Hi everyone! It's finally fall here in Northwestern North Carolina. After the intense heat, humidity, and heavy rains we've had for the last two months, this weather is an amazing gift. I just wish I could wrap it up and share it with the West Coast for awhile to help all those brave people out… Continue reading Growing and Harvesting Ginger at Home (with Video and a Peak in My Fall Garden)
Author: Simplestead
I'm an “Epicurean homesteader” and writer focused on simple, sustainable living. I garden on about 1.5 acres and grow a large variety of annual and perennial edible, medicinal, and ecosystem support plants. I also keep ducks, dairy goats, chickens, a pet turkey, worms, and (occasionally) pigs. I teach classes in my community related to edible landscaping and organic gardening. I am also the author of Grow Your Own Spices. When not growing food, cooking, or composting, I'm likely rocking on the garden swing with my partner Matt Miles, surrounded by our two dogs and four cats.
Raising Ducklings Week 1 (with Video)
Mama Madge, one of my free range Muscovy ducks, hatched out 13 adorable ducklings on August 26. Up until two years ago, we had so little predator pressure on our homestead, that she could have raised these ducklings to maturity on our large pond with no help from me. Unfortunately, the predators finally found us.… Continue reading Raising Ducklings Week 1 (with Video)
Must Love Ducks
My love for ducks was instant. After touring a traditional duck farm in France in my mid-twenties, I dreamed of having my own ducks someday. You know... in some distant, alternate future where I could create the life I really wanted. Back then, I mistakenly thought homesteading was only a make believe dream conjured to… Continue reading Must Love Ducks
The Secrets of Sesame
Sesame is a surprisingly resilient seed and spice plant that many people can grow at home. You'll just need to give it full sun, a healthy dose of compost, and a long warm growing period to develop those delicious seed pods. It's also easy to harvest by hand. Just make sure you pick those partially… Continue reading The Secrets of Sesame
Growing and Harvesting Mustard for Spice
As a homesteader, I grow most of our vegetables, herbs, and fruits. I also raise chickens and ducks for eggs and keep goats for dairy. But until a few years ago, I still bought most of my spices. Since I use tons of spices when cooking and making ferments, that meant I still had a… Continue reading Growing and Harvesting Mustard for Spice
Epicurean Homesteading
I started writing this post for the purpose of sharing one of my new posts Morning Chores called Epicurean Homesteading: How to Be Self-Sufficient While Making Your Life More Pleasurable. But then I realized, to those who don't know the history and philosophy of Epicureanism, this subject might seem silly in the context of a… Continue reading Epicurean Homesteading
Grow Your Own Spices (with a Video on Growing and Harvesting Garlic)
For all you spice lovers, get tips on growing, harvesting, curing, and using garlic. Plus, get a preview of the stunning cover of my new book "Grow Your Own Spices".
A Homestead Tour
I recently posted a photo tour of our homestead on my other blog (which is more of a personal journal). I wanted to share the link to that post here too so you can see the power of simple homesteading to transform a landscape. Before you link out to the photos, though, let me share… Continue reading A Homestead Tour
Fast-Track to Greater Self-Sufficiency
Creating a functioning homestead takes time, effort, and resources. It's not something you should rush into or do without careful planning. Yet, often in the middle of a crises, we feel an overwhelming urgency to make radical changes to increase our sense of security. Unfortunately, that can be the hardest time to get started. Fear… Continue reading Fast-Track to Greater Self-Sufficiency
Harvesting, Preserving, and Propagating Spring Herbs
Each year in early to mid-spring, my perennial herbs start putting on huge amounts of new growth. In order to keep those plants tame, make them bushier, keep evergreens from becoming woody, and delay premature flowering, harvesting quite a bit of that early growth is necessary. It seems counter intuitive to harvest heavily when plants… Continue reading Harvesting, Preserving, and Propagating Spring Herbs
Potager Gardening in a Crisis
The COVID-19 virus has made it difficult for grocery stores to keep shelves stocked. I visited the grocery for the first time in a month and was surprised to see so many shelves empty. Toilet paper, of course, was no where to be found. But, other things like flour, eggs, butter, and many fresh vegetables… Continue reading Potager Gardening in a Crisis
Choosing the Right Plants for Your Garden
Choosing the plants that will grow well in your climate, weather, soil type, and garden is quite complicated. That's why a big part of becoming a good gardener is learning how to read your landscape, understand your conditions, and carefully select plants that are most likely to thrive where you live. If you want to… Continue reading Choosing the Right Plants for Your Garden
Urban, Suburban, and Rural Homesteading
Did you know that you can homestead anywhere? Homesteading is a basic set of life skills that can be practiced wherever you live right now. So don't let a lack of land limit your dreams. Make up for a shortage of acreage with creativity and access to awesome resources! Here's an article I wrote for… Continue reading Urban, Suburban, and Rural Homesteading
Brooding Ducklings
If you want to learn how raise your own ducklings more like a mama duck would, then take a look at this post on Morning Chores for more details. https://morningchores.com/raising-ducklings-in-a-brooder/ Also, if you plan to hatch your own duck eggs, then you may want to take a look at this post. https://morningchores.com/incubating-duck-eggs/ And, use this… Continue reading Brooding Ducklings
What to Grow in Your Potager (including a list of 30 categories of plants to consider)
It can be difficult to think beyond the grocery store, or the farmers market, when deciding what kind of food to grow on your homestead. Every recipe we know, every cookbook we have, tend to rely only on the readily available ingredients most of us can access. Yet, the most thrilling part about having your… Continue reading What to Grow in Your Potager (including a list of 30 categories of plants to consider)
