Grow Open-Pollinated Tomatoes

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #166 • July/August, 2017 Nearly all of us homesteaders grow tomatoes in our gardens. Tomatoes are hugely valuable as a homestead crop. After all, they give us a wide variety of products. Many...

Caring for your chickens in winter

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson As winter approaches, we all are thinking of ways to make our livestock and poultry as comfortable as possible when the cold weather hits. Visions of blowing and drifting snow swirl in...

By Hook or Crook: A Billhook is a Handy Homestead Tool

By R.E. Rawlinson Issue #173 • September/October, 2018 When compared to our ancestors, we are very lucky to have readily-available tools. Stores are full of anything you could need and with online shopping, you don’t even...

Pruning Blueberries

By Kristina Seleshanko When we purchased our mountaintop homestead, I was excited to discover four blueberry bushes that were already established on our property. Not all of them were large, but they were an excellent...

Propagating Grapes

By Sylvia Gist Issue #107 • September/October, 2007 As a kid in western South Dakota, I enjoyed picking wild grapes and using the delightful juice they produced, so when I eventually acquired property in Montana, I...

Put Your Garden to Bed for the Winter

By Jackie Clay Issue #95 • September/October, 2005 During the crispy fall afternoons, we listen often and intently to the weather forecasts. "It's going to be clear tonight," I'd tell my late husband, Bob, and my...

Growing Strawberries

By Patrice Lewis Issue #162 • November/December, 2016   As you read this, the wind may well be howling and the snow piling deep, and you're likely curled up next to the woodstove with a mug of...

Tracing a bean

By Wren Everett The beans came to me as an accident. In the early spring of 2023, I was scouring The Exchange (exchange.seedsavers.org/home) — an online seed-savers trading post of sorts — looking for squash seeds....

Tea for the garden

By Lisa Nourse We have poor soil and do our best to amend it with compost and manure every year. However, we feel our plants still need a boost throughout the growing season. We like...

Starting a Roadside Farm Stand

By John Murray <!-- --> Issue #158 • March/April, 2016 For country landowners who desire a way to supplement their income, operating a small roadside farm stand is an excellent business venture. Produce which is harvested on a...

Solar-Powered Electric Fencing

By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #147 • May/June, 2014 A new electric fence attached to older traditional wood fencing   More and more people are turning to electric fences as the cost of standard metal and wood...

Leaf Mold is Another Way to Build Your Soil

By John Fuchs Issue #41 • September/October, 1996 Leaves are an excellent way to add organic matter to the garden. However, using raw—or unprocessed—leaves has some drawbacks. Raw leaves are more acidic than composted leaves, and...

How to Grow Potatoes

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 Potato plants need plenty of sunshine, a well drained soil, and no weed or grass interference. Ideal soil is a loose sandy loam with plenty of humus...

Raised Bed Gardening — Neat and Productive

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #74 • March/April, 2002 Are you tired of raising a big row crop garden—one that keeps you busy from dawn until dusk? Do you really need to raise enough vegetables to...

Build an Old-Fashioned Hotbed and Start Your Seeds in Style

By Roy Martin Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 A hotbed is a miniature greenhouse that is heated to protect new seedlings from cold. The hotbed differs from a cold frame in that it has an internal...

For Extra Production, Try Mound Gardening

By Edward Love Johnson Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 I began experimenting with mound gardening several years ago, due to limited garden space. Then as time went by, I found other reasons (or should I say...