My Boreal Homestead Life

Although I have been gardening for most of my life in some way shape or form, I have always faced some sort of criticism for it.  You can buy it from  the store cheaper being the most common statement.  But…

Every  year I plan out the garden, start the seeds and try to get the garden in the ground before the middle of June.  Some years go better than others.  But unlike is often recommended for newer type gardeners, I…

Growing tomatoes can be a very rewarding and frustrating experience, especially for a northern garden with a growing season of around 100 days.  But with a moderate consumption rate of tomato products throughout the year, they are one fruit I…

Long term potato storage in less than ideal conditions is something that most gardeners have to figure out. Gardeners come up with  ingenious places to store the potato harvest such as the upstairs pantry, a cold corner in the garage…

Like most people, I like eating fruit and berries, but for a variety reasons I don't like to buy them in the store.  In late summer, I will typically buy off the fruit truck that shows up in my  community…

When people find out that you grow your own food their typical response is that it is a “nice hobby” and/or that “you can buy it cheaper in the store” and/or that “it takes up so much time”.  Although I…

I recall a couple years ago in the early fall going out to the municipal compost pile with my Dad to drop some dried leaves, grass and spruce cones off.  While there I started looking around, as one does when…

Potatoes are one of the easiest, cost effective, beneficial, productive and nutritious vegetables to grow.  But storing the harvest can prove problematic at times and so alternative methods like pressure canning and freezing have to be used to preserve the…

For years I  only planted tomatoes I could get in the local stores or  nurseries.   But I got tired of the same varieties and when I found something I  liked, they were not always available year to year.  So I…

Developing an orchard or even planting a couple trees takes time as we wait for them to produce.  But if one is developing a food forest, the planning, implementing and then waiting for the ecosystem to develop can seem like…

Although I have been gardening for decades, it has always been viewed by folks as a lot of work that does nothing to save money. “You can buy it cheaper in the store” and “Once you include your labor and…

As I sit to write this, we are a couple days into the spring equinox.  And although temperatures have decided to take another dip into the deep freeze for the last days of March, it does not stop the dreaming…