Category: Gardening

My wife and I have developed a mid-scale grain garden and have shared much of the crop operations earlier in this article series. We are in the middle of disclosing modifications to the Rodale Thresher as part of our Threshing and Winnowing operation. Let’s continue. Threshing and Winnowing (continued) Exit Modifications To Avoid Lost Grain I used ½” galvanized hardware cloth for the exit screen as shown in Figure 10. Most of the grain lost from the thresher is via sweeping out seed along with threshing debris. Counter this by installing finished 1” X 1” boards across the screen to …

My wife and I are convinced we need to pursue self sufficiency, and a large part of that is food self sufficiency, including providing our own protein, vegetables, and grain. I’m writing about our family’s grain gardening and am in the midst of detailing our crop operations. We’ve gone over soil preparation, planting, and reaping. Let’s now continue with drying. Reaping and Drying (continued) Mild fall weather during harvest time as shown in Figure 3 is unusual in the Copper River Valley, Alaska. It’s usually cold and sometimes wet; we had three inches of snow on the ground during our …

Today, I’m finishing my article on some of the plants God provided for our survival. I’ve written on the American beautyberry and its medicinal, culinary, and decorative uses, including recipes. Most recently, I’ve been talking about the Seminole squash (or pumpkin, as it is sometimes called), which also has many uses. I’m currently sharing about culinary uses. Seminole Squash (continued) Ways to Eat Seminole Squash Young stems, flowers, and leaves of Seminole squash can be eaten as a green vegetable or added to soups. The squash can be eaten raw, stuffed, fried, baked, mashed, roasted, steamed, boiled, or dried. The …

I have been telling you about God’s provision for our survival through nature and specifically writing about the many uses of the American beautyberry. They are edible, medicinal, and decorative berries. In part 1, I shared a recipes for insect repellent, tea for skin ailments, and more using various parts of the American beautyberry plant. I also told how I made juice with the berries. Now, let’s move on to more culinary uses for the American beautyberry and take a look at another multipurpose plant as well. American Beautyberry Jelly After much experimenting with several jelly recipes (some twice), I …

When God made the heaven and earth, he made them perfect. He provided everything we need for our survival, from nutrition to medicine for both humans and animals, from knowledge and natural instinct to even giving us beauty to behold. Knowledge of Survival Lost And Forgotten The knowledge of survival using God’s perfect bounty has been lost and forgotten over time. While gaining new knowledge with the advent of modern grocery stores and medicine we’ve forgotten God’s natural survival garden. There are many varieties of plants that grow naturally without any help from us. Many are disease-, drought-, and pest-resistant, …

Easiest, Cheapest, and Quickest Gardening Option You have some garden options that include a “good-enough cheapskate garden”. You could buy a bunch of stuff, get special ground covering, and mark it every two inches. Then you could buy poles, and notch then five feet up, and then prepare your soil by double digging. (Make sure to plant at the setting sun, and on and on.) Even if I had the time, money, strength, and patience for all the instructions I have read over the years, I’m just rebel enough to try the easiest, cheapest, and quickest way to get it …