I try to do as much as I can by hand in the garden. This is partially because I try to live as frugally as possible. But it’s also because I’m unwaveringly stubborn. Just ask my wife! When we first started our market garden, I had grand delusions of farming 3 acres with only a
When we first told our family that we were hitchin’ the wagon and moving to Iowa, my grandpa gave me a bit of elderly wisdom. “Iowa,” he said. “They have weather in Iowa.” I didn’t know exactly what he meant. I mean, I’d been traveling back and forth between Iowa and Oregon for several years
Let’s be real for a few moments. Can we? Because I’m going to come clean on something. When we brought the pigs home last May, I had good intentions on creating a separate space for Churchill, our boar. Because one boar with four gilts will eventually lead to…well, you know. But those good intentions are
One thing is certainly true about all weeds. We hate them! I know you’re with me on this. It’s not necessarily the labor of pulling weeds that gets under my skin. It’s the time it takes to do it. When I’m pulling weeds it means I’m taking time away from other jobs that are more
So you want to be a homesteader… I get that. The longing to live on your own land, grow your own food and learn a lifestyle of self-reliance and simplicity. It’s one of the reasons we moved our family half way across the country just to find the right place to settle our roots. Whatever
I wasn’t always a fan of kale. As a matter of fact, I always associated the taste of kale with dirty feet. It wasn’t until we started to grow our own that I really started to appreciate kale for what it is. Kale is a super food packed with so many nutrients like Vitamin K,
Here in Iowa its 10 below and everything has been frozen for a week now. Its times like this that April can seem so far away. But January is an important month for us, as its when we do much of the planning and initial prep-work for our market garden. Plots and crop rotation are
It was one of those days where you just want to jump in the truck and go someplace new. Someplace never seen before. Sunny October days in Iowa are made for exploring, driving down a country road, through cornfields now stripped and barren. And if you’re lucky that country road might just take you to
It was time to go through the old junk pile. I saw it there toward the edge of the property when we first bought the house. Tucked in among the trees, it stuck out like an ugly wart when everything was winter-bare. But through the summer, when the branches were lush and the undergrowth was
In 1953, Ford celebrated their 50th anniversary by launching a new tractor line called the Ford NAA. It was dubbed the Golden Jubilee. Slightly larger and heavier than its predecessor, the Ford 8N, the Jubilee featured a 134 cu inch 4 cylinder gasoline engine boasting 32hp. Production actually began on this little gem in late