Garden

March Garden Chores

March 1, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Y’all!!! Spring is here! Well, that depends on which meteorological or astronomical seasons. But regardless, spring is either here or coming up soon! Can you tell I’m excited? The spring garden doesn’t usually do well for us here in the Southeastern US. But there is still a ton of stuff to do and I’m here to give you my March garden chores so that you can prepare your garden.

Are you getting overwhelmed in the garden? Stressed? Or just not enjoying the garden like you used to? Check out our garden prompts! We send out weekly emails that get you back in the garden and out of your head! Turn the garden back into a place of love and joy instead of frustration and headache!

Subscribe Now!

March Garden Chores

March starts the crazy season for us on the homestead. But the March garden chores can be broken down into 3 main categories: seeding the garden, cultivating the beds, and building the garden. This is also the same time that I am still gathering any tools that I may need that I didn’t get in February. While that may seem kind of lame after I just said it’s a crazy season, but keep reading and I’ll explain.

Seeding The Garden

This is hands down the most time consuming thing when it comes to the garden. Not only does it take a lot of time, it also takes a lot of mental energy. You’ve got to figure out how many seeds you are going to start, how many cups you have, how much space you have, etc.

For me, I use Seedtime to help me figure out exactly how many seeds to plant and when to start them. Seedtime has definitely made my weekly garden task list easier to manage and less of a guessing game. The garden planning feature is great on it’s own, but I tend to throw my plan out the window during the height of planting….. It’s something I’m working on.

If you are interested in learning more about my favorite garden planner. I highly recommend Seedtime! This planner has been instrumental in helping me plan out my gardens with WAY more efficiency than I could ever expect! It has also reduced overwhelm, stress, and calmed my ADD/ADHD!

More Info!

The other big part about seeding the garden is making sure that I actually have plenty of stuff to start seeds. This year, we are selling plant starts, so not only am I starting all of our seeds for our family and farmer’s market produce, but I’m also starting seeds for plant sales.

That means I need to make sure that I have plenty of pots, trays, seeds, soil, and compost. I use these seed trays, these pots, and these carry trays from Bootstrap Farmer for our personal plants and farmer’s market produce. I use these pots from Grower’s Solution for all of our plant starts that we are selling.

Cultivating Garden Beds

This is going to look different from year to year depending on your own beds. This year, we completely changed our big garden. We are installing raised beds throughout the garden to help build the soil faster. There were a lot of reasons that went into building raised beds, but at the end of the day, we now have to cultivate them.

What is cultivating? In short, it’s just preparing the beds for planting. That may look like breaking the soil just enough to be able to get your plants in there, pulling weeds, or amending beds.

In the kitchen garden, cultivating looks like taking a couple loads of goat bedding and soil to each bed and filling them up a bit more.

In the big garden, we won’t start cultivating beds until closer to April. This is mostly due to the fact that we haven’t gotten them built yet…. oops.

But the biggest part about cultivating is making sure that all the weeds are out, leaves from fall are moved to the compost pile, and you are ready to plant.

Are you looking for garden journal prompts, but aren’t interested in a weekly email? Check out our 365 Garden Journal Prompts! This is an amazing, all in one, yearly product that you only pay for once.

Buy Now!

Building The Garden

If you are in March, your garden should already be built. BUT if you’re anything like us, you are probably still building your garden because the timeline got pushed until the breaking point. In our defense, we both work full time jobs, homeschool and February-April is kidding season. So we are slammed trying to get everything done.

We start planting our gardens around April 15th, pending a frost free 10 day forecast, which means every single bed must be built, filled and prepped by April 1st. If we are not building beds, like in our kitchen garden, it looks like repairs, cleaning up, adding compost, soil, or animal bedding.

Building the garden also looks like fencing, gates, seating areas, trellising, and other supports. So even if you aren’t building beds, you may need to be thinking about and sourcing these items. We may not be able to get the gates installed, so we will end up falling back on using pallets. That means that I need to get ahold of pallets and gate hardware. Or figuring out how to get cattle panels to the farm and then up up for trellising.

Our big garden is also getting a gazebo/ pergola this year. In fact, we can’t even finish building the back left side of the garden until the gazebo is built. We are doing this to make sure that we have PLENTY of space between beds and aren’t trying to squeeze things where they don’t fit.

Gathering Tools

Everyone is different when it comes to their planting times. That means that you may not be ready to start seeds yet. But you still need to start gathering up any tools, pots, soil, compost, seeds, etc. If you are a new gardener, you may not know exactly what tools you need. Or maybe you’re not ready to start your own seeds. That’s totally cool.

The main tools that you will need are a good set of pruners (I prefer Fiskars brand). There are a ton of different kinds of pruners, but getting a small and larger set will get you started. I would also suggest getting at least two… you will lose them.

I would also suggest a good set of hand tools. I’m not saying you should get this set, but I would suggest that you get at least the hand trowel, cultivator and large trowel.

March Garden Chores: Planting!

For us, we are usually able to start planting stuff in March. I’ll be planting carrots, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower around the first of the month. Hopefully, our cool nights will allow us to actually get a harvest….

What are your March garden chores?

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

What Does Homestead Mean?

February 27, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

There is no hard fast definition for what homestead means. For some people a homestead means completely off grid with no reliance on anyone but themselves. Others believe that homesteading means growing their own vegetables. But as time goes on, the meaning changes for those people as well. Regardless of what this means to others, I am going to tell you what homesteading means to me and what it has come mean as well.

The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!

Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!

Includes:
✅ Schedule F Tracker – Simplify tax prep
✅ Profit Calculator – Track earnings
✅ Hay Calculator – Plan livestock feed
✅ Garden Journal – Digital & printable
✅ Herd Health Tracker – Monitor animal care
✅ Simple Budget – Manage finances
✅ Backyard Homestead eBook – Essential tips

$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!

Buy Now

What Does Homestead Mean

Well, the formal definition of homestead I pulled from Oxford Dictionary is:

“A house, especially farm, and outbuildings.”

The good thing about that definition is that it’s as broad and vague as how homesteaders, or aspiring homesteaders define homesteading.

Really, any piece of property can be a homestead! You don’t HAVE to have hundreds of acres. You can homestead on a city lot or out in the country.

What Does Homestead Mean To Me?

At first, homesteading meant a way to take care of my family without relying so much on others. The thought of being at the mercy of grocery stores to have my food was slightly worrisome. If we couldn’t get food, where would we be? Not having access meat, veggies, fruit, dog or cat food, has the potential for disaster. There were a ton of holes in our food security.

It meant learning skills and building a legacy for my children. Things like building barns, fences, and gardens. It meant learning how to cook from scratch.

Learning Skills Ma Ingle Would Have Been Proud Of

From scratch cooking is surprisingly easy. I wonder if we were raised to believe that it was so much harder so that there was more reliance on boxed and canned meals. Since being on the homestead, we have learned a ton when it comes to cooking, canning, and other food related skills.

Homesteading can mean bringing animals into this world, learning how to milk and make cheese and processing animals. It means learning to depend on yourself in ways that you never really valued or thought you could do.

I learned that if I can raise my own hens, I can get eggs that I don’t have to go to the store for. I could raise my own meat birds and rabbits to help save on meat costs. Also, I learned that if I learn to preserve those things, I can have them on stand by and make everything easier.

Sometimes meanings change

But as time has gone by and the continued strain on our supply chain, homestead has come to mean other things as well. It means being prepared and stocking up on items that we use a lot of: coffee, tea, noodles, canning jars and lids, and other necessities. Making sure that we have enough supplies if another snow storm hits. Will we have plenty of firewood, canned food, and fuel for the chainsaws and other equipment?

If you are a farmer/ homesteader and looking for a way to track your income and expenses, I highly recommend our Schedule F Tracker! We have been using it for years and it is the easiest, fastest and best way that we have found to keep track of the money spent on the homestead.

Buy Now

Homesteading means community. We realize that we are stronger together and we stand with our neighbors when times are good and we help pick them up when they have hard times. It’s knowing that they will stand with us in our hard times too.

It has also come to mean finding random eggs in the hay barn, playing with goats, and impatiently awaiting the arrival of Champ’s babies.

Update: She gave us a beautiful doeling that we named Stella.

It means caring for the new chicks that will not only give us eggs but also lay our next meat chickens. Homesteading means learning new skills, facing challenges, and not giving up. It means doing the things you thought you couldn’t, only to realize that you are more than capable of building fences, buildings, and fixing all the things.

Poor Champ is uncomfortable as she comes to the end of her pregnancy.

What Homesteading Doesn’t Mean

I can tell you that homesteading doesn’t mean judging others. Whether you have a quarter acre in the city or a hundred acres in the country, you are still homesteading regardless of if you purchase your food from a grocery store or farmers market, or if you grow your own.

It doesn’t mean being unaffected when creatures die or need to be butchered. For some people, taking the life of a chicken is okay, but it still affects them in some way, even if it’s only gratitude.

The Hay Calculator:

If you aren’t math-y (don’t worry I’m not either), check out our Hay Calculator. It literally does ALL of the math for you and gives you totals based on what you want your goals.

On the second page, you can track where you’ve bought hay, what you spent and how long it lasted.

Buy the Hay Calculator

Homesteading doesn’t mean easy. There is no part of this life that is easy. If you are hauling lumber for a barn or feed to your animals, homesteading is hard work. It can be heart and back breaking when you have to put down your favorite bottle baby because she got sick.

You can’t be lazy and a homesteader. There is simply too much to do. Gardening, canning, working with livestock and more, there is not a ton of downtime. But when you see the fruits of your labor? It’s worth every aching joint, pulled muscle, cut and bruise.

What Does Homestead Mean?

I don’t know that homesteading has a meaning. I think homesteading is a spirit. It’s the spirit of being less dependent on the power grids, grocery stores, and other commodities. These people who want to homestead do it because they want to be independent. Whether that is a completely or partially independent, is not the point. Homesteaders simply want to take care of themselves and their community. Which is what homestead means to us.

I think that as long as people want to take ownership of their little plot of land, we will keep the spirit of homesteading alive. I think as long as people desperately want to learn the skills of their ancestors, they will lead a full and productive life. And I think that as long as we are here fighting for our community and independence, we will see the resurgence of a way of life that mixes the old with the new. And we will be better for it.

What does homesteading mean to you?

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

How To Fill A Raised Bed For Cheap

February 10, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

If you are looking to build raised beds, you may be wondering how to fill a raised bed. Or you’ve already done some calculations and wrote off raised beds because they are so expensive. But I’m going to walk you through how we fill our raised beds and how it doesn’t have to be THAT expensive.

Subscribe Now!

How To Fill A Raised Bed For Cheap

First, there are a ton of different ways to fill a raised bed. You can go expensive with a ton of soil, or you can fill it with various organic materials. I’m going to walk you through how we fill our 4ft wide x 20ft long x 2ft tall raised beds.

Using Trees To Fill A Raised Bed

Once Jared is done building the bed, I start gathering all the unusable logs on the property. We have had to take down a bunch of pines on the property. Even though we heat our home solely with firewood, we don’t burn pine in the house, but sometimes we will burn pine in the firepit. Instead, we use it in the gardens. We’ve used these pine logs as bed boarders and organic material for inside the beds.

If you are new to heating with firewood and are looking to master the finer points of it. We’ve got a great eBook that goes in depth of what tools you should consider, how and where to stack, how to build a fire and so much more!

Buy Now

These pines and other rotten logs will get put on the bottom of each bed. Usually, this will fill the beds about 50-60% with logs. If the logs aren’t very large or the bed isn’t close to half filled, we will add a second layer of logs. The goal is to completely cover the bottom half (ish) of the bed with these logs. Since trees tend to take FOREVER to breakdown, the idea is that you shouldn’t have to refill the bed that much every year.

The biggest concerns when using trees or logs to help fill your raised bed is going damaging your bed as you fill it, nitrogen depletion, and termites. Out of all of this list, the only thing I am truly worried about is damaging the bed as we fill. We use galvanized steel roofing panels for the walls of the bed and the frame is outside the bed. That means that if we just throw logs into the beds, they could damage the roof panels.

We aren’t going to have issues with termites because we use the steel roofing panels. And I’m not super worried about nitrogen depletion because we use cover crops, manure, etc to keep our soil healthy.

Smaller Branches Next

After we have placed a good layer of logs into the bed, we start filling the next 25% with sticks, branches, etc. The goal is to use as much of the “free” downed trees as possible before using expensive materials like pine shavings, compost and soil.

I don’t usually go crazy breaking these into smaller pieces. But I will jump into the bed and stomp around until they are broken. Again, I’m not going crazy here, but I want to use as much free stuff as possible so I don’t HAVE to purchase more than absolutely necessary.

If you are looking for a great way to keep track of your gardens for years to come, check out our Digital Garden Journal. It’s a digital spreadsheet that helps you manage not only your seedlings but also your seed inventories, soil testing, orchard, harvests and so much more.

Buy Now

Filling With Smaller Stuff

After I’ve gotten all the logs and branches to about 75% of the bed, I start adding the small stuff. I usually fill this to about 85%. This is the stuff that is going to breakdown very quickly. Usually, it breaks down in less than a year. What is the smaller stuff? It’s leaves, wood chips, pine shavings, etc. Again, I want to add as much free stuff as possible before I start adding my compost and soil.

My local power company drops off wood chips for us all the time so we don’t have to pay for those. And our property is mostly wooded, so we have a TON of leaves. We leave a ton of those leaves on the ground for the ecosystem but we do pick up some for the beds. But the pine shavings are my magic bullet.

We use the deep litter method for our livestock and poultry to keep them warm in the winter. So I’ve already paid for the pine shavings once. The pine shavings start to compost throughout the winter and they are “dirty” with animal poop and urine. This is great compost/ filler for my raised beds. Also, because it takes a bit longer for wood to start to fully break down, it adds structure to the soil.

Finally Adding Soil And Compost

One of the reasons that our raised beds don’t cost us a ridiculous amount to fill is because we only add about 4-6″ of soil/ compost. For our 4ftx20ft raised bed, that’s about 40cu ft of soil. Which is still a LOT, but compared to 160cu ft of soil, it’s not too bad.

The reason I don’t add more soil is because I don’t need to. Because of the animal bedding/ pine shavings, there is a ton of nutrients for the roots to grab onto.

Subscribe Now!

Lastly!

Worms! I add one or two bait cups of red wiggler or earthworms. Normally, you wouldn’t have to, and you don’t have to. But I like to kick start new garden beds with as much help as I possibly can.

When it comes to adding worms, remember, you don’t have to do this. But I have found that it helps to jump start their work. Also, having them get all that fresh soil, pine shavings, etc composting as soon as possible is amazing.

More Info!

Filling A Raised Bed FAQ:

Why Not Fill To The Top?

If you did a quick calculation, you’ll notice that the logs take up 50-60%, the sticks another 25%, and small stuff fills the bed to 85%. Soil only covers another 4-6″ bringing the total volume of the bed to about 90% full.

The reason I don’t fill the bed to the tippy top is for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t want to risk the soil sitting against the wood. Two, I don’t want to risk soil running out of the bed and causing run off. Three, I want to have a good healthy layer of mulch in the bed.

If I fill the bed to the top with soil, the mulch will not stay put and soil will sit on the ledge of the garden bed.

Buy Now!

Why Not Fill With Soil?

My beds are 4ftx20ftx2ft. This means that I would have to spend about $400+ per bed on soil. Minimum. Not to mention that if I don’t put organic matter into the soil, the soil will lose nutrients and structure.

Also, having wood in the bottom allows that all important fungi to grow even better. This improves soil quality exponentially.

Why Not Use Hay As Filler?

There are two main problems with using hay as filler. One, hay is usually sprayed with herbicides, pesticides and sometimes fungicides. That means that I am putting those -icides into my raised beds where I am trying to ENCOURAGE that growth. At worse, plants won’t grow and at best they will be stunted.

The second issue with using hay as filler is that purchasing unsprayed hay is already expensive. Using it to fill a bed seems like a waste of money in my book. That’s not to say that I won’t use spent hay that the goats have dropped. But I wouldn’t just take a bale and put it right into my beds.

There is an added inconvenience of having little hay sprouts grow in the beds. In my mind, it’s not that big of a deal, but it may be a thing for some.

Doesn’t The Soil Settle Over Time?

Yes, it does. In fact, the first year, your soil levels could drop by up to half as the soil settles and starts filling those nooks and crannies. But if you fill the bottom of the bed with logs and stack them pretty tight, you won’t lose a ton of soil.

Also, I add pine shavings, grass clippings, etc to my garden throughout the season. So even if the soil levels drop, I’m still getting fresh compost developing. It takes a while for the soil levels to settle so be prepared for the long haul. But I love my raised beds and I really enjoy having them.

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

Pre-Planting Checklist For The Garden

February 6, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

If you are a gardener, you are chomping at the bit for spring. Trust me, you are absolutely not alone. I am impatiently waiting for the day that I can put my seeds in the ground…. plus I am taking off a whole month between mid April to mid May from my “real” job. But until then I’ve got my pre-planting checklist for the garden ready to go. And I’m going to share it with you.

Buy Now!

Pre-Planting Checklist For The Garden

For every gardener, the finer details of this list is could look different. But I feel like despite your growing zone, frost dates, etc. The list is still the same. I’m going to go more in depth below, but to get the check list out of the way now. You’ll need amendments, soil tester, irrigation, quality soil or compost, tools, journal, plants/ seeds and their needs, and chairs.

Checklist For Amendments

Now, every gardener has a different philosophy and definition when it comes to amendments. To me, an amendment is something that added to the soil or seedling to encourage growth, improve soil structure, and water holding capacity. That being said, once my plants are in the ground, the only amendments I add to the soil is animal bedding and mulch. Because of that, I make sure that my soil is as top notch.

Some amendments I like to have on hand are:

Pine shavings or perlite: I personally prefer pine shavings as it will break down over time and feed the soil and soil biome as it does. Perlite doesn’t break down at all. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s not what I’m looking for in my soil.

Peat Moss: I love peat moss! When I can get my hands on good quality, organic peat moss, I have noticed a HUGE improvement in water retention.

The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!

Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!

$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!

Buy Now

Worms: When I am building a raised bed, I will add worms to to the bed. It seems odd, but I don’t want to wait for them to come on their own. I will usually add one bait cup to each bed to encourage them to start working.

Fertilizers: Now, I’m not big on adding fertilizer to my plants after they are in the ground. BUT sometimes it’s necessary. Usually, I will use fertilizers on seedlings and then once or twice after transplanting. I only use OMRI grade, natural fertilizers like Fox Farm Big Bloom, Grow Big and Tiger Bloom. The goal is for my soil to be so great that I don’t need any fertilizers.

Checklist For Soil Tests

If you already have beds or rows done, getting a soil test will help you figure out exactly what kind of amendments you need. I would not go adding a ton of amendments to your soil without a test. You don’t want to end up adding a bunch of nitrogen and end up with a huge plant that isn’t producing fruits. This is the testing kit we use.

Subscribe Now!

That being said, I don’t do soil tests every year. And I don’t do tests on brand new beds. Usually, because we are pushing right into planting time and I just don’t have the time to send off and wait for results. But on my established beds, I will do a soil test every other year or so. Unless my harvest for the year was terrible.

Another soil tester that I like to have on hand is this guy. This soil tester is amazing because I can test pH and moisture easily. I can then make minute adjustments based on what I’m seeing right then. But again, this isn’t something I use regularly because I can see my plants and soil to make a lot of those decisions.

More Info!

Irrigation Checklist

Making sure that you have water to your garden may sound like a “Duh”. But you would be surprised how many people, myself included, forget about how we are going to water our gardens! Or wait until plants are in the ground before we remember we don’t have enough drip tape, sprinklers, or hose to reach those beds….

So make sure that you have your irrigation figured out. That may look like planning out your drip irrigation or making sure that you have enough connectors. In our case, we have to make sure we have enough hose to reach the big garden, then make sure we have enough pressure and sprinklers to reach the far back of the garden. There are plans to get a yard hydrant out to the garden but until that happens, I’m stuck hauling hoses.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend having your irrigation on a timer. I am notorious for forgetting to water the garden…. or starting to water and then forgetting to turn it off. Having a timer really helps to make sure that even if I forget, it still gets done.

Checklist For Soil And Compost

I use Fox Farm Potting Soil for seed starts. This stuff is amazing! There is a ton of nutrients to help those seeds grow big and strong. I would highly recommend using caution when using a seed starting mix like this. The main reason is because it’s sterile. That means it has no nutrients in it. You will have to add SOMETHING to it to make sure your plants can grow.

Buy Now!

Sourcing compost is going to be the next part of your checklist. Now, you HAVE to be careful when sourcing animal manure compost. A lot of the times, animals are eating hay that has been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. The animals that eat that hay are not going to be able to absorb those chemicals so it will be pushed out in their feces. That means that you will end up with those herbicides and pesticides in your garden. So source your compost carefully.

The other way around that is to make your own. I use my kitchen scraps, animal bedding, leaf litter and sticks to start making compost. This isn’t ideal if you are starting a garden from scratch because you could need a TON of compost and soil. But starting your own compost area isn’t that hard.

Great Tools For The Garden

Shears/ Pruners: I recommend a couple sets of really good pruners. I say a couple because you will lose them and then find them, only to lose them again. I really like the Fiskars brand.

Hand Tools: I love having hand tools in the garden. I normally grab tools form my local Habitat For Humanity or thrift store because I know I am going to lose these tools. But I recommend getting something similar to these.

Bigger Tools: These are your typical tools like shovels, hoes, rakes, etc. I don’t use these much in the garden after planting. Well, I spread mulch with a shovel and by hand but for the most part, once my plants are in the ground, I’m on to hand tools.

Make Sure To Grab A Journal

I’ve talked repeatedly about the need for a garden journal. It’s not just for mental health and, in this case, hugely important for tracking your gardens progress throughout the year. This is my favorite journal but really anything that will get you writing your garden’s progress is key. I also have a digital garden journal that I update a couple times a year. The digital journal is more utilitarian and not for the beauty of the garden.

Buy Now

I also recommend a check registry… I know it’s weird but hear me out. Using a registry is a great way to list out what seeds you have on hand before ordering new ones! I’ve got a digital inventory that I also use, but I have found that using the registry helps me keep track better.

Seeds Or Plants Checklist

What is a garden without plants to go in it! This is going to be completely dependent on you, your growing season and your garden size. But, again, you can’t have a garden without plants. I talked here about the benefits of seed starting but if the only thing you have access to is a nursery or big box store, do you what you’ve got to do.

If you are looking to start your own seeds I recommend buying your seeds from True Leaf Market, Eden Brothers, and Territorial Seed Company. That doesn’t mean that you can’t purchase seeds elsewhere, I just really like their seeds. I’ve had really good luck with them and the price is great.

Another thing to consider when you are starting your own seeds is what pots to use. I love Bootstrap Farmer! I use these pots and these trays. They have really held up over time and I am not gentle on them. The trays are stout and can be carried, fully loaded, with one hand and not break.

A Place To Sit

One of my favorite YouTuber’s, Jessica Sowards, says it the best, “The best medicine for the garden, is the gardener.” That means having a place to sit when you’re tired, either from the garden or life. It’s pretty amazing to be able to just sit and relax in the garden.

Each of my gardens, the kitchen and big gardens, have a ton of chairs. We move them around so we can sit in the shade or in the sun. I’ve picked them up from thrift stores, Habitat For Humanity and various yard sales. I paint them, replace cushions and put them outside. It’s been the best medicine for this gardener.

Other Possible Needs

Shade cloth: You may or may not need shade cloth. But if you live where it is incredibly hot, giving your plants some shade from the sun is a must. We have lost more than our far share of plants that require full sun….to the sun.

Plant Tape: I have used various ways to secure plants to trellis, fencing, etc and sometimes it works great, others not so much. I recently found this plant tape and I really like it. It doesn’t hurt the plants and is completely reusable.

Sprayer: I only use these sprayers when the seeds are watering or fertilizer. If I need to spray fertilizer on the garden, I use one like this that attaches to the hose.

What other items are on your checkist?

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

Raised Bed Vs Row Gardens

February 3, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

I see this question a lot when I am browsing social media and forums, “which is better, raised bed vs row gardens?” And every time, I answer, “whichever one gets you in the garden is the best.” Seriously, I don’t care what type of garden you have, if you are gardening, that’s a win in my book. But if you clicked on this blog, or read any of my posts, you know I’m not going to stop there. I am going to give you MY reasons for why a raised bed garden is better than a row garden. But I still maintain, that any garden is better than no garden!

Raised beds vs row gardens with a picture of a garden

Subscribe Now!

Why Is The Question Raised Bed Vs Row Gardens?

I think the main reason for the question of which one is better is because people want a hard fast, concrete, right or wrong answer before they “waste” their time or money. But I am not one of those people. I want to have a whole conversation about WHY which one is better than the others. Plus, I figure it’s all about perspective anyways.

Benefits Of A Row Garden

Row gardens are exactly what they sound like, rows and rows of plants. Sometimes, there is trellising and stakes and sometimes not. Usually, though not always, there is a lot of tilling involved. This type of garden doesn’t require a ton of soil to be trucked in or building materials to be used. All you really need is a way to get your plants in the ground.

Row gardens can be very cheap to install and maintain because you don’t have to build anything. It’s as simple as digging up the ground enough to get your plants in the ground. It is suggested that you till just enough to get any rocks, weeds, etc out of the garden.

Another great pro to a row garden is that you don’t have to bring a ton of soil into the mix. Now, this assumes that you will be adding compost or organic matter to the bed or that you will be using cover cropping.

Buy Now!

Cons Of A Row Garden

There are a few cons to a row garden and number one is weeding! You will be on your hands and knees pulling weeds or using harsh chemicals to kill the weeds before they stunt your plant. Another option is laying a TON of mulch. But honestly, you should be mulching your garden anyways.

Another con to a row garden is going to be pests. Now, there are absolutely pests in raised beds, but they don’t seem to be as bad. Ant hills, spiders, scorpions, etc are all more likely to be found in a row garden than a raised bed. I have noticed that the only critters that are in my raised beds are tiny wolf spiders and Japanese beetles. The row garden? GIANT spiders, scorpions, grasshoppers, a million army worms and two million horn worms.

I don’t know why they don’t touch the raised beds, I just know that they don’t…. at least my beds.

More Info!

Benefits Of A Raised Bed Garden

There are a lot of benefits of a raised bed garden and the first is that it can be a back saver! Seriously, not having to kneel down, bend over and reach has been a life saver for my back. It’s has been amazing.

Then there is the fact that I have complete control of the soil? Yea, that’s another win in my book. We have extremely rocky, clay soil that is prone to erosion. Not only that, we live on a mountain so there are a ton of flat spots, steep inclines, etc so it is hard to get a garden to stay put. Every year, I add leaves, sticks, compost and animal bedding to my raised beds and the plants flourish.

Before we get too far into this post, I wanted to give a suggestion about keeping a garden journal. A digital garden journal is a fantastic way to keep track of past, present and future gardens. Our Digital Garden Journal is a great way to keep up with everything without getting too overwhelmed.

Buy Now

Lastly, harvesting has been a snap. While I still lose produce, it’s not nearly as bad as a row garden. Because most everything is at least a mid thigh height for me, I can actually see what needs to be harvested.

Cons of A Raised Bed Garden

Well, the first, and biggest, con to a raised bed garden is the cost. Depending on the size of the bed, materials, prefab-ed, etc, each bed can set you back several hundred dollars. That’s just the materials to build the bed. Then you have to fill the bed with materials and soil. This can ramp up the cost of a raised bed.

Which brings us to our next point. The amount of work to build and maintain raised beds can get both expensive AND labor intensive. The cost may not be a problem for you, but when it comes time to start filling those beds? You are in for a ton of work.

Depending on the size of your bed, you are going to be loading a ton of logs, sticks, leaves, soil, and compost until it’s mostly full. Then you are going to repeat this for several years as that material breaks down and settles.

The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!

Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!

$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!

Buy Now

Why I Like Raised Beds Over Row Gardens

My personal preference is raised bed gardens. I love the way raised beds look. They are clean cut and help keep the lines of the garden pretty. It also helps with weeding because there just isn’t as many weeds to contend with.

Wear And Tear On My Body

I also really like the fact that I don’t have to kneel down and get on my hands and knees to plant, weed, mulch, etc. I can do it from standing or bending over or I can also sit on the edge of the bed and work. Also, I don’t have to worry as much about pest problems because they just don’t crawl up the beds like the do in the row garden.

When it comes time to harvest, I’m not having to get down on my hands and knees to find produce before it’s overripe. I can also see what is going to be ready for harvest a lot easier and there is a lot less wasted harvest.

Subscribe Now!

But Raised Beds Are Expensive

However, there are some pretty major cons. Depending on the size of the bed, each bed costs about $150-$300 to build. Then to fill the bed takes a TON of labor. Now, I’m lucky enough that my boys are always looking for ways to earn extra money. So they are more than happy to do that manual labor for me. But if you don’t have that option, it can be very labor intensive or expensive.

Then there’s the soil cost.

Now, we mostly use logs, sticks and leaves as the foundation to our raised beds and that helps a ton. We usually fill the beds about 3/4 of the way full with woody products. Then we fill the rest with wood shavings or wood chips. After that, we add animal bedding, starting with the chicken bedding and then adding the goats. Then we fill with spent hay. After all that, we add soil.

Usually, our yearly soil cost is about $400-500 for the kitchen garden and another $800 for the big garden. We get our soil from a couple different places. We’ve been lucky that we have a neighbor that has a horse farm. She turns the manure regularly until it’s composted down into black gold. But sometimes, we still have to purchase soil. And it’s expensive.

So Which Is Better? Raised Bed Vs Row Gardens?

For me, a raised bed is better than a row garden. But that doesn’t mean that row gardens don’t have their place. In fact, I would say that if you don’t have a lot of money, row gardens are better. Or if you can’t do a lot of manual labor to set up raised beds, row gardens are better. But if you have access to the money, time and labor to set up a raised bed garden? I think raised beds are better.

Buy Now!

But remember, a garden is better than no garden. It doesn’t matter if it is a container garden on your apartment patio, an acre row garden, or 50 60ft long raised beds. A garden that produces food for you is the best garden.

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

Benefits Of Seed Starting

January 27, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

A lot of people buy their plant starts from big box stores and I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. I purchase plant starts from big box stores and nurseries, but there are so many benefits to starting seeds yourself. I think a lot of people think starting seeds is more labor intensive than they are interested in, and they would be right. Or, and I think this is more accurate, people don’t know HOW to start seeds.

Buy Now!

Benefits Of Starting Seeds

Oh, let me count the benefits of seed starting. But in all seriousness, there are a ton of benefits but I’m going to limit this post to three main areas; varieties, skills and saving money. There are thousands and thousands of varieties out there! Plus, if you learn how to start your own seeds, you will not only save money and build skills, but you also get to try all these amazing varieties!

Trying Different Varieties

Big box stores have to purchase/ sell plants based on what customers will buy. Nurseries start plants based off of what big box stores will buy. Because of that, you are just not going to find the rare, weird or amazing varieties in a store. Sure, some nurseries will start that odd ball tomato variety, but the reality is that you will be limited on what you can choose from.

Y’all, there are literally 10,000 varieties of tomato seeds! And you are only getting the choice of maybe 20. Maybe.

Also, when you start your own seeds, you can get local varieties that do well in your location. Some tomato plants don’t do well in the oppressive southern heat but if that’s the only variety available at the big box store? Your tomatoes may shrivel up and die before you ever harvest anything off it.

In my seed inventory, I’ve got about 30 varieties of tomato, 10 variety of cherry tomatoes, 25 different hot peppers, 10 different sweet peppers, and 10 different varieties of corn. That’s just a few of them!

Learning New Skills

The benefits of starting seeds isn’t limited to saving money and varieties, it also grows your gardening muscle. I talked about gardening being a skill in this blog post, but it really only talks about growing the garden. There are so many more skills to learn when it comes to gardening and starting seeds is a HUGE skill that a lot of people think they can’t do.

When you take the time to really learn how to grow something from seed, you are taking back more of your independence. And to be honest, starting your own seed really isn’t that hard. Sure, there are more steps that you have to remember and it’s not as easy as dropping a plant in the ground. You’ve got to baby seeds for a little bit.

One of the areas that I have been working hard on is my seed starting and garden planning. I use Seedtime . I’ve been using it to track seed starting, garden plans and more. I’ve really enjoyed using it!

More Info!

But it really is as simple as putting seeds in dirt, keeping the soil damp (not drowning) and giving it some light. Everything else just makes it easier.

Saving Money

Now, in theory, you will save a TON of money by starting your own seeds. Unless you are a seed hoarder… In which case, you will still save money, but definitely not as much as you could. But there are tons of ways that starting your own seeds can save you a ton of money. Like the amount of seeds you get in a seed packet is MORE than enough to start a years worth of plants. Or the fact that a single cabbage plant at a box store is going to be $3-5 but only yields one vegetable.

Seed Packets

Seed packets are amazing little gifts that are totally underrated. I would LOVE my entire Christmas/ Birthday presents to be nothing but seed packets. Why? Because it’s literally the gift that keeps on giving. That person is giving me the gift of FOOD, mental health, and building my gardening skills. Plus the ability to feed my family. How awesome is that?!

A standard seed packet is usually 3x4in, holds about 10-100 seeds and is usually around $2-5. The reason for the range totally depends on the seed. I’ve got a pack of tomato seeds that are $7 for 10 seeds. But it’s a variety that does well in cooler weather. Why would I need that? Because I can start it earlier and harvest tomatoes sooner, or I can plant it later and harvest tomatoes into October/ November.

Check out our Microgreens at True Leaf Market

Buying Plant Starts

I’ve bought plant starts and I will probably always buy some starts. There are some plants that are just easier to purchase from a store or nursery. Things like onion, potato, strawberries, garlic, and flowers. But to save money, I start all of my tomatoes, peppers, brassicas, sunflowers, pumpkins, squash, and more.

To give you the best example, at the big box stores a cabbage plant is $3-5 but at the store a cabbage is usually less than $1. That doesn’t make any damn sense. Let’s not mention that the cabbage plant is going to bolt in a matter of weeks because you can’t grow a baby cabbage plant, in May, in the south!

But when we are talking about other plants like tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and squash, you really want to at least TRY to start seeds. If it doesn’t work, go get your starts from the store and try again next year. Again, a seed packet is, on average, $3 and gives you about 30 seeds. Even at 50% germination (and it will probably be more like 99%) you will end up with 15 plants. A big box store will sell those same plants for $5 each. You are saving $72 on 15 plants! But if you get all those seeds to germinate and grow, you are looking at saving $147! That’s just one seed packet.

I know it sounds sales-y but I promise you, if you have good soil, good light and a fair amount of heat, you can save hundreds of dollars on your garden.

My Seed Stash

My seed stash is valued somewhere in the ballpark of $1200. That doesn’t count the boxes or other storage. And yes, that is a LOT of money. And NO, you don’t need to invest that kind of money into your seed stash. In fact, with the right discount codes, I could grow my entire 50×100 garden with only $100. But…. my name is Leigh and I am a seed hoarder. Though, I prefer the term seed collector.

Now, I LOVE starting seeds for a lot of reasons. The first is that I get to play in the dirt earlier. I start my cool/cold loving plants in February and put them in my greenhouse. If you don’t have a greenhouse, you can absolutely put them on a shelf next to a window or get yourself some cheap shop lights.

The second reason I love starting seeds is because of variety! When you go to the grocery store, you are getting produce that is grown for a grocery store. That means the variety must grow to consistent size, ship well, and be able to sit on a shelf for a far amount of time. All of these things have a sacrifice and it’s usually flavor.

When you start your own seeds, you get to start the weird varieties. Like a tomato that is all black or a melon that looks like a winter squash and tastes like candy. But more importantly, you get a fruit or vegetable that is packed with flavor.

What Are Your Favorite Benefits Of Seed Starting?

I would love to hear from you! Drop your favorite varieties in the comments!

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

February Garden Chores

January 23, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

This is an exciting time for those of us that are getting ready to start seeds. Steel Raven Farms is located in Northeast Georgia, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. We are in zone 7b, even though I don’t really keep track of that. But this time of year is really when I start working on February garden chores and really start on getting my garden stuff going.

Buy Now!

February Garden Chores

First and foremost, there is a never ending list of homestead chores that need to be done. But February is a weird month for us. We’ve got goat kids being born, projects getting finished up and prepping for spring planting. And it’s COLD! The very last thing most people are thinking about is a garden. But I know that in just a few short weeks, the weather will turn and we will start warming up.

As far as February garden chores, we are looking at finalizing garden plans, checking seed inventory, checking our garden stuff, and starting seeds. Some of these things will take place towards the start of the month and others will depend on the weather but for the most part, these are the things we are doing in February.

Finalizing Garden Plans

As we are moving out of January, we are still finalizing garden plans. This looks a little different for everyone depending on how you are planning your garden. But for us, we are still in the process of giving our big garden a facelift. So I don’t want to put a ton of effort into planning a space when I don’t know EXACTLY how much space I’m going to have.

But garden plans are not just the physical structures of the garden, though that is a huge part of garden plans. In this case, I’m talking about what I can put IN those structures. This is the time were I am making sure that I have plenty of space for all of the things I want to plant.

Now, I know that regardless of whether my beds are build or not, there will still be plenty of room to plant all the tomatoes, peppers, squash, and all the other delicious veggies. But I do want to ensure that I have plenty of space, seeds, pots, and other things make this years garden a success.

Checking Seed Inventory

I’ve got a whole blog post/ page on creating a seed inventory. This can look like a notebook or a spreadsheet but it is surprisingly important to have some sort of system that tells you exactly what seeds you have on hand. I’ve created a digital seed inventory that you can purchase here, or you can make your own. But now is not the time to buy seeds!

If you are just starting your gardens, then yes, buy the seeds. But if you have a ton of seeds and you don’t NEED to purchase seeds for this years garden, wait till summer! Most seed companies will start putting their seeds on sale in the middle of summer and that is the time to stock up. Plus, come summer, you will have a better idea of what plants are doing well for you and which aren’t.

All that being said, start looking at what seeds you have on hand and match that up to your garden plans. Do you have enough tomato seeds? Which squash was resistant to bores? Which sweet pepper did you love? All of this information should be either in your seed inventory or your garden journals.

Subscribe Now!

Prepping Your Garden Stuff

Again, this looks different for everyone, but February garden chores wouldn’t be complete without checking your supplies. Do you have enough compost, soil or amendments? Do you have a fresh garden journal? Are your tools clean and sharp? Do you have enough pots to start your plants?

You would be surprised to find that you need to start sourcing some of these materials NOW before you get too far into the season.

For me, I am making sure that I have plenty of soil and compost, my pots are clean and sanitized, my greenhouse is ready, and I’m good to go! Jared will usually go through and start sharpening tools, finish any big projects that need to be done in the garden and help me with seeds.

Starting Seeds!

This is it, ya’ll! Every single gardener is chomping at the bit to get their gardens started and I am no different. My last frost is supposed to be around April 15th. But I can go ahead and start a fair amount of cool weather, frost hardy things now! Things like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, etc can all be started in my greenhouse without risk of damage.

But there are some summer things we can start now too! I wait till I’m closer to March before starting too many tomatoes and peppers but I will start a tray and put them in the greenhouse around mid February. This is an experiment more than anything, because I want to see just how well my greenhouse stays warm.

But don’t go too crazy with starting your seeds. If your last frost is around the same time as mine, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of starting seeds early. But remember, the more you start at once, the less bumper crop you will have later.

Pro Amateur Tips For February Garden Chores

Start A Garden Journal

If you haven’t already, start setting up your garden journal! I’ve talked about the importance of journaling here, but garden journals are a must if you are going to “take your garden seriously”. By that I mean, if you want to learn from your garden and grow your gardening skills, then you should make sure that you are writing down what is happening in your garden.

If you’re not sure what to write about, I’ve got my 365 Day Garden Journal Prompt that you can purchase below!

Buy Now!

This is also a great place to write down all the seed varieties you grew for the year and how they did for you. This will keep you from purchasing seeds that don’t work for you or remind you of what did well.

Seed Inventory

I have two different ways I track my seed inventory. One is my digital seed inventory and the other is an account ledger book. The reason is twofold. One, I love redundancy. Two, I love having paper copies. There is something about handwriting something that sticks in my brain better.

But having that digital copy of my seed inventory tells me where I bought the seed and has links which is amazing! So no matter if you are super techy or ole school, (or in my case both), make sure that you’ve got something to help you track your seeds!

Don’t Start A TON Of Summer Seeds Yet

I know it’s tempting to start a ton of seeds because you’ve got your hands in the dirt and it’s exciting! But please! Don’t start all of your peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc all at once!

Space out your plantings by about two weeks. This ensures a longer and more spread out harvest, but also won’t wipe out your seed stash if you get a freak storm.

As always, don’t be afraid to try new varieties and have fun! It’s great being a student of the garden!

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

Building A Garden

January 16, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Building a garden can be extremely overwhelming. There is a ton of work to do; planning, clearing, building, planting, care taking, harvesting and amending…. Just to name a few things. While the work is hard and long, sweaty and frustrating, the garden can be an oasis in times of frustration, sickness, fear, and disappointment. Today, I want to talk to you about how you can build a garden the way YOU want it.

The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!

Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!

$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!

Buy Now

Building A Garden

I love building gardens. Getting a new space cleared out, set up and planted is up there with a trip to the bookstore, hanging with the goats and and harvesting from the garden. There is so much joy that I get from setting up the new space that I will probably always be “tearing out” and rebuilding my gardens.

This year, we are completely redoing our big garden because we have had a lot of struggles with soil erosion, “failing” soil, and animal break ins.

But what does building a garden actually look like? Well, it looks like a search on Pinterest or other search engines to get an idea of what you are looking for in your gardens. Then it’s selecting a place in the yard for your new garden. Now, we plan the space. After that we start clearing the area. Next, we start setting up the garden based on the plans you’ve created. Finally, we get to plant!

Subscribe Now!

Figuring Out What Kind Of Garden You Want

This may seem simple, but it’s probably the hardest part of any garden. That’s because if you are a totally new gardener, you may not know exactly what type of gardens you want. So doing a quick Pinterest search of gardens and then narrowing it down from there is a great place to start. Here are a couple of types of gardens: vegetable, flower, mixed, vertical garden, raised beds, row gardens, cottage gardens, faery gardens, etc.

Yes, it can be overwhelming. But just keep searching and take notes of the various things you like from each garden that you find and want to pull into your own gardens.

I prefer raised bed gardens and have for the last 10 years. Our first summer on the homestead, we had a row garden and I hated it. Well, that’s not true. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as my kitchen garden, which has raised beds, so the big garden suffered more than it should have.

I also realized that I LOVE having tons of flowers in the garden. The more the merrier. But I also need to make sure that I can keep pushing the needle on our goal of raising 75% of the food for us and our animals. So I can’t go too crazy with flowers.

Before we get too far into this, I have a great course on the basics of goat care. I call it Goat Crash Course: Goat 101. In this course, I explain things like types of shelter, types of feeds and hays, basic assessments and so much more! Check it out!

Buy Now

Finding Your Garden Spot

Our first summer on the property, we did not plant a garden. I wanted to wait and really make sure that we were putting the garden in the “right” spot. Our first garden here did okay. Not amazing, but we definitively learned a ton. The second garden half flopped. I finally got Jared to agree to build my raised beds and THAT garden did great!

The big garden failed miserably. Part of that was due to location. The other part was soil and the third part was too much sun. Which yes, is a thing. In the heat of summer, too much sun or heat can scorch your plants. Our tomatoes dropped so many blossoms it looked like it was snowing. So be sure to have some sort of shade cloth available if your yard is all sun.

Another thing to look at when finding your garden space is to look at water for irrigation. We have to run about 75ft of hose to even get water to the big garden, then we have to run another 150ft of hose inside the garden to be able to water. While the location would not have changed, we could have installed a yard hydrant or something similar to lessen the amount of hoses we need.

Lastly, when building a garden keep in mind how hard it is to get to. If you are having to hike across the world to get to your garden, there is a big chance that you won’t spend nearly as much time in as you should. The kitchen garden is right next to the house. I can see it from the windows on that side of the house. Also, it’s right next to where we park our cars AND we have to walk past it to get to the goats. All of this puts the kitchen garden in direct sight so we can see if plants aren’t growing, or some other problem.

Planning Your Garden

Because I’ve talked in so many posts about planning your garden, and you can find those here and here, I’m not going to go crazy in depth here. There are a lot of planning that goes into gardens at this stage and one thing to remember: keep your garden space liquid. By that I mean, don’t do anything permanent until you KNOW that it will work.

More Info!

Look into fencing while you are planning your garden. If you have animals that free range, they will tear up your garden. If you have dogs, they will at the very least poop in your garden. Then there is deer, rabbits, cats, and other unwanted creatures. I would recommend a fence to protect your food, flowers, and hardwork.

Seating! I cannot recommend having chairs in the garden more! We have about a million outdoor chairs that we sit in around the garden. When it’s hot or I’m tired, the best thing for me is to have a place to sit and take a break. Then I can get back to it in a minute or two.

Clearing For The New Garden

This can and will look very different for every person and every space. Our kitchen garden required almost no clearing. The big garden? Well, it’s going to take at least a month to get all the trees cut, cleared, stumps pulled, etc. It’s going to be a process and that’s okay.

For your garden, it may be as simple as putting down cardboard and building a raised bed. Or maybe you will be as labor intensive as mine. Both are okay as long as you are enjoying the work.

As a tip, as you are working in your garden, whether building, planting or harvesting, always keep a good attitude and good intention. You would be surprised that you will start enjoying the work.

Start Building A Garden!

I know, technically you’ve been building the garden since you started doing research. But now is the time were you are actually setting it up. This can be landscape timbers as walkway outlines or putting in raised beds. Or maybe it’s putting in a gazebo so you have a covered seating area.

Or it could be hauling in soil, mulch and plants.

But this is the time that you are putting your plans in motion and building a garden! How cool is that!

Planting Your Garden

Now that you have built your garden, you get to plant it! Get your hands in the soil and start getting back in touch with nature. I swear it’s the best therapy I have ever had… except maybe my goats.

Buy Now!

And remember, even if your first garden is an epic failure, you still started a garden.

Even if you pull every plant out of the garden and move everything around, you still planted a garden!

Don’t get discouraged here!

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

Should You Get A Greenhouse

January 13, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Normally, I would give you a straight answer here so you didn’t have to read through roughly 1200 words unless you wanted to. But on this one, the answer of should you get a greenhouse is it depends. There are a lot of factors that come into deciding to get a greenhouse. Then you have narrow down how you are going to use it, the types of plants and finally the type of greenhouse. So instead of giving you a straight answer, I’m going to help you make a decision.

The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!

Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!

$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!

Buy Now

Before You Get A Greenhouse, Ask Yourself…

I am all about treating yourself and getting things you want. Even if there is absolutely no purpose for the thing. But before you drop a couple thousand, or more, on a greenhouse, really ask yourself why you want a greenhouse.

Why Do You Want A Greenhouse?

Everyone will have different answers for this and it is solely based on your needs. We built our greenhouse because of our dog Blu. That’s not fair, we built the greenhouse for a lot of reasons but her longevity was high on the list.

Blu is a German Shepherd/ Great Pyrenees cross and she is massive. She is notorious for smashing her face into windows to raise hell at whatever has dared come into her yard. It doesn’t matter what or who is in the window when she goes nuts, but I can guarantee you, if it is fragile it’s probably ruined.

In 2023, she knocked over 100+ tomato starts, about 50 pepper starts and another batch of melon, eggplant, and cuke starts. We learned our lesson the hard way that a greenhouse is safer for our plant starts.

But if you don’t have a Blu, you may not need a greenhouse.

Another reason to consider getting a greenhouse would be to lengthen your growing season. Now, this would be more for a high tunnel like this but you may find that a traditional greenhouse would work well for you too.

Buy Now!

What Type Of Plants Are You Putting In A Greenhouse

For us, the greenhouse was for plant starts and some tropical stuff like citrus, coffee, and ginger plants. But mostly, the greenhouse is for our plant starts. So before you start sinking hundreds and thousands of dollars into a greenhouse, really think about the things that you are going to put into the greenhouse.

If you are only putting plant starts in your greenhouse, something small like this would probably be a good choice. Especially if you are starting smaller batches of starts.

But the more plants you are trying to house, the larger the greenhouse needs to be. Let’s not mention there are about a billion different styles of greenhouses.

Different Kinds Of Greenhouses

There are traditional glass greenhouses, plastic hoop house greenhouses, small transplant greenhouses, and even cold frames. But at the end of the day, a greenhouse is a glass or plastic structure that will grow plants. So don’t get hung up on which one is better than another. It really depends on what you are going to use it for.

If you are only starting plant starts in it, then something small and plastic that can sit on the sunny part of a deck would work beautifully. If you are looking to grow food in it, then a plastic high tunnel may be better suited. Or if you are looking to extend your growing season, I would also consider a high tunnel.

The glass window greenhouses are pretty out of date when you are looking at a production greenhouse. The simple reality is that there are so many other options when it comes to greenhouses. And you can usually built them MUCH cheaper than a glass one. My friend over at The Homesteading RD had a great post about what kind of plastics to use.

Subscribe Now!

Making The Decision To Get A Greenhouse

Jared wanted a greenhouse from the get go. He wanted to be able to grow year round and while I didn’t disagree with him, I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a greenhouse when we already have a 200+ day growing season.

But as we really got into homesteading and farming, I realized that having a greenhouse really would help us.

Getting Our Greenhouse

Since our living room is so small, and it’s the only room that gets a good amount of light and heat, we really struggled with getting our plant starts started. Then we had to deal with Blu, kids, cats, and other issues with having 300+ starts in the house.

So I asked Jared to build me a greenhouse. I told him that I wanted a window plane greenhouse that was huge. I didn’t want to build something small and then outgrow it. The poor man is a military guy, who wants everything dress right dress. Then there’s me, the girl who loves crazy colors, abstract, and nothing that actually matches.

But Jared indulged me, and I love my greenhouse.

Our greenhouse is 12ft x16ft with 2 decks on the front. It’s got a sliding glass door on one side and a regular door on the other. The main structure is painted black and there are 5 different paint colors for the windows. We used tin on the “holes” and bottom to help keep it insulated but also rustic.

In between the decks, I have a small 4ftx4ft raised bed that will house Felix Felicis, our christmas tree. It will also have a couple other plants that will hopefully vine out from the greenhouse.

Inside, there is plenty of room for racks and racks of plant starts, storage for pots, tools, and more. It is probably my most favorite place on the homestead, except my gardens.

I even have my hammock set up in the corner (not pictured) so that I can hang out in the greenhouse.

Finishing The Greenhouse

There is still a ton of work left to do on the greenhouse. Things like painting, running power, putting in fans, and, of course, more plants. But those things can take time. The structure is up and able to receive plants.

Getting Your Greenhouse

Our greenhouse has cost us about $8,000 in material and probably another $4,000 in labor. But man, she is a gorgeous building and I couldn’t be happier with her.

But when you are looking at getting your own greenhouse, really make sure that it is something that you will like and use. If not, you will probably not be as happy with your greenhouse. As frilly and weird as my greenhouse is, if it wasn’t? I probably wouldn’t use it.

When you are looking at your greenhouse options, make sure that you are getting the greenhouse that you want, will work for you and is within your budget. Don’t be afraid to go all out to make it something beautiful that you will want to spend time in.

Buy Now

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!

Planning Your Garden

January 6, 2024 by Leigh Leave a Comment

This is my favorite part of winter. I am a planner by nature and I love my garden. So this is the best part of the year for me! I get to dream about spring while impatiently waiting for the cool/cold, wet days of winter to hurry up and go. Today, I wanted to get into some of the nitty, gritty aspects of planning your garden. Whether this is your first garden, or your 50th, I hope you can learn something from this post.

Why Planning Your Garden Is Important

There are a million and a half reasons why you should at least have a general idea about WHY you should be planning your garden. Some of these reasons include space, frost dates, what you eat, what you want to grow, and your storage capabilities. That’s not all of them by any means, but it is a good place to get started for your future garden.

Subscribe Now!

Planning Your Garden Space

This may seem like a fairly straight forward thing, right? But you would be surprised how many people over, or under plant, a space. Now, I have to be completely transparent here and tell you that I am an over planter. If I can plant something every 6in I’m probably planting closer to 4in. It’s a flaw that is probably not going to change anytime soon.

But the other part of planning out your garden space is understanding that you probably have more than you think. Fruit and vegetables don’t ONLY have to go into the garden! If you have a porch, patio, or other seating area, you can absolutely plant in containers. In fact, even with 500 sq ft of raised bed space, I still plant in pots around the garden.

More Info!

I also plant in hanging pots around the house, on our porch, and around the greenhouse, because why not!

Also look at vertical gardening! If you can trellis something, you can probably plant closer together. For example, I trellis/tie up my melons. This allows me to plant closer together to maximize space without sacrificing food.

If you like the content I put out, feel free to buy us a coffee! It helps keep this site running, marketing and the goats in grain!

Buy me a coffee

Planning For Your Frost Dates

Maybe I’m weird, which I am, but I don’t go off zones for my vegetable gardens. The reason is because zones don’t affect annuals (or things treated as annuals) like peppers, tomatoes, melons, etc. I will look at hardiness zones when looking at landscaping, perennials, orchards, etc.

Since zones aren’t my jam, I do make sure that I have a good handle on our frost dates. While this can change year to year, I take an average or look up average frost dates for my zip code. I really like this frost date finder from Dave’s Garden. This has been the most accurate as far as I can tell.

Why are frost dates more important than zones?

Well, because most vegetable gardens are planned and planted with annuals in mind, it really doesn’t matter what zone I’m in. What matters more is if I have enough days between the frost to have the plant reach maturity and harvest.

When I am planning my gardens, I look at the 50% temperature average date. If you click the link above, you will see a table that shows a bunch of temperatures, dates and percentages. In this particular example, I use the Helen, Ga table because that’s the closest to me. Then I start figuring out what I’m comfortable risking.

In the 2024 growing season, I will start my plants with the intention of planting around April 21st. That doesn’t mean that I WILL plant on April 21st but I will plan on it. Starting on April 21st, I will start looking at the 10 day forecast. If in those 10 days, there is no days that drop below freezing (or 32*), I will start planting things like corn, melons, cukes, squash, and some other frost tender plants.

Buy Now!

I will still hold off on planting my heat loving plants, like peppers and tomatoes, until May 1st or so. We have found that by waiting until the day temperatures are steadily above 70*, we get a better harvest of tomatoes and peppers.

Planning Your Garden Based On What You Eat

Every single year, I caution new gardeners to only plant the things that they eat. Especially, if they are limited on space. If you hate everything tomato, do NOT plant a million tomato plants! Buuuuuttttt, if you have space and want to experiment, make sure to plant some weird varieties. You may find that you actually like THIS type of tomato.

Another thing to be sure of is, if you like something, make sure to plant a lot of it. Again, if space allows. Jared HATES cucumbers, but he loves pickles. So I plant a LOT of cucumbers, usually 10 plants, spaced out over several weeks. This means that I have fresh cucumbers and he gets plenty of pickles.

Another question when it comes to planning your garden is do you have livestock? Chickens and pigs LOVE cucumbers. Goats LOVE green beans. You can lower your feed bill if you plant extra for your animals.

What Do You WANT To Grow

This is, in my opinion, the most important question when it comes to planning your garden. I’m not saying that you should only plant things that you want to grow, but I AM saying that you should absolutely, always plant things that you want to grow.

Again, I hate raw tomatoes, but watching tomatoes grow? Man, it’s so cool!

The Ultimate Homesteader’s Starter Bundle – Only $47!

Get the tools you need to stay organized, track profits, and manage your homestead with ease!

$99 value – now just $47! Start your homesteading journey today!

Buy Now

I also plant a TON of flowers. Not for the pollinators, although that’s what I tell myself, but because they are pretty and I like them. I WANT to grow as many flowers as possible because they make me happy.

Don’t think that your garden has to be so utilitarian that you lose the beauty of YOUR garden.

Lastly, What Can You Store

If you only garden for fresh eating, by all means, ignore this part of the post. But if you are looking to put up food for winter, you really need to look at your storage capabilities. I have these amazing canning shelves that Jared built me, and he is working on building my food storage room this year.

Right now, we are limited only by what we can dehydrate, can or freeze. But since freezer space is limited to meats, we have to make sure that we can either eat things fresh, can or dehydrate.

If you can’t can, freeze or dehydrate, you should consider how much space you are giving to items that don’t store well. For example, tomatoes should be canned for preservation. When you freeze them, they turn to mush when they thaw. If that’s your goal, then you’re good to go. If not, maybe don’t plant 200 tomato plants.

Same goes for potatoes. If you don’t have a cool, dark place to store, I wouldn’t plant a ton of them. But if you can can them? You are golden. It’s really just thinking through how you are going to use the things you grow.

Pro Amateur Gardener Tip

I will never be a pro gardener…. Like ever. Mainly because there is just so much to learn. But one of the best tips I can ever give you, when it comes to gardening, is WRITE IT DOWN! You will absolutely not remember next year. Trust me! It’s a lie I tell myself every year, and every year I forget and regret.

Subscribe Now!

I use these bullet journals because they are cute but also because they hold up really well. If you have any other tips, make sure to comment below this post. I would love to read them.

If you like this post, feel free to share it and follow us below on our social media accounts!