening resources can be difficult!
Gardening with no money is hard! Luckily, I have the answers for low-cost to free gardening.
Keep reading if this is something you feel you may need in the near future with the upcoming spring gardening season quickly approaching us!
Disclaimer: Some links to products I have an affiliate link to. This means I make a small profit on your purchase. This in no way reflects on the quality of the product as I only recommend things I myself love!
There are many ways to help decrease the overall cost of your garden. Finding free supplies on the side of the road and on the internet locally can help reduce your costs by a ton!
Starting your plants from seed is usually the most economical way to start plants, and propagating can help duplicate your plants as well!
These resources can provide free materials for your garden. Either compost, mulch, or even seeds!
Seed libraries can be great ways to get free seeds. These are usually inside actual libraries. Another way to get seeds free is through swaps. Look in your local area for seed swap events.
ChipDrop is a company that teams with arborists to deliver free wood chips to gardeners. Forewarning: This is a lot more wood chips than you think it is.
Sometimes, local coffee shops or even Starbucks will let you have their spent coffee grounds. This can be composted to make amazing compost for your garden!
ShareWasteis a program that connects gardeners with those who want to compost and either do not have the time or space to do it. You can customize what items you will take. This can be a wonderful way to help make more compost.
Some areas have a local equestrian center where you can pick up horse manure for your garden for free. A word of caution: you do not know if it may contain weed seeds inside the manure; but if you hot compost it, it will kill off the seeds!
This can be cost-effective to start your own garden.
Conclusion
Growing a garden does not need to be expensive. You do not need to break the bank to grow your own food. I hope this guide helps you grow you and your family healthier foods!
With spring quickly approaching, many of us veteran gardeners are planning our gardens. But for those who have never gardened before, this may seem like a large feat.
You may be asking, how do you start a garden for beginners?
Well, starting a garden is much easier than it seems and here I will break it down.
Disclaimer: Products mentioned here I have an affiliate link meaning I may gain some compensation on your purchase. This has zero sway in my personal opinion on it!
Choosing a location
Choosing the right garden location is the biggest decision you can make. You need to make sure that your garden location has good sunlight and is safe from being destroyed.
Another factor to consider is the proximity of your garden to your house. I love considering permaculture and other types when I pick my layout. Since you will be visiting your garden daily, it is best to put it close to your house.
Keeping your garden close to your house helps make those daily trips. Walking a garden daily is important to make sure everything is growing right. This allows you as the gardener to look for various things that are going wrong such as pests or diseases.
Planning your set up
Making sure you have a plan on the layout of your garden is important for many reasons. Firstly, it allows you to plan how many plants you will need for your garden. It also allows you to decide on what companion plants you will be planting along with your other plants.
Plants such as marigold are wonderful at detering pests from your vegetables!
Another important consideration is if you will be building raised beds, no-till gardening, or another method. Each application has their own benefits.
No-till gardening is great for the lazy gardener. This method helps to support the microorganism life inside your soil. You layer organic material onto your planting site and just plant into it. This method only improves the soil over time!
Seed starting is a lower cost way of growing vegetables. Making sure you plant them in the right growing medium is important for good germination rates. I personally love using peat moss!
Peat moss makes a good growing medium due to its ability to holding onto water better. It is also relatively inexpensive when purchased from places such as Lowes or Home Depot.
From this point forward, just enjoy the garden. Once those plants go into the ground, learning to love your garden is key to a successful garden!
Often, we find ourselves focusing on everything but what we enjoy. So plant the purple carrots, try the crazy variety, and most of all, love the garden!
This is dependent on your area, mostly it is anywhere from February to even May! Some are even planted in the fall. Read the package and go from there or read online on your individual variety!
Potatoes can grow straight into the ground! You will need to till around and amend your soil, however. This can be amended usually with rich compost.
Something to consider is if your potatoes are indeterminate or determinate before planting. Determinate would do better in looser soil but indeterminate needs to be buried to grow larger and produce more spuds.
Most definitely! Indeterminate work well inside containers because you can fill the soil as the plant grows to help gain height!
Consider purchasing potato grow bags or using old feed sacks to grow your potatoes in! These are all great options to produce your own homegrown potatoes!
Potatoes can grow fantastic in containers, just keep in mind the depth and space needed for your plant.
Potatoes can be a very easy vegetable that you can grow in your own backyard or around the homestead.
This is because they do not require much more than soil, compost, and water and they will grow. However, depending on the variety, you may need to add more soil as they grow.
Overall, potatoes are a perfect addition to your backyard garden!
In these more recent times, the idea of having your own sustainable garden is seemingly more and more appealing every day. For some, this can seem like such a daunting task.
Many of my friends are really starting to ask me often, “How to make a sustainable garden.”
Honestly, there are many easy and free ways to make a garden.
Well, this question is sort of loaded depending on who you ask. By definition alone, a sustainable garden. . . well sustains itself. This means, if you did not touch it, it could in theory thrive.
Personally, I view sustainability as a way of living and therefore, a sustainable garden does not interfere with the nature around it. I try to work with everything into my garden in a way that is a sort of permaculture.
What does a sustainable garden look like?
There are a few features that almost everygarden can have to make it far more sustainable than what we view in our everyday lives.
Biodiversity
No chemical pesticides or herbicides
We here love a biodiverse garden where we use companion planting as a means to prevent pests in our plants. Some of these plants are marigold and dill. A lush and diverse garden to me has always been appealing.
Not using chemicals has become my latest wish since having kids. Watching my children put everything into their mouths really concerned me since we used a lot of chemical disinfectants. So naturally, I do not use any of these in our garden.
I also compost and try to use reclaimed materials as much as possible. This helps us not only save money but reduce our waste in the long run.
This method also helps us reduce the amount of waste going into landfills!
A sustainable garden is important because it focuses on not making a negative impact on our planet. Instead of working against the earth, you are working in sync with it in a way that makes a positive impact.
The produce from your garden can also taste better, be free of pesticides which in turn benefit you. Pesticides and herbicides run into our water supplies and cause major problems in the local environment.
Some pesticides even harm bees. Bees are important for gardeners as they help pollinate our fruits.
What are the benefits of a sustainable garden?
The benefits of sustainable gardening outweigh any of the disadvantages many can think of.
Saving money
Building a better ecosystem in your soil
Healthier and fresher foods
Biodiversity
These in turn help grow you and your family into more rounded people. Your children can learn from the environment around them and gardening is shown to be a fantastic stress relief.
Methods of sustainable gardening
There are many different teachings to choose from when picking what is right for you and your land. Here are just a few:
No-till
Permaculture
Hugelkulture
These are all three fantastic methods but each has its own traits.
No-till
Also known as ‘lasagna gardening’ this method involves not tilling the earth or disturbing the ground too much. You continue to layer organic matter and let things decay. This can be a wonderful method for the busiest of people.
However, it comes with its own issues such as the soil needing to be amended more. This though can also be a good thing. Every year your soil will only get better the more you plant!
Permaculture
This is often paired with farm animals so it can be more difficult to do if you do not have any. However, if you are able to have livestock this method is amazing as everything lives in a sort of symbiotic relationship.
Everything you grow benefits from one another and in turn helps reduce your waste tremendously and thus, is far more sustainable!
Hugelkulture
This method is very interesting and cost-effective. It works well if you have really poor soil that you just do not feel comfortable using no-till.
This method involves building raised beds and then filling the majority of them up with sticks and logs and then topping them with soil. This overtime will break down and feed your garden.
This helps save money because you won’t have to fill the entire bed with soil and won’t need to purchase most soil amendments once the sticks begin breaking down. It is also a very sustainable method since you are using items most people commonly discard.
Conclusion
Overall, many people do not think about the waste their garden may produce when they choose to do so. Developing a biodiverse and sustainable garden is important to the overall health of your plants.
This can be mutually beneficial to both you and the environment around you. Sustainability does not have to be expensive either.