Coming Home to Eden

When Life Gives You Lemons…

Posted on August 23, 2023August 23, 2023 by ginamcmanig

Well hello there! It has been so long since I have posted! Life has been…well…challenging…but you know what the old saying is:

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” ~Elbert Hubbard

While I wade through these challenges and pray for guidance, I have the perfect post for this current theme in my life. Out of this surplus of challenges, I pray God will make something new, something better. Today at a Bible study, this verse was referenced:

““Then I will compensate you for the years That the swarming locust has eaten, The creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust— My great army which I sent among you.”
‭‭Joel‬ ‭2‬:‭25‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

If you would like to learn more about this book from the Old Testament of the Bible, here is a great summary.

I came home from the study and had an urge to make something out of my surplus. Not my surplus of challenges…that I will trust God will do. I have been going to this lovely food cooperative and bought lemon juice at an excellent price last month. This month, I purchased lime juice at a nice discount. I bought quite a few. I figured I would freeze some and use it for canning and to add to water with Himalayan salt and stevia for a lemonade with some electrolytes.

I enjoy lemon…lemon curd, lemon cake, Italian lemon cookies. In case you are wondering if I like lemon without sugar, no, not really. I also like a simple cup of warm water with lemon and honey when sick. I used to buy lemon curd at the store and have thought about making it a few times over the years. Today, my friends, was the day that I finally made lemon curd. I also made lime curd. They were both very yummy.

What is lemon curd? It is a lovely, simple, rich mixture that I love adding to an English muffin or toast. It is something between a jam and a custard. It is very much like a tart custard actually. This version only has 4 ingredients. Most recipes call for lemon zest but since I was trying to make something from my surplus, I made it without. I am sure it would add nice depth of flavor if you were making this from fresh lemons. The four ingredients are: LEMON JUICE, EGGS, SUGAR, & BUTTER. Who doesn’t love a simple recipe with only four ingredients?

For this recipe, BEFORE heating the pan, I started with adding 1 & 1/4cups SUGAR to a sauce pan. I then added 4 WHOLE EGGS and whisked them together.

Once the sugar and eggs were mixed well, I whisked in 1 & 1/3 cups LEMON JUICE.

Then, I put the pot on MEDIUM HIGH HEAT for about 5ish minutes or until it thickened to coat the back of a spoon while whisking continuously.

Once it reaches the right thickness, remove from heat and add 2 sticks of BUTTER, one TABLESPOON at a time while whisking. The mixture will go from bubbly and thick to silky. Once the butter is incorporated, add to containers and refrigerate or freeze.

For freezing, always leave headspace for expansion. You need to use straight jars for the freezer or the jars can bust during the expansion as the contents freeze. I love these little Kerr jars. They are 8 ounces, but are short and squatty compared to their taller counterparts. These are not only cute but functional. They stack so much nicer and more stable than others. This recipe is said to last about 1-2 weeks in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer. One batch made 6-eight ounce jars with proper headspace for freezing. I kept one jar in the fridge and froze the rest. Aside from lavishing English muffins, this curd can be used for many things…mini pies, centers of cookies, as a base for a glaze for fruit rolls, cake filling. Oh the possibilities…

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All Things Little House

Posted on April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 by ginamcmanig

The Little House series is beloved in our home. My middle daughter especially loves this series. She has loved it since she was very small. My two youngest regularly dress up and pretend they are in a distant time from long ago because of this series. It is not often in this modern world we live in we can find such wholesome things. I am so grateful my children can have this series to learn from.

Most people know about the original book series but when your child has a deep love for the series you search out every possibility. In this post I will be sharing all things Little House that we have found along the way. The very first Little House books we started with were picture books. I read these books aloud many a time! These books are geared toward ages 3 to 8. This series was adapted from the original series.

My First Little House Books

Little House Chapter Books

When my child started reading chapter books, I found that the original series had been broken down into the following short chapter books. These are intended for ages 7-10. She loved these books.

Original Series

“Now readers young and old can enjoy the classic adventures of Laura and her family as they survive and thrive on the American frontier! The nine Little House books have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America’s frontier past and a heartwarming, unforgettable story. These slipcased softcovers feature Garth Williams’s beloved original illustrations. Treasured reading for collectors and kids of all ages–especially 8- to 12-year-olds! This set includes the titles: Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.” (Christian Book)

Audiobooks

We listen to audiobooks most anytime we are in the car for 30 minutes or more. We get them from our library either in house or online.

The Martha Years

“Meet the first Little House girl–Laura Ingalls Wilder’s great-grandmother! Written in the classic style of Wilder’s beloved books, this charming story traces the adventures of mischievous Martha Morse, as she grows up in the rolling Scottish hills of the 1780s.

It’s 1788, and six-year-old Martha lives in a little stone house in Glencaraid, Scotland. Martha’s father is Laird Glencaraid, and the life a laird’s daughter is not always easy for a lively girl like Martha. She would rather be running barefoot through fields of heather and listening to magical tales of fairies and other Wee Folk than learning to sew like a proper young lady. But between her dreaded sewing lessons, Martha still finds time to play on the rolling Scottish hills. Recommended for ages 8 to 12.” (Christian Book)

The Charlotte Years

“Meet Charlotte Tucker….the little girl who would grow up to be Laura Ingalls Wilder’s grandmother! It’s 1814 and five-year-old Charlotte lives with her family in the town of Roxbury, near the bustling city of Boston. Charlotte is a brand-new American girl, born just one generation after the United States of America was formed. Life in the Tucker’s little house has always been pleasant and merry; there’s Mama’s garden to tend to, Papa’s blacksmith shop to visit, and lots of brothers and sisters to play with. But Charlotte’s family worries more and more about the war that’s been going on since 1812. Now the British have gone and blockaded Boston harbor, and that means no molasses for supper. Charlotte is just beginning to realize that events happening far away can change things at her very own dinner table. What will the rest of the year bring for Charlotte and the Tucker family? Recommended for ages 8 to 12.” (Christian Book)

The Caroline Years

“It’s 1845 in the bustling frontier town of Brookfield, Wisconsin. Five-year-old Caroline lives in a frame house at the edge of town with her mother, her grandmother, and her five brothers and sisters. Caroline’s father was lost at sea the year before, and the close-knit family is struggling to cope without him. Each day brings Caroline new responsibilities and new adventures as she strives to help Mother all she can. And though this first year on their own also brings Caroline and her family great hardship, they survive with courage and love. Recommended for ages 8 to 12.” (Christian Book)

The Caroline Years Chapter Books

The Rose Years

“Having said “good-bye” to Ma and Pa Ingalls and Laura’s sister, Laura, Almanzo, and Rose make their way across the drought-stricken Midwest to the lush green valleys of southern Missouri. The journey is long and not always easy. But there is so much to do and see along the way. The end of this journey marks a new beginning for the Wilder family: a new home and the promise of hard work, but also of wondrous discoveries and adventures to fill a childhood. Recommended for ages 8 to 12.” (Christian Book)

Fun Books

DVDs

We really enjoyed this series as a family.

Dress Up

My girls like to dress up and pretend. They have a few prairie style dresses they enjoy using to get in character.

Doll Clothes (18”)

You can even get your dolls in character!

Well there you have it folks! All things Little House! I hope you found some new things to enjoy here!

Lip Balm

Posted on February 4, 2023February 4, 2023 by ginamcmanig

Hello, my name is Gina and I have an addiction to lip balm. Anyone else? I am not sure exactly how or when it happened but some decades ago, I had my first hit…and well, the rest is history. Lip balm is one of those things that is always with me. Right now there is one sitting in my coat pocket, one at my desk, and one on my nightstand. They are also akin to socks in terms of going missing and ending up some place only God knows. The house eats them I guess along with the bobby pins and such.

Since we like our lip balm in this house and they tend to go MIA, I make them. Besides those reasons, if you haven’t gotten to know me already, I don’t like putting junk in, on, or around my body…nor anyone else in my family. It is important to me. Aside from having control over ingredients, these are SO inexpensive to make. In addition, they are also very easy to make. This post will be short as there is not much to it!

Let’s talk about supplies for a minute. You will need only a few things.

Infused Oil

To make an infused oil for lip balm, I usually use a pint wide mouth jar, dried calendula flowers, and organic olive oil. I place the dried flowers in the jar leaving about 3” of head space. I then cover the flowers with the olive oil. Next, put a lid & screw top on and place in a sunny window for at least two weeks. I use metal lids to enhance warmth. I use this same method for salve only adding many other herbs. I date the top of the jar or tend to forget when I did. After the time has passed, strain the liquid off and compost the flowers. I grow calendula but you can buy the flowers already dried too.

Beeswax

I buy beeswax in bulk, filter it, and mold in ounce bars for this but you can buy them already done. I used to buy it ready to go. There will be links at the bottom of the post.

Add Ins

I add in carrot seed essential oil just because it is really good for skin in general. I also like the way it smells. I use it in my lotion too. I keep my balm pretty simple. In years past I have added in beet root powder for a tint of color. You could also use dried berry powder. I teach English online so sometimes use tinted lip balm to help the kids see my mouth better for pronunciation.

Containers

I like tubes for this but have used tins too. If you don’t want fingers in your balm, go with tubes. Tins are cute however.

Step 1

Start your infused oil & order containers. Date the infusion. Wait the allotted time (at least two weeks).

Step 2

Strain off liquid into a clean, dry jar. Measure out 1 cup of the infused oil and pour into a double boiler.

Step 3

Add in 2 ounces of beeswax to the infused oil and melt together.

Step 4

Prepare tubes or tins. Take off tops. I recommend getting them as close together as possible. You will likely spill some. I always do. I use a rubber band to keep them tight.

Step 5

Once the wax is melted and stirred in well, this is when you would add in any extras such as carrot seed essential oil. Shut off the burner and pour into containers. Don’t overheat the blend. You only need to melt & stir in.

Step 6

Once cooled, clean them up! I don’t waste the spilled balm. I scrape it into empty containers. After I get all I can into containers, I use a paper towel and wipe off any residue and cap them. I use the shoved in ones first. I wouldn’t give one of those away.

That’s it! I put them in a bag and put them in a cabinet. These last us a long time! Sometimes I give some away.

These are another thing you don’t need to buy. I have used the same bottle of carrot seed essential oil for many years. I buy containers each time but you could definitely reuse tins. It would be difficult to reuse tubes and get every bit of the older stuff out. I paid $12.99 for 50 tubes. That comes to .26 cents a tube. I don’t count the rest as I always have olive oil on hand, and beeswax, and calendula flowers. As I said, I have used the same carrot seed oil for so many years…probably 10! So the cost is minuscule. I also love building up our stock for a while. It is the same for me as putting up food for the year. We raise enough chickens for the freezer for a year. I make a good sized batch of dish soap bars, shampoo bars, and regular soap for a long while. The cost of these is also small. I use tallow from the beef we purchase in bulk for the year to make soap. It makes the cost very low. I make enough candles or prepare wax to do so for a year plus. I love this stuff! But those are more posts for other days. I hope I have given you one more thing to stock up on for the year! One less thing to buy! Happy making!

If you are interested in lip balm with beeswax, check out this other post!

Beeswax Candle Making and More

Posted on October 26, 2022October 26, 2022 by ginamcmanig

I started experimenting with candlemaking about 8 years ago. I absolutely love beeswax candles. As with most things I like, they are expensive to buy. If you know me at all, you know I love to make. I love the smell of beeswax. I love the beautiful warm glow the candles give off. I love that they clean the air while they burn. I love the beautiful natural golden color of the candles. I love the overall ambiance they give. I love the entire experience from the cleaning of the wax, to the burning of the candles. Every little bit. We drive about two hours away to get the beeswax. We usually buy a five gallon pail of raw honey at the same time. We typically go in with others to get that bulk price then I divide the honey. So technically, I enjoy this process from the trip to get the honey 😉 It is a pretty drive. I have ordered the beeswax through the mail as well. No beautiful drive, but lovely to receive the package just the same. The smell is just fantastic. If you are interested in making candles, I highly recommend buying from a local apiary rather than online if possible. It is way better than factory processed. On that note, the bigger the apiary, the better the pricing in my experience. If you have your own bees, even better. If a farm has 25 hives, they can’t offer bulk pricing on their goods. Why would they if they sell out of the smaller quantities at higher prices? So, when looking for good prices locally, look for a local beekeeper with a lot of hives.

I first tried dipping to make candles. I enjoyed the process but not that you had to have excess wax in a reservoir in order to dip. Since I do not have my own bees, I have to buy wax. For me this wasn’t very efficient. I then tried pouring into jars with wicks. They were okay, but didn’t burn great. Plus, then I had jars that needed to be boiled to get the wax off before I could reuse them. After that, I experimented with molds. I had a friend that had an old tin mold. That didn’t work so well for me. I had to boil the wax out as they would not release. I tried spraying the molds with oil. I set them in the freezer. I put them under hot water. I struggled with them so moved on. I really wanted them to be my fit! Next, I made my own molds out of PVC pipes. These worked okay for the first few times I used them. After that, wax started building up and they wouldn’t release. I finally ended up buying a flexible mold. This is more my speed. I can make candles for my family easily with beautiful results. The molds can be used over and over again. Eventually, I would like to experiment with making my own flexible molds, but for now, this momma needs some ease in her life!

The process is not too complicated. I buy wax as I mentioned previously. I clean the wax. I pour the candles. The set up stays on my counter until I have enough candles for the year. I put the set up away. I have an old non stick pan that I only keep for melting wax. A bonus to this is the incredible smell wafting through the house! Oh how I love the smell of beeswax! It just smells fantastic! Do be careful to not walk away if you have a small pan as I do pictured here with wax that is bigger than the pan. I hold them until they melt down enough to fit in the pan. I pour off through my ”filter” as it melts. You can burn the wax so you will want to keep an eye on it. You only want to melt it, not boil it. As soon as it melts, pour it through your filter. The filter sits on top of an old crock pot. I keep an old crockpot that has been retired from cooking. I also keep an old mesh strainer that sits directly on top of the crock. In the old strainer I place paper towels. I turn the crock on low so it is ready by adding heat to help the wax filter thorough the paper towel above it. Otherwise, it cools off before going through the paper towel and starts to solidify.

Cleaning Beeswax: My Method

Step 1: Prepare the crockpot. Turn on crockpot to the low setting and allow to warm. Put strainer on top. Place a paper towel on top of the strainer.

Step 2: Melt the ”dirty” wax in a pot on the stove top just to melting, no longer. Pour off melted wax through the filter.

Step 3: After the wax has filtered through (this can take a little while), using a ladle, fill molds.

At this point I will fill my candle molds too if I need them. Otherwise, I use my pound and ounce molds for ease of use later.

Once they cool, you can pop them out and they are ready to store until they are needed. These cool fairly quickly, especially the ounce mold. Now the wax is clean and ready for use. The wax I get is actually very clean looking, but I have learned that it must be filtered or the candles will not burn well.

Tips

Don’t eat yellow snow. You’re welcome 😉 No really…Cover your workspace! I am using a tiled counter with a couple of layers of packing paper on top. I save it when it comes with packages for covering surfaces for messy projects and paper mache. It is handy to have. Don’t work with wax on any porous surface. Cover well with something disposable. If using paper, know that it can still seep through. Cardboard would be good too. I always end up with wax where I don’t want it such as the stove top and floor. My best tool for this is a pampered chef stoneware scrapper. The type that come with stoneware when you buy it. It works well to scrape the wax off floors and counters. As for the stove top, heat it up, and wipe off with paper towels. Wax needs to be either melted and wiped up or scraped where you can not. Do not wear nice clothes. That avoiding working with porous surfaces applies to your clothing too 😉 I am not saying you should cover yourself in something non porous but dress in something that you don’t mind ruining…just in case.

I don’t recommend using anything that is used for food as it will get covered in wax and will need to be melted off. I do keep an old canner for melting wax off things. I don’t love having to do that. You can get some of the equipment from a thrift shop if you do not have something already that you could designate for wax. One thing I wouldn’t recommend buying used is this type of mold unless you know what you are doing. They could be damaged too easily. If I found them really cheap I might be willing to risk it.

Pouring into the Candle Molds

I use a pouring pitcher to melt and pour the clean wax when I am done with the cleaning process. It makes it easy to have the clean wax in one pound blocks for the candles. They fit nicely in the pitcher and melt quickly. You prepare your molds according to the manufactures directions. I have used an oil spray as a release before and now mostly do not. Temperatures do matter. The molds can not take too hot of wax or they will be damaged and not release the candles well. I used to take the melted wax temps until my second thermometer broke and I didn’t want to buy another. At the moment, I do not use a release and do not take temps but am careful to just melt the wax. As soon as it is melted, I pour. Using a pitcher helps melt evenly and pour without making as much of a mess as with a pan. I have two candle molds. A pillar and a taper. I only make candles for our own family and extended family and friends as gifts on occasion.

Here you can see inside the pilar mold. You can also see the slit on the side and the hole in the bottom where you pull the wick through.

Step 1: Prep the molds with wicking. Save yourself some time and be sure to get the proper wick for your mold. The manufacturer should have it listed. It is a big bummer when you go though the process and your candle doesn’t burn right. Clean your wax, use the right wick, you will be happier. To pull the wick through the mold, I use a wicking needle. My taper mold is 10” so it needs to be long enough to reach through. Once you pull your wick through, you leave it underneath and each time you pull out a candle, the wick is pulled up. It rethreads itself so you only need to thread it when you run out of wick. You pull the candle out, then snip off the tip about a quarter inch long. You have your wick ready for the next candle.

Step 2: Secure the molds. I place rubber bands around the molds to close the slits that are there for pulling out the candles.

Step 3: Secure the wick at the top so it is centered. I use a popsicle stick for my pillar and a skewer for my taper. I just set it on top of the mold and pull the wick over it and tape it to the side. This is another important step in ensuring a good burn afterwards. If it is off center, it will not burn evenly. This is easy to do, no worries.

Step 4: Pour the melted wax into the molds. Be sure to not let it get too hot. It would be wise to get a thermometer when you are getting started. After you pour, the wick will absorb some of the wax so you will need to top it off as needed.

Step 5: Wait! These need to be cooled well because they have wicks…if you try to pull them out too soon when the wax is soft, the wick will pull right out. I learned that the hard way 😉 Not the end of the world. Melt it down and do it again!

You can find links to all my molds below if you like the style.

I use the ounce blocks for lip balm and salves. I will probably make a short post about lip balm soon since I am out!

Here is a view of most of about five days of cleaning wax and candle making. I did put some away before taking this picture. I usually buy about 10# of wax at a time. It took me five days to work through cleaning that, plus pouring candles that I needed now. That is not sitting there and only doing this. That is on the side while homeschooling and cooking, etc. Next time I pull out my supplies, it will only be my candle molds and pitcher. Melt & pour. Easy peasy.

Dipped Leaves

I love making garlands from leaves. I still use and keep an atlas in our vehicle. The atlas doubles as a convenient leaf press 😉 When we are out and about and I see beautiful leaves, I put them in my atlas to straighten. Once dry, simply dip quickly in melted wax holding the stem. Hold over the melted wax until dripping stops and place aside. You could make singles as sun catchers and/or make a garland to keep beautiful fall colors around as long as you like!

I hope I have inspired you to make some beeswax candles and dip some leaves! I very much enjoy the experience and hope you will too! I have included some extra links for some books we enjoy on the subject as well as some beeswax crayons. Also, be sure to check out my book review on Bees: A Honeyed History written by Piotr Socha. Happy making!

Warm Winter Woolens

Posted on October 16, 2022December 31, 2022 by ginamcmanig

It is starting to cool off in upstate NY. It is only fall but it is time to break out the woolens around these parts! I love wool. If you are reading this and scratching just thinking about it, keep in mind, not all wool is created equal! There are many benefits to wool. It keeps you warm while still being breathable. It wicks away moisture so keeps you dry. It is naturally flame retardant. There are different types of wool. The softest are best for using against the skin. The courser types are fine as an outside layer. Felted wool is awesomely warm and keeps out the elements pretty well. So, let’s explore wool!

Wool doesn’t just come from sheep. Wool is a “blanket” term for animal fiber from sheep, goats, rabbits, camels, llamas, alpaca, bison, and yak! I have only had the luxury of working with sheep, rabbit, goat and alpaca wool. I would love to feel the other fibers! Maybe one day!

This goes with me just about everywhere when it gets cool out! I love it. My friend so kindly thought of me when she saw it at a garage sale. It was a couple of dollars. It is so beautiful and so warm. It is on my lap in the car or sitting around a fire or indoors when it is cool. I have worn it as a shawl and used it as a blanket. It is made of sheep’s wool. This is not super soft but it doesn’t matter as it is on the outside! You want the softest against your skin. On that note, I will first talk about base layers.

Base Layers

My husband works outside. He was the first to get a base layer of woolens. He loved them. A couple of years ago we went on a cool weather camping trip. That inspired me to get the rest of the family a base layer. My babies I have clothed in wool for the last 11 years. I cloth diapered my last two children and used wool covers. I crocheted many and bought some too. I made them sweaters and repurposed adult clothing into clothing for my children. I really enjoy working with wool. Silk and alpaca are lovely too for warmth. I will talk more about that in a bit. I purchased my husband’s base layers from Meriwool. They are merino woolens. Soft and warm. Nice fitting. I purchased mine and my childrens from Mama Owl. They have scrumptious colors and are incredibly soft made with merino and silk. The fit however was disappointing. They are limited in sizes and the tops were way too short for my liking. I have contacted the store owner to request more sizes and suggested lengthening the tops. They said they do not have the demand and were changing the tops length. I still wear them but not as often as my Meriwool. I had tried my husband’s top on one day and loved the fit. My daughter grew out of hers so I purchased Meriwool for her as well. She gets quite cold so I want her to be warm when outdoors for the cold months. She started wearing them for soccer, then just outside play. She wears them as pajamas all the time. Our family gets a lot of use out of these! They are not cheap but are worth it in my opinion. You only need one set per person and they can be handed down if cared for properly. You can hand wash or wash on the delicate cycle on cold and air dry. They are not difficult to care for. I used to hand wash all my woolens. I rarely do these days. They come out fine for me in the wash as described previously. We keep a rack near the pellet stove to dry them. That keeps moisture in the air if you use a wood stove or pellet stove to heat.

I like to be warm. I am not a big fan of synthetics. Wool is naturally flame retardant as I previously mentioned. When I think of synthetic fibers I think of napalm. Plastic…fleece pajamas or sheets or blankets…God forbid you have any of that on you and are in a fire. It is essentially like having melting plastic on your skin. I typically have a wool blanket in every bedroom. Not only are they warm, but if ever needed, you could cover and exit a fire with some protection. Win win. Sorry, that was a bit dark but it is true. I found a box of wool blankets at an estate sale for next to nothing. I look for wool clothing at the the thrift stores. Sometimes you can felt them to make things like mittens or slippers. I like to make jumpers or overalls for my littles. I tend to use softer woolens for the kids. You can make vests or coats after felting knits for little ones. You can make patchwork blankets as well. I like to get them as inexpensive as possible if I am going to cut them up. Some thrift shops have dollar days or bag sales. Some have different color tags that are half off. I gather to have a stash as I see them since finding things at a thrift store can be random one needs to frequent and look to find treasures.

Upcycles

Here are a couple of sweaters I repurposed into jumpers for my children. One is merino and one is cotton and angora. These were nothing too complicated to make. The purple one I cut off the sleeves and top part, added some elastic to cinch the waist and added the front and straps. I crocheted around it in wool to give a nice finish and unify. The striped one was similar. I cut off the arms and cinched the waist with a crocheted rope woven through. I gathered the sides a little and the front top. I again crocheted around to finish it nicely and unify. I love polka dots and pickets if you haven’t already noticed 😉

This overall was from an old wool sweater with holes in it I got for free at a thrift shop. The legs are made from the sleeves. I put them together with the waist band upside down and crocheted the top with either merino or angora. More polka dots 😉 I lanolized this and it doubled as a diaper cover for cloth diapering.

Here are some diaper covers I made from wool and lanolized them. I buy undyed wool at Knitpicks for these.

Here are some bought covers that we used. These are both merino and are lovely.

Here is that blanket again and more sheep and alpaca wool in my little ones sweater. My husband is not sure where this coat came from but it is wool. He thinks it might have been his father’s hunting coat. It is currently on my sewing table to be mended. I am thinking about adding a liner of some of those old wool sweaters I keep.

Custom Makes

Here are a couple pics of a custom sweater I made for my daughter. Alpaca for the main & sheep for the color work.

The first two rows here are custom sweaters for my children made from sheep wool. The bottom sweater is made from alpaca wool. I most often use alpaca or merino now with the exception of color work. I use finger weight palette yarn from Knitpicks for my color work. The bonnet of golden rod is also alpaca. The color is ”daisy” and is fingering weight.

Alpaca Cloud Fingering Weight Yarn

Bare Hare Merino & Angora Yarn

Palette Peruvian Highland Wool Yarn

Simply Alpaca Aran Yarn

Wool of the Andes Worsted Yarn

I don’t use patterns exactly…as in not a sweater or hat pattern. When I crochet I use basic patterns to get a desired look and shape as I go using whomever it is for to see how big it needs to be. These are the books I use in that way. I do on occasion use a regular pattern. I love these books. They have a visual pattern, a written pattern as well as a finished swatch image. These are great books. Some of my stitches and such have just come over time using various techniques in actual patterns. Everything I do is not in these books.

One more upcycle! A teddy bear made from an old woolen suit jacket. There are so many things you could make!

I hope this has you thinking warm thoughts! I am cold at this very moment. I am working on getting over sickness and am looking forward to my flannel night gown with my woolen leggings underneath right now! Plus a nice warm blanket over top. I have not yet made a woolen quilt but it is in my head for the future. I would like to make wool patchwork quilts for each bed in the cold months. I have more ”want to makes” than I probably could create in this lifetime but maybe just maybe I will get it done! I hope this has inspired you and will help you and yours be warm!

Strawberries

Posted on September 7, 2022September 7, 2022 by ginamcmanig

Who doesn’t love strawberries? We eat fairly seasonally here so each new thing is exciting! We have planted strawberries in the past and have not had a great experience. Today, I will talk about how and why we grow strawberries the way we do now. Let’s go back in time shall we…it was 1973… just kidding. I wasn’t born yet. Okay, around 6 years ago we readied 3 long beds for strawberries. I marked them and my husband tilled and tilled and tilled. Our soil here is boney as they call it. That means there are lots of rocks. Some are very large. In these parts we need what is called a rear tine tiller. Our friends kindly lent us theirs. If you are not sure what a tiller does, it basically chops up the grass weeds and loosens the soil for planting. The rows were a couple of feet wide by I am not sure how long…maybe 30 or 40 feet? We planted a few different varieties. The strawberries filled in with weeds before long. We had mulched them with hay. That was a bad idea. Hay contains seeds and seeds sprout. It was a big fat mess. Besides the hay seeds and other seeds that are airborne that land and grow, there are some plant roots that are extremely hardy. Plants can grow back from the roots especially when growing with this method. We still keep one long bed (a different one) with strawberries directly in the ground. We have a couple of hundred berries in and around a bed with gooseberries, blueberries, and currants. We do mulch this bed with sawdust and wood chips but it still fills in pretty quickly with weeds. This bed was kind of an overflow area for extra strawberry plants. I figured they would be a good fit for around the other berries. We already mulched the row. It was easy to pop some plants in between the bushes. This bed is harder to maintain. The weeds not only come if from above but also below. They are spread everywhere by seed but also in a bed like this from underneath via roots. Every year we deal with this. Now if you are planting just one little bed of strawberries, it may be no big deal for you. If you happen to already have a large garden to tend, an orchard, animals, homeschool, etc…ease matters. There is only so much time in the day.

Last year we added 8 new raised beds around the perimeter of the garden for strawberries. This has been a nice amount of our family. This area tightly fit 200 plants. I crammed 25 plants in each bed. That was too tight and not necessary but I had a lot.

Strawberries make lots of babies via runners. These are little baby plants that grow from the main plants. So leaving room is better as they will fill in quickly with runners. Once your beds are filled you can pinch off runners and stick the nubby part into water and they will form roots. You can give these away or sell them. They produce A LOT of runners so I like to give them away but it would be a nice thing to do for a farmers market. Planting the runners after they are rooted for sale.

Considerations for planting: strawberry plants need a watering source. They do significantly better when watered on a regular basis. I have some that I cannot reach with my hose and they are kind of a we get what we get bed. They do not produce as well. Blueberries, gooseberries, and currants have done fine without watering here where we live. We have a lot of plants to tend and some are far from a water source. Since I can’t reach them with the hose, I heavily mulch them. I had planned to irrigate them eventually but sometimes things change.

Planting in a bed: you can use whatever you have available to you. You do not need to go out and buy beds unless you want to. You can make beds out of anything. They do well in full sun. You could plant them on the south facing side of your home. I prefer to utilize this space for figs since it is a very warm place and I have other spaces for berries. But the reason I mention planting along the house is for ease. The house acts as one side of the bed so you only need to build up the other sides. Depending on how you are going to make your beds, I recommend either weed whacking short and sheet mulching or taking up the sod over tilling.

Our beds were an experiment that turned out well. I sheet mulched by putting a wheel barrow or two of sawdust in the bottom on top of the barrier. Next we added chicken bedding with manure mixed in that had been in the coop over the winter. Not composted but ready to clean out from using the deep litter method over the winter. We put a wheel barrow or two of this in each bed next. Then we added compost to plant directly in. The stuff underneath will do a couple of things. It will hold moisture and it will break down over time and feed the plants. I wasn’t sure how this would work but it worked very well!

There is another reason to plant in a bed. Strawberry plants can be a pain to deal with in terms of life expectancy. Having to figure out a way to collect runners for new plants and swap them out is not something I wanted to deal with. Instead, every couple of years you can mulch them thickly and the strongest plants come up. A bed helps contain the mulch. You do not need a very deep bed. In fact too deep a bed with too high of walls can result in moldy berries from them not getting enough air flow.

You can make a bed out of anything you have. For around the house, we use rocks we gathered when digging holes for fruit trees. They were plentiful!

You can’t tell in this picture but, this is a bed of summer bearing raspberries.

This is the same bed two years prior from a different angle. See what happens when we plant food! We get food!

So this bed is utilizing the house behind it. In this bed, my husband trimmed very short. We should have taken the sod off because there was an invasive plant beneath that has continued to push through. Next, we laid heavy cardboard and lined with rocks. Then we mulched thickly. When I planted, I pushed away the wood chips and put soil in that spot. This was for raspberries and elderberries. I don’t recommend this method for strawberries. They would need soil as I described above. You can see from the picture, it worked well.

In addition to lots of fresh eating, we froze a lot of strawberries this year. We also made fruit leather with applesauce and strawberries, crumbles, muffins, ice cream. In previous years I have made jam as well and sorbet.

Here is a pan muffin and crumble recipe I made this year. I just substituted the blackberries with strawberries. I use whole grain spelt flour in the muffin recipe. The cobbler recipe is grain free. If you want it paleo, you can substitute the butter with coconut oil with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of nutritional yeast for a butter flavor.

Strawberry muffin bread & Strawberry crumble.

It was always a dream of mine to have my children be able to go outside and eat good food. And that, they do. We have planted food all over the place for that reason. Planting food is a small investment monetarily speaking. It definitely costs more in time and energy but look at what you get! Manufactured food is not grown for the same purpose. It is manufactured for profit. Where there is profit, there will not be the same thoughts in production. For example growing large quantities of food can mean using pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc to produce. Organic producers still use some but they have to be approved. The berries are picked and washed and packaged and shipped. There are a lot of things that can happen in that process. This year there was a hepatitis ”breakout” with organic strawberries. Kind of scary. I prefer growing my own hands down. Then I know every bit of what goes in and how they are processed. Things can happen at home too, but this gives me more control over my food supply.

Picking berries for breakfast after a rain in pajamas. Talk about fresh food!

She had just picked a snack here of strawberries.

I started this post months ago when we were picking. Now it is almost fall and we have lots of runners so I can finish my post. This is the fun part. As I said before, strawberries produce a lot of babies. If you have a friend that has strawberries, ask for some runners! There is enough time now to grow the roots and plant them before winter so they can be established to make it through the winter.

In the center of this photograph is a little baby strawberry plant. You can see the nubs of roots beginning.

Here are a handful I pulled out to root. The one with the big roots had already planted itself in soil outside a bed. They like to spill out over the beds…like young adults trying to find their own way, lol. You can see the roots are at various stages.

I gathered the runners in my hand so that the roots were all together and put them in water. These will not take long to root. I will update when they have enough roots to plant. Before I ripped these young-ins away from their mothers, momma was feeding them from her roots. Placing them in water helps their roots to grow prior to planting. If you have your own strawberries already you can ”catch” these guys buy putting a container with soil underneath it and setting the root nubs on top. It will establish roots with very little effort from you. Once it has done so, you cut the line from the mother, and plant where you want it or give away.

Now, go get yourself some runners! They are free if you have a friend with strawberries that is willing to share. One main reason for this post is for folks I will be giving away runners to. You only need a temporary place to plant them in the ground once they root. You can mulch them for the winter and move them once they wake up in the spring. So, you do not need a bed ready right now if that is your chosen method. I do recommend planting them in the ground as soon as possible so they can spread out before the ground freezes. At the peak of picking, we were getting about 16 cups a day this year. That was a huge blessing for our family. We planted these last year. That is a great turn around if you ask me. We were picking a few times a day last year in small quantities for snacks…the same year we planted! We do NOT pick flowers off our plants the first year. We have way too many to do that. Besides, we ate the berries instead 😉 They were delicious. I hope I have inspired you to plant some strawberries! Cheers!

Peanut Butter Popsicles

Posted on July 7, 2022July 7, 2022 by ginamcmanig

Hello! This will be another quick post. I have recently started making yogurt again after a break. With that yogurt I can make peanut butter popsicles! My children love these. Okay…we all love these! They are super simple and require only a few ingredients. Actual individual ingredients. It always drove me nuts looking for recipes online to find ingredients with ingredients when I was trying to look for simple recipes that were decently healthy. Now, I am not calling this healthy but it is simple and not full of additives.

Folks looking for an exact recipe, hold on to your seats! This will not be that! I do not measure, but I will give you an idea. The ingredients I use are peanut butter, plain yogurt, maple syrup and a pinch or two of salt. I make my own peanut butter and do not add salt which is why I add it in the recipe. If you are using peanut butter that is salted, omit the salt.

I use approximately 1 quart of plain yogurt, around a cup of peanut butter, and pure maple syrup to taste plus a pinch or two of salt for depth of flavor. I blend these up in my blender. That is the first part. One you blend that up, pour it into a popsicle mold but do not fill to the top. The recipe gets yummier in a moment when we make what I call peanut butter caramel.

Okay, on to the caramel! This is also super simple. Take about a cup of peanut butter and add some maple syrup to taste plus a pinch or two of salt if using plain peanut butter. Mix these up and add blobs to the already filled mold. This is why you needed to leave some space. Also freezing does expand the liquid contents.

Sorry for the fuzzy photo. I didn’t see that it came out that way until it was too late to retake. I used it anyway because I wanted to show you what it looks like! Next, put the top on the mold and add popsicle sticks. Lastly, put them in the freezer. It is that simple!

I had left over mixtures so added them to my favorite Kerr jars for individual ice creams and sorbets. I also love these for jams and jellies. They are short and squatty which makes them easier to stack on shelves. I will provide a link below for everything I used here. Don’t forget to leave space for expansion when using glass in the freezer. You also need to use straight jars. Not doing so can result in broken glass and wasted food.

The fuzzy pictures were from the way I angled the camera with the sunlight apparently. Here is what I had left over using these 8 ounce jars. I put lids on them and popped them in the freezer. Done! Nut butters make fantastic ice cream bases because of the fat content. They make ice cream rich and creamy. They are also a nice source of protein. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Woven Raised Garden Bed

Posted on July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by ginamcmanig

Hello folks! This will be a quick post to share about a bed that I made this morning. I have wanted to make a woven bed for years. Probably about 10 years actually. If you knew what was going on in my life, this might seem a little crazy. I have wanted to make this specific bed for a year. As soon as I finish a project another idea comes to me. Last year I added the perimeter of strawberry beds as you can see in the photos.

Baskets are so aesthetically pleasing and satisfying to make. Well folks, this is a essentially a basket for dirt. I have been struggling with something and woke at 3am this morning. Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to get up and take care of the pile of dishes in the sink and tidy up some. I threw a load of wash in and did some other work until about 9am. I started thinking about making this bed again a week or so ago. I thought it could be something fun and functional to do with my little one. I decided to instead do this for therapy for myself today.

Instead of going out to the woods to find wood, I used my blackberry canes from last year that were dead for stakes. I weed-whacked the area as short as I could prior to starting. I cut the stakes with these clippers. These were the only tools needed.

I pounded the stakes in with a mallet every 6-8 inches forming a curve as I went. I added a couple at a time to each side to watch the line come together nicely. This curved shape was going to be made with rocks as you can see in the picture a couple above. We had pulled a few big rocks from out back to use last year but stopped there.

Once all the stakes were in, I got some old cotton things that I had saved for using as landscaping fabric to block out the sun from the grass and weeds below. I laid the barrier down and started weaving my walls. I used an old pillow case, some curtains and a sheet. Any natural fabric will do.

In the spring we pruned our grapes and saved the vines to use for something. I did not have this in mind then. I thought about maybe making harvesting baskets or a garden sculpture. I have more left so may do something more with them later. These vines were lovely to use and I love the look of them.

Here you can see the bed with some grape vines woven in the front.

Here is a close up of the weave. I love the little curly Q’s.

This shows most if the weaving done.

Next, my husband delivered me some wood chips via the wheelbarrow. I shoveled out the entire load as a base layer for the bed. To give you an idea of size for reference, the end of the beds in which butt up to the woven bed are 3’.

Here she is all filled and ready to be used! It took two loads of compost in the wheel barrow courtesy of my husband to fill. He shovels in, I shovel out. This was done with zero monetary cost. Dead blackberry canes, old grapevines from pruning, free wood chips from a kind tree service, and free compost from our composted chicken bedding and manure. This took around a couple hours to complete mostly alone. I have no idea how long this will last but I was willing to take the risk for some therapy for myself. We have a whole hedge of hazelnuts that would be fantastic for weaving garden beds and so much more when they get big. Perhaps that is a post for another day. We also grow willow for basket weaving.

View from above.

I may clean this up a bit…I may not. I like the rustic look and it is functional as it is. I hope this inspires you to use what you have to make a garden bed today! Have a wonderful day!

Dehydrating The Bounty

Posted on June 24, 2022June 29, 2022 by ginamcmanig

I have been dehydrating a lot and wanted to share a bit on the process. I prefer a dehydrator to hanging herbs. The idea of dust collecting on them is off putting to me though that can be avoided. You can do a lot with a dehydrator. It is a great tool to have on a homestead. This season so far, I have used it for dehydrating parsley, rose petals, chamomile, thyme, dill, and fruit leather. I use my dehydrator year round. One of my favorite things to make in it is yogurt. My dehydrator (Excalibur) can fit 9 half gallon glass ball jars of yogurt to incubate. It stays on the counter as a kitchen staple in our home.

Parsley pulled off the stalk after dehydrating but not crushed. The leaves are left whole mostly. When I use them, I smash them in between my hands easily. They keep nicely fresh this way. I filled a half gallon jar with an almost full dehydrator. I use a lot of parsley. I will be dehydrating more.

I keep it simple. Some tips: don’t chop up your light herbs prior to dehydrating. If you do, they will end up all over the dehydrator from the the fan blowing. Wait until they are dry, then pull the leaves off the stalk in the case of parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme etc. Chives I harvest long, dehydrate, then toss in a jar. I leave what I can whole and break them up as I use them to retain freshness.

I use parsley a lot so am happy to fill the dehydrator with it. I use to buy it by the pound from Mountain Rose Herbs. If you cannot grow your own, I highly recommend theirs. The quality is excellent. Parsley is however easy to grow. If you have not done so yet, head on over to a good seed source like Baker Creek and get yourself a pack of seeds. Don’t forget to leave one plant to go to seed and you will really get your moneys worth out of that one packet of seeds! This entire bed seeded itself. It made an otherwise difficult year easy for my family. It really doesn’t have to be hard folks!

I dehydrate rose petals for tea. Rosa Rugosa Alba is a lovely addition to the homestead. They produce nice sized hips which are a good source of vitamin C. They are however invasive so do be careful of where you plant them. These can be a great natural barbwire fence in the form of a hedge or under windows as a ”pest” deterrent. Both human and animal alike would not enjoy a tangle with this bush. She is sharp indeed and doesn’t mess around! I love the alba (white) variety as it has a very subtle soft pink tint to it which can really be seen in the dried state pictured above. Also, if you haven’t made rose petal jelly yet, I highly recommend it! It is delicious!

Certain varieties of chamomile are perennials here in our zone 4-5 climate. If you need a little calm once in a while like me…grow some chamomile. In fact, I could use a cup right now! I love growing perennials. You only have to plant them once and they keep giving as long as they live. You can’t beat that! I started a couple different varieties by seed. I harvest them fresh for tea too but I have more than I can use fresh. I also want to preserve them to use throughout the year. Dehydrating allows me that luxury. I use a sheet below my chamomile especially when dehydrating with other things because they have little tiny parts that with fall below the tray otherwise. If you are doing all chamomile, it doesn’t really matter.

Strawberries…oh lovely strawberries! We grow Cavendish strawberries here. They are cold hardy and long lived. We really enjoy these berries. They are an early to mid season variety. They have been plentiful for us. Once the novelty of eating something new wears off, you start to preserve. We are still eating them fresh but grow enough to put up to enjoy throughout the year. After we made strawberry ice cream and strawberries over angel food cake, we started freezing some. We have oodles of applesauce from last fall so took about half a jar (quart) to an equal amount of berries plus a little maple syrup or cane sugar and blended. Once blended, pour on lipped mats. These are much better than the flat sheets for leather. They give the leather a nice chew because of the thickness.

Here we have dill. I use dill in different dips, dressings and preserves such as pickles. This lovely herb reseeded itself with no work from me. Are you starting to see how simple this can be? I hope so. There is something so wonderful about using something that you grew and processed. It is a beautiful experience.

These pictures are from a previous season but I wanted to include them because it is one of my favorite ways to preserve tomatoes. I dehydrate these until they are thoroughly dry then store in jars after they are cool. As needed I dip using tongs into balsamic or apple cider vinegar then place in olive oil and let them absorb the oil for a couple of days before using. These are fabulous. I prefer balsamic vinegar over apple cider but both are good. I use extra virgin olive oil. I think these taste so good…much better than fresh tomatoes do in salads or on sandwiches. Don’t get me wrong, I love regular old fresh tomatoes, but the depth of flavor is fantastic in these yummy treats. They can be made as needed through the year. I make a pint at a time. They sit right on my counter since they get used up in a short amount of time. You do have to be careful when preparing them in this way. You do not want bacteria growing in there. I use tongs to remove them from the jar. Below is a last harvest before a frost. This is a big table. She gets covered with lots of food over the summer for processing!

Here we have thyme. Another wonderful perennial where we live in zone 4-5. I have planted this all around edges as a lower growing herb that can get mowed over and keeps kicking! I enjoy thyme in my food as well so love having it around. It has many good uses medicinally too.

Well folks, there is a bit on dehydrating. These are the ways that I use a dehydrator currently. There are many other uses. You can make jerky and crackers and all sorts of things. I love this dehydrator because it has a thermostat and a timer with an automatic shut off. What does that mean? You can set it and walk away or go to bed. In my opinion this type of dehydrator is much more efficient that the stackable types. I have used both and they do not compare. The Excalibur design dries much more evenly. I do still rotate the trays depending on what I am drying but find it to be a great addition to our homestead! I can make a post on making yogurt in there another time. Below are the exact tools I personally use and recommend. I hope I have inspired you to add dehydrating to your homestead! Enjoy!

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Growing Food

Posted on June 17, 2022June 17, 2022 by ginamcmanig

I would like to talk about the importance of growing our own food. With the way our world is, it is so important. I don’t care how much money you have to buy all the “organic” food in the world. Unless you know the farmer, you don’t really know what you are getting. With that said, props to all the true organic farmers out there. When a product is sold, it is done so to bring in money. As you have seen on your grocers shelves you can find many ”natural” and organic foods these days. This is very simply supply and demand. People have spoken with their dollars and companies are meeting those demands. I love seeing more of this…BUT, there are so many benefits to growing your own. Gardening isn’t for everyone…but everyone eats 😉 It is such a great skill to have and to teach our children.

I love using these cattle panels to make arches for growing vines such as melons, squash, and cucumbers. These save space and create nice visual interest in a garden. My children love to play underneath them.

Are you are interested in growing food but don’t know where to start? Maybe you have a lot of questions and feel that you don’t know what you are doing? Maybe just the thought is overwhelming? BUT, oh how you would love to have fresh food readily available! If this sounds like you, this post is for you. Our fears stop us from many things in our life. When you think of gardening maybe the word fear doesn’t come to mind. Essentially those thoughts I mentioned, if we pick them apart, may come down to some fears. Maybe that fear is messing up? Perhaps wasting time? Maybe it is wasting money? Maybe it is simply not a high priority for you? And let us all be grateful for grocery stores and farmers markets for the times in our lives when we need them! Sometimes we just have so many questions we don’t move forward. It may not be a priority for your family. It is for mine.

We live in a culture that believes we need to be an expert in order to do things. That mentality stops us in some cases from believing in ourselves. It leaves us thinking we have to know everything in order to try something new. Well friends, I am here to tell you that you do not need a masters degree to grow food. You don’t need a bachelors, nor an associates. Plants are awesome and amazing in their ability to keep on keeping on. There is that. I will explain that further shortly. Also, there is a lot of value in learning through trial and error. A lot. If the thought of growing food is overwhelming because you think you don’t know what you are doing, please, read on.

Different varieties of kale and mustard greens.

I really want to encourage you to start. Just start. If you never plant it…whatever it may be, it will never grow. It doesn’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to be an expert. In fact, I am going to talk about how easy gardening can be here in this post. Yes, gardens take work. No doubt about that. Today I am going to share with you how I garden and why I chose these methods. I have had several gardens. By far, my favorite, is having raised beds. I chose this after getting pregnant with my last child and not being able to keep up with the garden. Then, guess what happened next? I had a baby, lol. I could not keep up with a garden. That garden was a big fat mess full of weeds after such neglect. You do not need raised beds to garden. There is nothing wrong with having a garden directly in the ground! You can do it any way you like! But this is my preferred method. It comes with some great benefits like no tilling and many others when you get them established. Beds have more upfront work but once they are done, are so much easier in my opinion. The benefits of the upfront set up far exceed the extra work for me.

The first thing I did was think about how I could make beds with very little money. The thought of metal beds came from learning about growing sweet potatoes. They like heat. We happen to have zero shade and sweet potatoes do well here. Metal beds would help heat up the soil. I started looking for materials and read up on safety. I had a friend that had some old corrugated roofing buried under some brush on his property. He kindly gave it to us. We bought some rough cut lumber at an Amish mill locally and got to work. I marked the metal and my husband cut it with his circular saw (blade in backwards) while I hid behind a garage door. I really enjoy working with wood but was afraid of cutting metal for sure! Do be careful if you go this route. We used rough cut hemlock wood as it was the best we could afford at the time. I don’t recommend hemlock. It weathered very quickly. Cedar would have been a better choice but it was out of our reach at the time. Use what you have and do what you gotta do. We built the beds 6’L x 3’W x 16”D. We worked with the dimensions the metal pieces were. They were double that high so cut them in half. We were able to build 6 beds for very little money.

These beds with wood are the first beds we built as of last year. They are still functional but are starting to fall apart. One could just get some cedar and replace the wood. That would not be hard to do. You can see there is some duct tape on the end bed here. There were some sharp holes that I covered up for safety to keep little fingers out.

So we started with six beds. The following year I found metal beds almost the same size except they were only a foot deep. We bough 12 more beds over the year as we could. There was a great sale after the first six. I think we paid around $40 a bed for the first six and $30 something each for the next six with an even better sale. These beds were so much easier! They are all metal so should hold up much longer. I put them together alone with ease and placed them where I wanted them. Every year we invest in something that will feed us. Fruit trees or berry bushes or canes…for a couple of years we invested in beds as we could. At that point we then had 18 raised beds. I absolutely love raised beds. They have no bottom. We weedwhacked very short and placed them on the ground. I then put a barrier down to kill the grass and such. I love using old cotton or wool clothing or bedding for this. I don’t use any synthetics. We save our old clothing, sheets and towels through the year for this purpose. We use it as landscaping fabric. It is much better than the plastic stuff especially when growing food. Thick 6 mil plastic is fine for inbetween beds or rows to keep the weeds down as well as killing off an area prior. I hope to eventually add flat rock with thyme in between where the grass has been killed off for less maintenance. Back to the beds! You can also use cardboard in the bottom of the beds before filling. Just be sure to trim the grass very low first. Fabric lasts much longer than cardboard and newspaper and I prefer it. Covering weakens the plants so they die off easier. Think of what happens to newspaper when it gets wet vs laundry coming out of your washer. Fabric is much stronger. Thick cardboard works well too. The key is covering it deeply enough. Both things will rot over time. But if done well, it will kill the plants below.

Depending on the depth of your beds, you may want to add some old wood if you can. Wood such as that found in the forest. You don’t want to use treated lumber in your bed…or outside your bed when growing food in my opinion. Grab a wheelbarrow and gather old rotted wood to put as your first layer of your new beds. If you don’t have access to this, grab a tote or feed sack and head to some state land or a neighbors or family members home. You might also find branches and things out at the curb on certain days for brush removal in a neighborhood. You could call your local DPW to find out when. Maybe you have a refuse center with piles available? We live in the country and have woods so we just go out back and gather. Find some wood that will fit in the dimensions of your bed. Old rotten wood is wonderful. This layer will continue to breakdown and will offer your plants moisture from underneath. I like to top the wood with a layer of old leaves and twigs after that.

Next we add soil. I have two favorite soil sources. The forest floor, or our old composted chicken bedding with manure all throughout. So to recap thus far: Make a bed. Cover the floor of the bed with a natural material that will block out light from the grass. Add some old rotted wood. Top with old leaves and twigs, fill with soil. If you have to buy soil, this will get expensive fast. Find what you can from other sources. Someone may have a big old pile of composted manure that they would love for you to get rid of. Ask around. Post in community groups.

American Hazelnuts in lower right corner started from seed.

WAYS TO MAKE GARDENING EASIER:

RAISED GARDEN BEDS

Raised garden beds make life a lot easier. My beds are 6’x3’. I really like this size. I can easily reach in from any side to weed. In a bed style of planting, you plant closer together so fit much more food in a smaller space. For example, if a plant needs 6” in between each other, in a traditional garden, you would have one row of that plant with 6” in between then lots of space in between the rows to walk and harvest. In a bed, you plant that same plant 6” in both directions…no rows. This method can be done directly in the ground or in a raised bed.

I realize some do not have the means or capability to grow food. Gardening is physical work. Putting up food is work. Both of these things take time. However, there are methods that can make gardening easier and preserving faster. Gardens can be made to accommodate physical challenges. For those with ground to plant in that have physical difficulty, perhaps raised beds would help. You can make beds deep and use a garden bench to sit while gardening. Everyone is going to be different in this regard but if you really want to garden, find a way if possible. Perhaps someone without the ground to plant in would be willing to do the work on your land and share the bounty.

If you do not have your own ground to plant in, ask a neighbor or friend or family member. Maybe look into starting a community garden. Sometimes grants can be found for these kinds of things. Maybe your community already has a community garden. Where there is a will, there is a way!

This year has been a particularly difficult one for me. Planting was not super high on the priority list. I planted only two flats (72 cell). And then only added to what was already there. This is big folks.

LEAVE A PLANT
One of my best tips for easy gardening is leaving one of each plant to go to seed. Don’t pull it out in the fall. Leave that baby alone! Resist the urge to clean out the garden. Because raised beds are not tilled, the plants freely seed themselves into the beds and you do nothing! They pop up in the spring with zero effort from you. You can then do what you choose with them. You can rearrange if you desire or leave them or give them away. This year I had parsley, cilantro, dill, mizuna, kale, lettuce, red mustard greens, borage, Swiss chard, carrots, garlic, chives, tomatoes, nasturtiums, and sunflowers already growing in my garden. Let me tell you, this was a Godsend for our family. This is the way these plants were designed to grow! It doesn’t need to be hard folks! I filled in the open spaces with seeds and rearranged some. This took very little work. Gardening does NOT have to be hard.

From left to right: Gooseberries, blueberries, raspberries.

So folks, I would like to offer you encouragement to START GROWING! Start growing in whatever way you can! It doesn’t need to be ”perfect”…you just need to start! It is okay if things don’t go exactly as planned. I hope this offers you some inspiration to grow some food! It is wonderful walking outside and gathering your own home grown food! Happy planting!