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Vegetable and Spice Garden Time!
Spring is nearly here. That means its time to get gardening in earnest! I have written tons of posts and made lots videos about gardening over the years. So, below, I’m going to detail what I’ve got going on in my garden right now and what’s coming up in the near future. Then, I’ll also…
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Life with Goats
Who needs sleep when you’ve got baby goats to distract you from your slumberless stupor? (Warning – This post has a sad story. But it also contains some hopefulness and Epicurean advice on goat keeping.) Normally, I don’t lose sleep over goats. In fact, during Covid-19, they’ve provided much needed distraction and entertainment given our…
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Unsettling Times
Sorry for disappearing for awhile. To be honest, after the events at the Capitol on January 6, I got lost trying to make sense of what happened and felt unable to write about homesteading again until I did. This event struck a very personal chord for me because I know that terrain well. In college,…
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Grow Your Own Spices Arrives – at Homes Everywhere!
Hi all! Today was the big day! Copies of Grow Your Own Spices started showing up at homes everywhere. Some dear friends of mine spontaneously started sending me photos of their copies as they arrived. It was amazing because it felt like we were together for a moment. But as more photos showed up on…
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Simplestead Guide to Pruning Plants
Each morning I walk our dogs through the semi-wild parts of our wooded property. There I encounter various trees, shrubs, ground cover, mosses, lichens, and a seemingly infinite variety of fungi. What beautiful complexity exists in this woodland ecosystem. Yet, as a gardener, I can’t help but notice the diseased limbs on otherwise healthy trees.…
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Spice Gardening for Indoor Landscapes, Greenhouses, and Outdoor Gardens
Lately, I’ve had several people tell me that they don’t think they can grow spices where they live. I happen to know that’s simply not true. You can grow many spices anywhere if you put in a little effort to create ideal growing conditions. That’s why spices like coriander have literally been grown on all…
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The Quiet Christmas
Happy holidays everyone! I know 2020 has been a tough year for so many people. I don’t want to diminish any of the hardships we’ve suffered and shared for so long. Yet for a few moments, I hope that you all get a chance to quiet your fears, quiet your worries about tomorrow, quiet all…
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An Inside Look at Grow Your Own Spices and the Secrets of the Publishing Process, Plus Personal IOUs for the Holidays!
Hi all! First, I have some not-so-good news to share. We had to push back the release of Grow Your Own Spices to January 5th because the first shipment of books was damaged in transit. Now, on the upside, the new copies are all set to be shipped out starting on January 5th. I just…
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Free Course on Growing Spices
Hi All! With my new book, Grow Your Own Spices, coming out soon (and already available for pre-order from many booksellers and on Amazon), I’ve been doing talks and interviews to get everyone excited about growing spices in 2021. So, today I want to share a link to a 2-hour course I taught this week…