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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
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    • Start Here
    • Contact
    • Our Homestead
    • Subscribe
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  • A close up of an Anna's Hummingbird perched in a tree. The small bird has a black face, grey chest, white butt, and green on its back and sides, with a long slender black beak.
    All Things Garden,  Wildlife

    How to Turn Your Yard or Garden into a Certified Wildlife Habitat

    September 19, 2019 / 2 Comments

    Read along to learn how to transform your yard into a more equitable, sustainable, welcoming place for wildlife and pollinators. We’ll go over the five key components needed to qualify as a Certified Wildlife Habitat: food, water, shelter, places to raise…

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    DeannaCat
  • All Things Garden,  Pests,  Wildlife

    Organic Pest Control, Part 3: Over 25 Ways to Stop Pests from Destroying Your Garden!

    July 18, 2019 / 13 Comments

    Come learn about over 25 effective physical, biological, and organic “chemical” methods to control pests in your garden! A few examples we'll explore include the use of barriers, traps, beneficial insects, DIY natural sprays, soap, DE, and a few commercial products…

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    DeannaCat
  • Monarchs

    How to Safely Move & Hang a Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis

    June 23, 2019 / 14 Comments

    There may be times in your journey of raising monarchs, or simply when you find them in your garden, that you may want to assist with relocating or hanging a chrysalis. Come see how to safely do this! If you are…

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    DeannaCat
  • Beginner Basics,  Pests,  Wildlife

    Organic Pest Control, Part 1: How to Prevent Pests in the Garden

    May 3, 2019 / 17 Comments

    Pests are an inherent part of organic gardening, but there are many things you can do to reduce their presence and damage ~ naturally! Let's explore our philosophy and approach to pests, including defining exactly what a pest is, how you…

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    DeannaCat
  • Monarchs,  Wildlife

    All About Monarchs: How to Attract, Raise, & Release Monarch Butterflies

    April 23, 2019 / 38 Comments

    Read along to learn how to attract monarch butterflies to your garden, safely raise monarch caterpillars in an enclosure, and release them as butterflies! We'll also discuss their life cycle, potential issues, and how to keep them happy and healthy in…

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    DeannaCat
  • A photo of four raised wood garden beds, full of small seedlings. In the foreground are tall spikey purple flowers, framing the photo. Lavender and sage. A small bench, other flowers, and trees are around the raised beds, which are situated with blue green gravel around them
    All Things Garden,  Flowers,  Wildlife

    Spring Video Tour: Front Yard Garden Edition

    April 17, 2019 / 5 Comments

    Spring is in the air, and the front yard garden is on fire! Flowers are blooming. Bees are buzzing. Hummingbirds are zipping. The summer seedlings are happily planted. The deciduous trees are flush with new tender growth. Come cruise around the…

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    DeannaCat
  • All Things Garden,  Flowers,  Monarchs,  Wildlife

    Top 23 Plants for Pollinators: Attract Bees, Butterflies, & Hummingbirds!

    April 4, 2019 / 6 Comments

    Pollinators are essential to the health of our ecosystem, food systems, and natural landscapes. Planting a pollinator garden helps maintain a healthy pollinator population, and brings joy to your life! Read along to learn about the top 23 plants for pollinators…

    Read More
    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 “modern homesteading” activities easy, understandable, and enjoyable ~ so you can learn and dive in with me! Read more…

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Uh oh. Did you forget about your kombucha brew aga Uh oh. Did you forget about your kombucha brew again? Same here! 😂 Truth be told, we have been completely neglecting our booch lately. But even if it has become far too tart to drink, don't throw it out! You actually have some pretty valuable stuff on your hands now ~ kombucha vinegar. . 💡 "7 Clever Ways to Use Sour Kombucha Vinegar" is now live on Homestead and Chill. Follow the link in my profile to the blog, and tag your booch-brewing buddies 🍻 . Kombucha vinegar contains probiotics and acetic acid, the same stuff that is in apple cider vinegar and makes it so healthy for you - and has some other surprising beneficial uses! Use it to make fire cider, as salad dressing, as a natural hair rinse, and more 👌🏼 . Keep in mind we also have several kombucha brewing 101 articles on the blog too. Cheers! . #homesteadandchill #zerowaste
🎉 It's time! Today, we are going to start sowin 🎉 It's time! Today, we are going to start sowing some of our spring seeds! Namely, we'll be starting tomatoes, peppers, onions, leeks, leafy greens, and some herbs and flowers. Hold off on starting squash, beans, peas, corn, carrots, radishes, or other root veg until warm weather is closer ~ as most of those prefer to be sown directly outside (root veg for sure), or perhaps started indoors but for only a very short period of time, and transplanted out before getting too big or root bound (e.g. squash, peas and beans - though we only direct-sow peas and beans these days). 🌿 . ⏰ It may not be seed starting time in your zone quite yet, but it's likely just around the corner! If you're in zone 9-10 like us, and maybe even zone 8, there are many things you could start now. If you're interested in getting a calendar for your growing zone (I made one for evevry zone, 2 through 12!) follow the link in my profile to the free printable garden planning toolkit. I hope this helps! 💚 . Who else is getting their season started this weekend? ✋🏼 . #homesteadandchill #seedstarting
🌿 That turmeric harvest video I shared last wee 🌿 That turmeric harvest video I shared last weekend spurred all sorts of questions! And understandably so. Namely, what the heck do we do with nearly 20 pounds of homegrown turmeric?! 😆 I'll try to answer some of the FAQ here: . Turmeric low-down: We plant small pieces of rhizomes (the "fingers") and over a 10-month growing period, those grow whole new "hands" of turmeric! This was the harvest from 5 half wine barrels, planted last March - and our largest haul after 4 years if growing this magical stuff. Turmeric can be grown in containers in nearly every zone, but needs to be protected from freezing. To learn more about growing turmeric, search "how to grow turmeric" on homesteadandchill.com for a step-by-step guide 👌🏼 . 💡 So, what will we do with it all? We will save some of the rhizomes to re-plant as "seed", and also use a lot of it fresh over the next couple of months - mostly grated/minced and added to meals like you would with garlic or ginger. We will freeze some rhizomes whole too, to use later in the same manner. It is also awesome added to homemade krauts and other ferments! Then, the largest bulk of it will be dried and turned into turmeric powder, one of our most special homemade seasonings. Not only is it super tasty in meals (curries, on veg, in chili or soup, added to brown rice, in golden milk, etc) but turmeric is also insanely good for you. Search "turmeric powder" on the blog for instructions on how to turn fresh turmeric into powder. . Curcumin (the active component of turmeric, and what gives it that beautiful golden-orange color) is a known strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, proven to help with joint pain and arthritis as well as fight or prevent cancer, reduce heart disease, and even improve mental issues such as memory and mood. . Essentially, Aaron is holding a bowl full of gold. Grow some! 🧡 . #homesteadandchill #growyourowngold #growyourownmedicine #growfood
When you realize you forgot to plant kohlrabi this When you realize you forgot to plant kohlrabi this fall 😭 Oh well. The good thing about gardening: There is always next year . #throwbackthursday #kohlrabi #alienvegetable
Nerd alert! 🤓 I mean... New article alert! "9 C Nerd alert! 🤓 I mean... New article alert! "9 Common Seed Starting Mistakes to Avoid" is now on Homestead and Chill. Can you guess what the most common mistake is? 🌱 . 💡 Do you ever have tall, leggy, weak seedlings? Or ones that seem to die "for no reason"? There is probably a reason, and one that is likely quite easy to fix! . Follow the link in my profile to the blog to learn how to prevent OR correct the most common seed starting issues. And guess what? We've done them all! You've got this. 👌🏼 . #homesteadandchill #gardennerd
Green Macerata 💚 When to harvest cauliflower (o Green Macerata 💚 When to harvest cauliflower (or broccoli), you ask? Ideally, when the head is still tight and firm, but is finished growing larger in size. See how there a few gaps and soaces starting betweens the florets? This was picked just in time, or maybe a couple days late. Really though, it isn't a big deal if your heads become more loose! That is just the "market standard". The beauty about homegrown is who gives a **** about market standards! It all tastes the same. Actually, way better. 😁 #homegrown #growfoodnotlawns
Don't you just wanna squeeze 'em? ❤ Okay, maybe Don't you just wanna squeeze 'em? ❤ Okay, maybe not Phoebe... with that fierce toupee and dagger lady-spurs 😒🤣 . 🍋 Our poor old meyer lemon tree isn't looking as robust and healthy as these beautiful birds are right now - since we just discovered a pretty significant scale infestation a couple weeks ago! Scale are little sap-sucking insects, related to mealybugs. We followed up with a fairly hefty but much-needed prune, removing a lot of dead old wood and also anything most severely covered in scale. The thinned canopy and increased airflow will help the neem + soap treatment we just started to be more effective too. Here's to hoping we caught it in time, and can take care of it swiftly 🙏🏼
🛠 Let's talk TRELLISES! Check out the newest ar 🛠 Let's talk TRELLISES! Check out the newest article on Homestead and Chill ~ "How to Build a Trellis: Inexpensive & Easy Designs" Follow the link in my profile ❤ . Trellises are a fun (and sometimes necessary) addition to any garden. If you couldn't tell, we're big fans 😜 They can help support and train plants, double as fences to keep chickens contained, create “living fences” as privacy screens, or simply add style and flair to your space! They also enable gardeners to save space and grow vertical - which is especially useful for small gardens 🌿 . 💡 Come see how we build several different styles of trellises, ranging from the most simple and cheap design ever, to slightly more "finished" and attractive (but still affordable!) option - such as with a wood frame. I walk you through both in the article, step by step. 💪🏼 . #homesteadandchill #diy #growfoodnotlawns
Today was fun. We harvested and cleaned four barre Today was fun. We harvested and cleaned four barrels of turmeric... and in four years growing it, this was by FAR our best harvest ever! Also made some cannabis-infused oil and salve. 👩🏼‍🌾💚👨‍🔬
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