I’ve been sharing mostly about bees, but there are lots of other exciting things happening around here! We usually have our first apricot “harvest” in early May. I put harvest in quotes because our apricot tree is tiny, and it deserves a little more lovin’, yet it has still given us a few apricots each year. This year we got six apricots! HUGE harvest, right? Each one looked almost perfect, and had a sweet flavor.
Category Archives: The Backyard
Why Urban Homesteading?
A silly sign my sister-in-law gave me!
Homesteading, what the heck is that? Until a few years ago, I’d never heard the word! Here’s Wikipedia’s definition:
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of foodstuffs, and it may or may not also involve the small-scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale.
I guess that kind of describes me?!?I lived in a town home for almost 10 years, the only outdoor space was a tiny patio. During that time, I craved more outdoor space of my own. I’ve always wanted a decent size yard, somewhere my kids could play, and explore. Early in our marriage, my husband and I talked about having fruit trees, and a garden, when we could afford a house.
The more I learned the truth about the factory food system, it encouraged me to explore my organic, local food options. Gaining knowledge about real food, and sustainability sparked my interest in growing my own food. I want to be able to teach my children the things I’m learning. These are just a few things that gave me the “homesteading” bug, but I had no idea of the other fun things came along with homesteading. Continue reading
I Got a Black Eye…
Yes, you read that right, a black eye! The embarrassing part about it is, I gave it to myself! It’s been a month since Kim from Orchard Keepers was here pruning our fruit trees, and I’m still working on the clean up. Today, I was determined to get the rest of it done!
After getting dressed in my “tick proof” garden clothes (someday I’ll share a picture, it’s quite the outfit!), I dragged all my gear, including my new loppers out to the orchard, and I got busy cutting up branches into kindling. A few weeks ago, I did this chore with medium sized pruning shears, and it took forever! Today using loppers, things move faster, it made cutting branches easy. I was in a groove, and feeling confident I would finish today. Then, I had a little mishap with my new tool. I got my first black eye, and I gave it to myself! Continue reading
Honeychick Homestead 