for self-reliant living
Learn how to grow your own food and flowers, to create an oasis in your back yard or balcony.
Dehydrating fresh tomatoes and basil is a great way to preserve the harvest for use throughout the year. I like to do both at once, since my dehydrator has enough room, and the house smells amazing! Dehydrating fresh tomatoes and basil Tomatoes were companion planted with green basil, and they done producing for the season. … Read more
Every summer, I make this beautiful, raspberry tinted opal basil vinegar with the herbs from the garden. It’s a great marinade for flank steaks, or to use on a salad with olive oil. You’ll definitely want some opal basil in your herb garden! What is opal basil? Opal basil is an herb that I grow … Read more
This zucchini bread recipe is so good! The zucchini bread is moist, and full of yummy spices – perfect on its own or slathered with cream cheese – and it it really easy to make. Make this two-loaf recipe now, and pop one loaf in the freezer to enjoy later. Zucchini Bread Recipe Ingredients for … Read more
If you are looking for a quick, raw vegetable summertime lunch, you have got to try this zesty zoodles recipe. If you are not familiar with them, zoodles are “noodles” made from fresh zucchini – made with a special gadget called a spiralizer. Every summer, the garden produces tons (and tons) of zucchini. What I … Read more
With the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and food shortages in the grocery stores, I had high hopes for my vegetable garden. Plans were to double its size, and plant it heavily with lots of different crops that I could preserve by canning, freezing and dehydrating. My garden would become my own little urban homesteader prepping stockpile … Read more
The clumps of chives in the herb garden are just beginning to blossom, and I’ll be using them to make chive blossom vinegar. This gorgeous pale pink herbal vinegar is so easy to make, and gives salad a subtle hint of onion flavour. What you will need to make Chive Blossom Vinegar: a glass jar – large … Read more
Hands down, one of the best ways to save money and have guaranteed availability, is to grow as much of your own food as you can. And yes, you can do it! Starting a small vegetable garden is easy! If you have kids, they will love to help and it’s such a great learning experience for … Read more
Thinking about starting a vegetable garden, but not quite convinced yet? Let me give you a nudge with my top 12 reasons why you need to start a vegetable garden this year. Once you start having your own garden, you’ll be hooked! In no particular order: Convenience It’s a produce stand right in your back yard … Read more
