Homestead and Chill Homestead and Chill

Organic Gardening | Real Food | Natural Health | Good Vibes

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  • Garden
    • All Things Garden
    • Beginner Basics
    • Cannabis
    • Compost
    • Flowers
    • “How to Grow”
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Pests
    • Wildlife
      • Monarchs
  • Food & Ferment
    • Fermented Foods
    • Kombucha
    • Preserve Your Harvest
    • Recipes
    • Sourdough
  • Chickens
  • Natural Health
  • Music
  • Shop
    • Cart
  • About
    • Start Here
    • Contact
    • Our Homestead
    • Subscribe
    • Meet DeannaCat
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  • "How to Grow",  Beginner Basics

    How to Grow Zucchini (Summer Squash): Planting, Pests, Pollination & More

    March 18, 2020 / 4 Comments

    Squash are prolific and easy crops to grow in your summer garden, once you know how to care for them. Learn how to grow zucchini and other summer squash from seed to table - with tips on planting, popular varieties, pest…

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    DeannaCat
  • Beginner Basics,  Flowers,  Pests

    Companion Planting 101 (w/ Garden Companion Planting Chart)

    March 9, 2020 / 5 Comments

    Curious about companion planting? Come dig in to learn what companion planting is, tips to get started, and how it can benefit your garden by attracting beneficial insects and pollinators, deterring pests, increase biodiversity, and more! A free printable companion planting…

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    DeannaCat
  • All Things Garden,  Beginner Basics

    Raised Garden Beds vs. In-Ground Beds: Pros & Cons

    February 27, 2020 / 1 Comment

    Is it best to grow in raised garden beds, or plant directly in the ground? That depends on your native soil, prevalence of pests, and personal preference! Come explore the differences, benefits, and potential drawbacks of gardening in raised beds versus…

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    DeannaCat
  • Beginner Basics,  Compost

    Composting 101: What, Why & How to Compost at Home

    February 20, 2020 / 8 Comments

    Composting is an awesome way to sustainably dispose of food waste and create free organic fertilizer. Come learn about 6 different ways to compost at home, including passive compost, hot compost, worm bins and more! We'll also go over what materials…

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    DeannaCat
  • All Things Garden,  Beginner Basics

    How to Start a Homestead: 9 Must-Read Tips for New Homesteaders

    February 11, 2020 / 12 Comments

    The idea of starting a homestead is exciting, but can also feel overwhelming. There is so much to consider; so many things to do! This article will help you set attainable goals, priorities, and most importantly: remind you that it doesn’t…

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    DeannaCat
  • "How to Grow",  Beginner Basics,  Flowers,  Wildlife

    7 Best Easy Annual Companion Flowers to Grow from Seed

    February 6, 2020 / 7 Comments

    In my humble opinion, no garden is complete without flowers! They add a delightful pop of color, provide food for pollinators, and are often even less maintenance than growing food crops. Come learn about the 7 best annual companion flowers to…

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    DeannaCat
  • All Things Garden,  Beginner Basics,  Indoor Gardening

    9 Common Seed Starting Mistakes To Avoid

    January 14, 2020 / 18 Comments

    Too much water. Not enough light. Bad timing... When new gardeners stray from seed starting best practices and "make mistakes", seeds may not sprout, seedlings can be weak or unhealthy, or plants could even die. But don't worry! All of those…

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    DeannaCat
  • All Things Garden,  Beginner Basics

    How to Build a Trellis: Inexpensive & Easy Designs

    January 10, 2020 / 23 Comments

    Trellises are an awesome addition to any garden. They can help support plants, create privacy walls and β€œliving fences”, or simply add style and flair to your space! They also enable gardeners to save space and grow vertical. Come learn how…

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    DeannaCat
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DeannaCat, the creator of Homestead and Chill

CREATOR & PLANT LADY

Hey! My name is Deanna, also known as DeannaCat. I’m all about simple living, real food, and everything plants. My hope is to inspire the love for a similar lifestyle or hobbies in others ~ by sharing real-life tips and tools to make β€œmodern homesteading” activities easy, understandable, and enjoyable ~ so you can learn and dive in with me! Read more…

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Feeling overwhelmed, anxious and distracted this m Feeling overwhelmed, anxious and distracted this morning, and then some... Grateful. Guilty. Terrified. Goofy. Restless. Tired. Back to Grateful. . I have always kept this space intentionally positive and peaceful, avoiding current events, politics, or even my own personal struggles. But we are very human over here, and it is not all sunshine, butterflies, kittens and rainbows. I feel the worst when Aaron is at work, alone at the house with my thoughts and anxiety. He is out there risking exposure every day. Our safety/disinfecting routine when he gets home is necessary and good, but also makes me even more anxious. I am not seeing a lot of what is going on out there, because I have been home for 22 days (minus popping in to the office 2x for files). But he is seeing all the masks, gloves, and leery faces daily. Everyone keeps saying the best thing people can do is stay home, but some people don't have that option. . I'm deeply sad for everyone impacted by this crazy situation, and I'm nervous for our health (I am high risk with auto-immune issues and type 1 diabetes). But again, I return to grateful... Grateful for our home, garden, animals, jobs, and partnership of course ~ but also grateful for the silver lining this whole thing has caused: a chance for many people to look at their food, families, lifestyle or environment differently. A forced time out to slow down, reflect, and connect on a different level. On our walk yesterday, we saw more wildlife out and about than ever. The air quality has drastically improved here since the RV dunes have shut down. And these are just tiny local impacts. We are guests on the planet, so I hope when we come out on the other side that at least some of these shifts in consciousness continue.
Homegrown turmeric powder πŸ’› If last weekend had Homegrown turmeric powder πŸ’› If last weekend had a theme, this was it: Turmeric! We planted our annual crop of turmeric, sliced and dried more of January's harvest to turn into powder, baked a loaf turmeric-spiked sourdough, and finished it all off with a steamy mug of golden milk "turmeric latte" yesterday ~ the perfect nourishing beverage for the rainy evening that it was 🌦 . We are admittedly addicted to turmeric around here, but I don't think we could have a much healthier addiction! Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is a superfood with ACTUAL super-powers. 🌠 It is most renown for having strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, soothing aching joints, muscle pain, cramps, arthritis and more. Curcumin has also been proven to reduce blood pressure, slow or prevent cancer development, improve memory, and boost the immune system. πŸ’ͺ🏼 . Needless to say, we incorporate it into our meals and daily routine as much as possible - as a powder seasoning on and in food (sprinkled over sauteed or roasting veggies, added to soup, lentils, brown rice, etc), raw grated turmeric added to meals and also homemade krauts, via golden milk, and with turmeric supplements. For the record, turmeric is not spicy like curry! It just happens to be a key ingredient in curry... but turmeric itself is mellow and earthy. Even if you don't grow your own, I highly recommend befriending turmeric too! She's a great friend to have. πŸ₯°
How do you like our new DRIVEWAY garden? πŸ€“ New How do you like our new DRIVEWAY garden? πŸ€“ New post alert! "How to Build a Raised Garden Bed on Concrete, Patio or Other Hard Surface" is now on Homestead and Chill. Follow the link in my profile to the blog. πŸ’ž . Come see exactly how we prepped the bottom of this new raised bed before installing it on our driveway (hint: there is no wood bottom, but the soil is not sitting on the asphalt!) The article covers important FAQ and tips about drainage, soil retention, soil quality, bed depth and more. It also goes over alternate designs and options for gardening on hardscape areas, including how we made our elevated mobile planter boxes, planting in wine barrels, and other container gardening tips πŸ‘ŒπŸΌ With a little creativity and determination, we can grow food damn near anywhere my friends! 🌿 . #homesteadandchill #growfoodnotlawns #drivewaygarden
πŸ¦‹ Are you up for a friendly challenge?! I DARE πŸ¦‹ Are you up for a friendly challenge?! I DARE you to play along with a #plantforpollinatorschallenge 🐝 . It is super easy. Simply plant ONE new pollinator-friendly plant somewhere over the next few weeks, anywhere! In your garden, in a pot on your balcony, in a window box... wherever you can. And of course, the more plants, the merrier! That could include starting seed, if it's too early to plant outside just yet. Use the tag, share pics, tag a friend, encourage others to play along too. This is something most of us can do at home (with #stayhome and all) and will also serve a HUGE benefit to our environment and economy. Without pollinators, a keystone species, our ecosystems and food supply would literally collapse πŸ™πŸΌπŸŒ . 🌻 One year ago today I released an article on Homestead and Chill that is very near and dear to my heart: "The Top 23 Plants for Pollinators ~ Attract Bees, Butterflies, Hummingbirds & More". Last year we grew 19 of the 23, and this year we are at 20 🀘🏼 Check out the list for ideas of what to plant! It covers the ideal climate, zone, growing tips, and more for each of the 23 plants. Every day for the rest of the month I will feature one of the 23 on my stories. . πŸ€” I know we may not be able to get to a nursery to buy started plants, but MANY of the ones on the list are easy to grow from seed - which you should be able to still order online. Check out our "7 Easy Annual Companion Flowers to Grow From Seed" post for more ideas, including favorite seeds & varieties. . ❓ To find the articles, simply Google "Homestead and Chill Plants for Pollinators". Both articles should pop right up. πŸ’ž . So, are you down to play? How many from the list are YOU already growing? . #homesteadandchill #pollinators
🌿 Speaking of fresh herbs... how about some Glu 🌿 Speaking of fresh herbs... how about some Gluten-Free Sourdough Crackers (w/ optional herbs and cheese)? Yes please! 🀚🏼 Find the new recipe on Homestead and Chill ~ follow the link in my profile & tag a GF friend! πŸ’ž . This recipe is a spin off our classic wheat sourdough crackers that you all have been gobbling up (I see you!) and some have lovingly dubbed "pizza crackers" πŸ‘ŒπŸΌπŸ€€πŸ• The wheat cracker recipe is also on de blog, along with pizza crust, focaccia and instructions to make both a GF or wheat sourdough starter from scratch πŸ’‘ . These GF crackers turned out super flaky, crispy, and delicious! We have made (and too thoroughly enjoyed) three batches with different tweaks over the last week 😬🀣 Making crackers is the perfect use for your "discarded" sourdough starter at feeding time - along with various other baking recipes, feeding it to the chickens, or adding it to compost. . Enjoy! . #homesteadandchill #quarantineandchill #stayhome
🌿 Hot dang, I love fresh herbs! Nothing beats t 🌿 Hot dang, I love fresh herbs! Nothing beats that moment when you're in the kitchen, cooking up something tasty (a huge batch of veggie soup in this case) and you can simply pop outside and pick some. We always keep herbs planted close to the front and back door for that very reason. Herbs are also one of the best and easiest edible plants to grow indoors! Add herbs to a sunny windowsill or bright room in a pot with rich but well-draining soil, and you're all set. If you can't grow them year-round, grow extra in the summer to dry for off-season use.πŸ‘ŒπŸΌ . Our go-to favorite culinary herbs are thyme, oregano, rosemary and sage (because they're delicious, and also easy perennials here)... and annual basil of course. We also added french tarragon and sweet marjoram to the garden this year. . What are your favorite culinary herbs? And let's not even get started on medicinals and all the other good guys out there 😍
🌿 Borage rapidly self-seeds and spreads as a vo 🌿 Borage rapidly self-seeds and spreads as a volunteer... even between paver stones! We don't mind though, because it is an awesome plant to have around! . 🐝 The bees love the edible flowers (which are great in salads, or as a pretty summer drink garnish!), plus the leafy greens are super nutrient-dense and make for a great green mulch, natural fertilizer tea, or an addition to compost - much like comfrey, stinging nettle, yarrow, and other dynamic accumulators. Guess who else loves borage? These girls! As soon as I open the gate, the head straight for the borage blossoms - beaks open. πŸ˜‚ They claim they're "helping", since picking the flowers before they go to seed is one way to slow borage from spreading. πŸ’πŸΌβ€β™€οΈ
πŸ₯ Drumroll please...and the Excalibur Giveaway πŸ₯ Drumroll please...and the Excalibur Giveaway winner is @howanirisgrows ~ Congratulations lucky lady! πŸŽ‰ Let me tell ya though... I don't think I have ever felt bad about a giveway until now. There was SO much excitement and interest, and I felt awful that we can't give a machine to everyone! . So I reached to to the awesome folks at Excalibur for help, and they created a special deal just for this community πŸ’ž Use code "DEANNACAT3" on excaliburdehydrator.com to save 15% on any machine of choice through the end of April. I hope this helps some of you preserve and DRY ALL THE THINGS - like we do! πŸ˜‚πŸŒΏπŸŒΆπŸπŸ‘ŒπŸΌπŸ…πŸŒΌ Thanks @excaliburdehydrator!
πŸŽ‰ How to Kill or Remove Grass ~ and Grow Food, πŸŽ‰ How to Kill or Remove Grass ~ and Grow Food, Not Lawns! πŸ‘ŠπŸΌ Now on Homestead and Chill, follow the link in my profile! πŸ’š . πŸ’‘ Curious how we removed our lawn (every last blade on .19 acres!) to turn it into a food forest instead? Then this post is for you. We talk about 4 different ways to remove lawn (including some less labor-intensive methods than what we used πŸ˜‚), options for smothering and killing grass in place rather than physically removing it, ground cover/prep and mulch options for once the grass is dead or gone, weed suppression, borders, and more. And of course plenty of photos. . 🀯 Did you know that over 50 MILLION acres of land are covered in manicured turf lawns in the US alone? Those spaces guzzle an immense amount of water, pesticides, and lawn mower gas ~ all for little-to-no benefit. Can you imagine if even HALF of those spaces were converted to edible gardens, food forests, and native landscapes instead? 🀩 And for the record, our ethos of "grow food not lawns" extends to providing food for pollinators and local wildlife too - not just us 🐝🌻🐦 . I know this one has been a long time coming, so I hope you enjoy the post! . #homesteadandchill #growfoodnotlawns #frontyardgarden #stayhome
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Preserve your goods + snag 15% OFF any Excalibur Dehydrator now through April 30th! Use code "DEANNACAT3" on excaliburdehydrator.com Dismiss