A blog about creating a homestead with gardening and home crafts.
The East Anglia Yarn Festival has been going now for two years. I attended both years. It's always nice to attend a yarn event to meet people who share your interests and speak to makers and yarn producers, share ideas etc. Last Year's Show A little haul from last year, 2022 Last year I bought... Continue Reading →
I like to have a few dahlias in pots around my veggie patch as they are great as cut flowers, are a tortoise favourite and are great for wildlife, especially amphibians. There are 3 gardens surrounding us that have ponds. Amphibians such as frogs however, seem to seek refuge in my garden in one of... Continue Reading →
Mint is a useful household staple. Is has strong, robust roots which can get a little invasive so is best grown in its own pot rather than in the ground or in beds with other plants. In this video, I divide and repot my mint plants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8_v2jdmtt0
Time to read 6 minutes The basic No Dig Gardening Method is a method of gardening I can definitely get behind. Pioneered by British gardener Charles Dowding for 40 years, it is a regenerative gardening method that is efficient, accessible and low maintenance once you get the basic principles right. What is No Dig? The... Continue Reading →
I have been growing lemon, limes and oranges in my greenhouse in the UK (USDA hardiness zone 9a) for a few years now. If you have the right set up, you can have highly productive citrus trees that produce fruit all year round. Here are some of my care tips. Lemon and lime trees Purchase... Continue Reading →
Today I hand wash some of my hand knitted wool accessories: a pair of wool socks, a pair of fingerless mittens and a merino cowl. I only tend to hand wash accessories and newly knitted wool sweaters as they tend to get really heavy and cumbersome to hand wash so I usually put them on... Continue Reading →
Time to read 2 minutes So we had some garlic in the pantry which had started to sprout- the organic kind naturally tend to do that in Spring. So rather than rush to use them up, compromising the taste - garlic tends to lose flavour once they begin to sprout, I decided to plant them.... Continue Reading →
When I lived in Spain, my husband and I attended a Spanish cooking class. The chef told us something that really piqued my interest in saffron. He said that saffron is the most valuable- and expensive spice in the world. I went home and investigated and found it to be true. What is saffron and... Continue Reading →
Whatever type of greenhouse you have, to get maximum benefit from it for the longest time, it needs to be maintained. Here are some things that can be done annually, or at specific times to keep it in tip-top shape going into the growing season. Maintenance Before and During Winter During the colder months when... Continue Reading →
Following on from Step 1 in preparing the beds for spring, here is a quick summary and video showing what I did to set up the second phase of preparation.
All Homesteading 