It’s pig butchering season here on the farm, and with it comes so much excitement, emotion, and inevitably, exhaustion. Those of you who have raised and butchered your own animal, you know that reverent feeling that comes over you during this time. When you hold in your hands a part of that animal, you don’t […]
I am endlessly intrigued by interesting and unique ways of approaching the ordinary. Especially when it comes to gardening. You probably know that about me by now. When I was introduced to hugelkultur, my personal perspective on food production was changed forever. It was no longer as simple as sticking a seed into the ground, […]
I’ve been a bit of a drag lately. I couldn’t figure it out at first. Energy. Gone. And just feeling…down. A little bit like that episode of Winnie the Pooh with Tigger and the rain cloud that wouldn’t leave him alone. The sun is shining, and yet there’s this pesky rain cloud hovering overhead. No […]
Ever since I ventured into the world of hugelkultur, I’ve felt it important to show start-to-finish photos with each season. Naturally, it’s scary trying something new. Especially when there’s a lot of “talk” out there. That’s the thing about the internet…it’s so dang easy to talk. Right? When I was researching the death out of […]
Raise your hand if you will pretty much die if you don’t eat breakfast in the morning. That would be me. Some of my most difficult moments are in the morning before I’ve eaten, and the kids are bugging me for breakfast. It’s pretty much understood that mom needs some fuel in the tank before […]
It’s time for another garden update! Some quick background for new visitors: I garden in NE Minnesota where we have a very short Zone 3 growing season (this year’s last frost was June 8th). I use hugelkultur raised beds and apply permaculture methods throughout my garden. Nearly everything I grow are heirloom varieties and all […]
Quite possibly the greatest service that you can offer an animal that is to be eaten- outside of seeing to it that they are well-fed, watered, sheltered, and cared for- is to let as little of it as possible go to waste. That isn’t always easy, especially in modern society where the meat we find […]
I don’t know about you, but I love garlic. Looove it. I love adding it to pretty much everything I cook. I love how the smell lingers on your hands long after you’ve handled it. Some might find that gross. Not I. But what’s more, I really love growing it. I love the fact that […]
It’s time for another garden update! Some quick background for new visitors: I garden in NE Minnesota where we have a very short growing season (this year’s last frost was June 8th). I use hugelkultur raised beds and apply permaculture methods throughout my garden. Nearly everything I grow are heirloom varieties and all are organically […]
In my neck of the woods, the garden season is really only just beginning. We are typically frost-free from June 1st- September 12th or so. This year, we had a frost on June 8th. And although this gives us a very short window in which to get the bulk of our garden planted, grown, and […]
