Tracing a bean
By Wren Everett
The beans came to me as an accident.
In the early spring of 2023, I was scouring The Exchange (exchange.seedsavers.org/home) — an online seed-savers trading post of sorts — looking for squash seeds....
Caring for your chickens in winter
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
As winter approaches, we all are thinking of ways to make our livestock and poultry as comfortable as possible when the cold weather hits. Visions of blowing and drifting snow swirl in...
Okra — Not Just for the South
By Alice B. Yeager
Photos by James O. Yeager
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
No one is quite sure about how okra seeds came to this country. Okra is of African origin and the seeds could have...
Meat For the Homestead
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #137 • September/October, 2012
Meat is often the most expensive portion of our grocery bill, and it is getting more and more expensive every day. I've seen steaks "on sale" for more...
Naughty Peppers
By Alice B. Yeager
Photos by James O. Yeager
Issue #62 • March/April, 2000
If you are prudish, narrow-minded or puritanical, read no further as this article may offend you. If, however, you enjoy a good laugh...
A Small Space Yields a Big Crop of Garlic
By Howard Tuckey
Issue #131 • September/October, 2011
In less than an hour last fall, I tilled up a 4x8 foot garden bed and planted 250 seed cloves of Chesnok and Russian Red garlic. I've been...
Seven tactics for planning next year’s garden
By Kristina Seleshanko
There are few things I enjoy more than snuggling up next to the woodstove with a cup of coffee and my garden planning notebook. Although winter might feel like a time to...
Woodchuck-Proof the Garden
By Setanta O'Ceillaigh
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Issue #160 • July/August, 2016
The cycle never ends: As soon as one garden pest is dealt with, another takes its place. Last...
Build Your Own Hoop House
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #171 • May/June, 2018
I’ve had my own garden for more than half a century, and I have learned a few things after all these years. One of the most valuable things...
Green or Yellow: Grow Your Best Bush Beans Ever
By Lisa LaFreniere
Issue #62 • March/April, 2000
Bush Beans, or snap beans as they're sometimes referred to, are a growing favorite among many gardeners, and with good reason. Beans are high in vitamins A, C...
Solar-Powered Electric Fencing
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #147 • May/June, 2014
A new electric fence attached to older traditional wood fencing
More and more people are turning to electric fences as the cost of standard metal and wood...
Nut Trees on Your Homestead
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #149 • September/October, 2014
While growing up in Detroit, we had no nut trees in our yard (though we did have seedlings before I left home). That didn't stop my parents, though....
Fruit Trees
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Fruit trees
By Alice B. Yeager
Photos by James O. Yeager
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Fall winds down with the ripening of a Japanese
persimmon known as the Fuyugaki variety.
Issue #104 • March/April, 2007
There's not one of us who...
Hügelkultur for the Homestead
By Rose Shelton
Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019
Last spring, I finally completed a long-planned homestead project of constructing two hügelkultur beds. What is hügelkultur? It’s basically a method of recycling junk wood to make a...
Growing Microgreens
By Lisa Nourse
Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019
The small town where I live has two small grocery stores and getting a good variety of organic produce during the winter months is difficult. I find myself...
Tea for the garden
By Lisa Nourse
We have poor soil and do our best to amend it with compost and manure every year. However, we feel our plants still need a boost throughout the growing season. We like...































