Are you interested in growing your own food and embracing the beauty of a simple, self-sufficient lifestyle? Then you’re in the right place! Whether you’re planting your first seeds or tending a flourishing garden, you’ll find practical tips and projects to make growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs easier and more rewarding.
From creating a bountiful vegetable patch to harvesting fresh herbs from your kitchen windowsill, this space is all about cultivating nourishment, connection, and sustainability. Discover beginner-friendly guides, seasonal planting advice, and tried-and-true tips for growing your favorite foods at home.
Ready to dig in? Explore our gardening resources and see how growing your own food can transform your simple living journey—one seed at a time.
If you need a little help planning your garden and keeping your notes organized or understanding your climate, we can help.
Of all this things I’ve grown, I think I’m most excited about growing pineapples. I’m not really sure why but I am. There’s something wonderful about planting the top of a pineapple and in a couple of years have fruit. This photo is from August 2011. About 4 months after I planted a pineapple top …
Note: Once a week I share a popular post from the archives. This post was originally published in June 2012. We planted several different varieties of tomatoes this year. We planted Rutgers, Romas, Purple Cherokee, Lemon Boy, Yellow Pear and Yellow Cherry tomatoes. They have all done well and after the season is over I’ll share …
We’ve been growing swiss chard for several years and it’s become a family favorite. Swiss chard is one of the few greens we can grow well into the summer without it getting bitter or bolting, it helps cover the transition between our winter and spring gardens. Swiss chard is a great source of vitamins K, A, …
When you look at the back of seed packets you’ll see a map of the US (if you live in the US) with colors on it; those are USDA gardening zones. Each zone represents a certain average low temperature for that area and are 10 degrees apart. I live along the Texas Gulf Coast which …
Twice a year I go through our seed stash. I should probably try to keep them a bit more organized through the year but that just doesn’t fit with my personality. If you have a large garden then growing plants from seed is the least expensive route to go. And starting seeds indoors will give …
You would think that for someone who can garden almost year round that I wouldn’t be interested in indoor gardening, but I am. I don’t really have a great place to do much indoor gardening. Fortunately, the only space need for growing sprouts is a widow sill. Sprouts are highly nutritious and a great way …
I know there’s snow in most places but spring will be here before you know it. And if you wait until spring is here to start planning your spring garden, you’re not going to enjoy spring very much. I know, I’ve been there. Without some preparation you will spend more money and harvest fewer vegetables …
Last week we got quite a bit of rain and although we normally wait until mid October to plant our fall/winter garden, it’s quite a bit cooler than normal so we are starting a little early. When I pulled our seeds out and started going through them, I thought about some of the gardening mistakes …
Compost is a gardener’s best friend. Unfortunately, it can be quite expensive if you have to purchase it. The cost in my area is about $30 per cubic yard. I can drive about an hour and a half and get mushroom compost for $10 a cubic yard. So, what’s a person to do who wants …
Vegetable gardening doesn’t have to end with the first frost, you can grow fall and winter vegetable gardens in almost any climate. By planting frost tolerant plants you can extend your harvest well into the fall and winter. Here are my favorite 15 cold weather plants for the fall and winter vegetable garden. When you’re …
One of the things we are experimenting with this year is growing buckwheat. Buckwheat is super versatile and can be grown as a weed suppressor and cover crop or for seeds and for the bees. Buckwheat is pretty great in that it likes warm weather unlike other cover crops, like rye, and it does well in poor …
I first learned about using wood ashes in my garden from a friend from Kenya. We were walking in the garden and noticed that the kale was infested with aphids (which often happens in the heat of the summer around here). I’m always leery of using chemicals so i usually end up doing nothing. I …
A few years ago a friend sent me some moringa trees to plant and that was my first introduction to this amazing plant. Growing moringa is easy and it can be grown as a perennial in climates where the ground doesn’t freeze and as an annual in climates where the ground freezes. They are fast …
Have you ever read about a plant and thought “I just have to find some?” Well, that’s how I felt when I started researching growing comfrey. It’s like the all purpose herb. You can use it to fertilize your garden, trees and yard, treat wounds and even feed to livestock (in small quantities). It’s truly …
Every summer the highlight of the garden is basil. I know, tomatoes are most gardeners’ pride and joy but growing basil is ours. The reason is that we’ve probably been out of basil pesto for our weekly pizza night for several weeks, if not months. There’s nothing like homemade basil pesto on pizza. Of course …
When we moved on our property the garden area was full of clay soil and we couldn’t find any earthworms. Each year I find less and less clay as I’m gardening and more and more earthworms. Each year we spend time and a bit of money building healthy garden soil that is loose, yet holds …
Growing microgreens is a fantastic way to have an indoor garden all year long but especially during the gardening off-season. Although we can grow an outdoor garden year round, we only have a few months that are good for growing lettuce. During the heat of the summer, homegrown microgreens helps keep us in fresh greens. …
Depending on where you live you might just be bringing in your summer harvest and can’t believe that some of us are already planning for fall. But fall is on it’s way. How do I know? Because we can go outside to play at 7pm in the evening and it be a pleasant 90ish degrees …
Kale is one of those hardy plants that will survive both cold winters and hot summers. Growing kale is a fantastic way to fill in the harvesting gaps that can often happen when you garden year round. Kale and other greens have gotten a bad wrap lately. I’ve read several articles by people who say …
Sweet potatoes are incredibly healthy and are very easy to grow in the home vegetable garden. The plant is pretty and I’ve seen people grow sweet potatoes as low border in flower beds around their home as part of their edible landscaping. The first time I grew sweet potatoes, friend bought some slips from the …