How To Get Started Gardening

Gardening is one the most universal ways of growing your own food. Even if you live in an apartment you can still grow some of your own fresh foods. Here are some ideas to help you get started:

How To Grow Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutrient dense plants and great for beginning gardeners. Learning how to grow sweet ...
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Here are some plant decorating ideas you can use to beautify your house on the inside. Homesteading doesn't have to mean rustic!

6 Unique Plant Decorating Ideas For Your Home

Just because we are urban homesteaders doesn't mean we can't have beautiful homes as well. Thankfully, plants work great for ...
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Make your own DIY newspaper seed pots! They are easy to make and biodegradable. You can save money and reduce waste at the same time.

How To Make Newspaper Pots and Save Money Starting Seeds

Newspaper seed pots are super simple and cheap to make. Don't spend a ton of money buying seed trays when ...
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Soda bottle greenhouses are an easy way to start your seeds indoors, or even winter sown seeds outdoors. They are cheap and easy to make!

How to Make Soda Bottle Greenhouses

If you are like me, you are forgetful. And if you are forgetful, sometimes you forget to water the seedlings ...
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Growing Plants from Kitchen Scraps Is Surprisingly Easy

There are so many vegetables you can regrow, that growing plants from kitchen scraps is an easy way to start ...
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Don't have room for a garden? Grow microgreens indoors! You only need a few supplies to grow your own delicious microgreens.

How to Grow Awesome Microgreens Without a Garden

Don't have room for a garden? You're in luck! You don't have to have a plot of land to grow ...
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Growing Apple Trees On The Urban Homestead

Apple trees are a delicious addition to your backyard orchard, but they can be a bit fussy to grow. Here ...
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Just what does it take to grow a year's supply of food? Here's how you can figure out what's possible in the space you have and get started!

Can You Grow A Year’s Supply Of Food?

Most of us who love a self-sufficiency lifestyle would love to be able to grow all our own food ourselves ...
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Fig trees are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow in your food forest. AND they are self pollinating! Here are some tips on fig tree care for you!

Fig Tree Care For The Backyard Orchard

Fig trees are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow in your food forest. They aren't too fussy about ...
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Have you ever considered growing a beauty garden? Make your own homemade beauty proucts with flowers and herbs you may already be growing!

How To Start A Beauty Garden: 23 Plants To Grow For Homemade Beauty Products

Have you ever considered growing a beauty garden? There are many herbs and flowers that can be used for your ...
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Having your chickens in the garden SOUNDS lovely. However, chickens can quickly destroy a garden. Here are some tips on how to have both!

How To Have Chickens AND A Garden

Having your chickens free range in the garden SOUNDS lovely. They can eat weeds and obnoxious bugs, all while leaving ...
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One great thing to incorporate into your backyard or patio is a butterfly garden. You don't need a lot of space to attract these beautiful insects.

How To Grow A Butterfly Garden

One great thing to incorporate into your backyard or patio is a butterfly garden. You don't need a lot of ...
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Here are some tips on bug bite prevention and remedies to help you be able to take back your yard and use it without fear of pests.

Bug Bite Prevention and Remedies (Or How To Survive Mosquitoes!)

There are a few things that can really make your backyard an unpleasant place to be, and one of those ...
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It would be great if gardening came easily to all of us. Unfortunately, problems gardening are pretty common. Here is what you can do to get past them.

13 Problems Gardening And How To Overcome Them

It would be totally awesome if gardening came easily to all of us. Unfortunately, having problems gardening is pretty common ...
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Peaches don't need a lot of care, but here are some basic peach fruit tree tips so that you can have healthy and productive trees.

Peach Fruit Tree Tips For Backyard Orchards

Peaches are a delicious and easy fruit to grow in your backyard orchard. They don't need a lot of care, ...
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Making a space for a children's garden can be very rewarding for your family. Here are some of the best plants to let your children grow.

The Easiest Plants To Grow For A Children’s Garden

Letting your children or grandchildren help in the garden can be a wonderful experience. Making a space for a children's ...
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How To Overcome The Most Common Challenges To Starting A Fruit Tree Guild

There are many great reasons to plant a fruit tree guild. What is the biggest thing stopping you from planting ...
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If you are like me, having a healthy garden is a dream every spring. If you are not naturally blessed with a green thumb, here are some tips for all year!

5 Ways To Have a Healthy Garden This Spring (And All Year!)

If you are anything like me, having a healthy garden is a dream every spring. THIS will be the year ...
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Adding ground covers to your fruit tree guild is a great idea. Including a living mulch improves the soil, saves water, and adds another food crop.

16 Great Ground Covers For Your Fruit Tree Guild

Adding ground covers to your fruit tree guild is a great idea. While you can add mulch into your food ...
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The best plants for food forests are those that have multiple uses, especially as a food crop. Here are some of the most popular plants for food forests.

The Most Popular Plants For Fruit Tree Guilds

When you are planning out a fruit tree guild you can use any plants you want, but there are some ...
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A vital part of a healthy garden is the insect population. Here are 33 insectiary plants that will attract "good" bugs and discourage the "bad" bugs.

44 Insectiary Plants For Your Fruit Tree Guild

A vital part of a healthy garden is the insect population. While insects get a bad reputation, many of them ...
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By growing your own mulch plants you will save money, time and effort! Chop and drop for mulch plants will benefit your soil and keep the weeds down.

Best Plants To Chop and Drop In Your Fruit Tree Guild

One of the critical aspects of growing a fruit tree guild is that you grow your compost and fertilizer alongside ...
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Adding vines to your forest garden can add beauty, attract beneficial insects and birds, and add another food crop with little space.

Vines You Should Grow in Your Fruit Tree Guild

After your get your trees planted it's time to start adding other layers in your food forest. The vine layer ...
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The central part of fruit tree guilds is the fruit tree! Here is a mega list of 55 trees that grow well in a forest garden.

55 Trees That Are Great For Fruit Tree Guilds

The central part of fruit tree guilds is the fruit tree! You don't actually need a fruit tree for a ...
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There are a couple ways to suppress grass in your fruit tree guild. Here are plants that will help you have the most productive orchard!

These Are The Best Plants To Suppress Grass Around Fruit Trees

If you want to have the best producing fruit trees, it's important to keep competing plants away from your backyard ...
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What Are The Best Nitrogen Fixers?

Nitrogen fixers are an important part of fruit tree guilds. These plants can also really help out your garden and ...
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Here are some benefits of urban permaculture that everyone can experience no matter which city they live in. And the more the better!

Here’s Why Our Cities Need More Urban Permaculture

One of the things I loved about living in Portland, Oregon for over ten years is how popular urban permaculture ...
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17 Dynamic Accumulators You Need In Your Food Forest

Dynamic accumulators are a popular idea in permaculture. It refers to plants that have deep roots that gather minerals. This ...
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How To Start A Fruit Tree Guild

Instead of planting an orchard, start your food forest by planting a fruit tree guild! A fruit tree guild is ...
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8 Ways to Decorate with Houseplants

Did you know that having a few houseplants in your living space can help improve concentration, enhance productivity, and boost ...
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Everything You Need To Know About Yarrow

Yarrow is one of those superstar plants that does pretty much everything well. Plus, it's easy to grow, which makes ...
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Fall Container Gardens That Will Spice Up Your Space

Spring and summer contain a bounty of beautiful and useful plants. How can you keep that green, lush look going ...
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Do You HAVE To Kill Wasps?

I was on my patio when I noticed several large wasp nests on the center beam and quite a few ...
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How NOT to Compost: 16 Ways To Screw It Up

I started my first compost bin in 2008 and I was so jazzed up and excited about it. I was ...
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How To Make The Best Of A Small Garden

Just because you have a small garden space doesn't mean you can't use it in a big way. There are ...
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21 Drought Tolerant Plants For Edible Landscaping

Even if you live in a dry area you can still grow drought tolerant plants that have multiple purposes and ...
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When To Plant Potatoes In Your Area

Potatoes are one of those great crops that can be grown many different ways, and are pretty easy to grow ...
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Pruning Peach Trees For The Largest Harvest

Do you have a peach tree that only fruits every other year? Or maybe it only gets fruit on the ...
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Growing Garlic For a Year’s Supply Is Practical

We all dream of a thriving garden that produces enough food for us to live off our own land each ...
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Lemon Tree Care Is Super Simple For You

Lemon tree care is pretty easy. If you're lucky enough to live in an area warm enough to grow citrus, ...
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How To Plant Fruit Trees

Planting fruit trees is one of the best things you can do on your homestead. They take minimal care once ...
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Easy Landscaping Ideas For Concealed Food In The City

Growing all your food is a great goal to strive for, but what do you do when you only have ...
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How To Learn How To Wildcraft

There are an abundance of lovely and useful plants that we can plant in our yards and gardens. And there ...
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How To Grow Blackberries Without a Hostile Takeover

In my opinion, the best plants are the ones where you stick them in the ground once and they come ...
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How To Grow Raspberries For a Killer Harvest

Ever wondered what are the best plants to start with if you are a new gardener? Well, there are some ...
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How To Grow Food Even When You Have Poor Soil

Gardening is easy when you start out with a great soil filled with organic matter and tasty nutrients your plants ...
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The Greatest Things About Growing Strawberries

Hardly a spring goes by when I'm not tempted to buy plants. It's not a bad temptation, but I could ...
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5 Useful Kitchen Compost Bin Tips That Will Keep Things Tidy

Whether you compost in your own yard or use the city curbside compost pick up, you'll need a good way ...
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Here’s How To Use Rainwater In Your Garden

Gardening doesn't have to be complicated, but there are a few things that you have to have to make it ...
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Excellent Spring Garden Vegetables For Small Spaces

When planning your spring garden, you may be wondering which vegetables will work best for a very small garden. If ...
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38 Edible and Useful Plants To Grow In A Shade Garden

One of the trickiest things about growing your own food is sometimes the space you haven't isn't ideal. One scenario ...
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Here’s How To Discourage Fire Ants In Your Garden

After moving from Portland, Oregon to San Antonio, Texas, we had a nice little surprise. And when I say nice, ...
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15 Reliable And Edible Plants For The Forgetful Gardener

I've always been slightly (okay, a LOT) envious of those people who seem to have a green thumb. All they ...
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Easy Ways To Get Started On a Great Spring Garden

Garden season is RIGHT around the corner, and I know I'm itching to get started on this year's garden. Unfortunately, ...
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Beautiful Front Yard Gardens Save You Time And Money

Did you know that it doesn't take much space to grow a hearty amount of your own food? You don't ...
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How To Put Your Garden To Bed In The Fall

Colder weather means it's time to put your garden to bed. As you harvest the last of your gardens it's ...
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Is Fancy Equipment Needed on a Homestead?

If you’re working to live more sustainably on your urban or suburban homestead, growing as much of your own food ...
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5 Beautiful Plants For Your Garden That Bees Love

You may have had heard lately that the bees are in trouble. Bees are one of many pollinators that keep ...
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How To Enjoy Nature When You Live In The City

One of the main reasons people dream of moving to the country and starting a homestead is so that they ...
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11 Reasons Why You Need To Know About Permaculture

If you've been around the organic homesteading community at all, you may have heard the term permaculture before. If you're ...
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Compost Makes Every Homestead Better. Want To Try?

New homesteader? Learn how to compost! Starting your first compost bin can be really exciting for us homesteading/self-sufficiency geeks. Finally! ...
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Building Soil Is The Big Secret To Great Gardens

When I first started gardening I figured I was a total fail at it. Everything I planted DIED. Even blackberry ...
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Planning a Garden is a Simple Way to a Better Harvest

Have you ever had grand dreams of a beautiful garden, but it never went exactly the way you imagined? Maybe ...
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Planting Garlic is Easy! Here’s How To Do It

Maybe you like a challenge, maybe you forgot to order seeds. Whatever the reason, you find yourself wanting to grow ...
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5 Reasons You Need To Learn About Herbs

I never knew much about herbs. Sometimes my mom had me take St. John's Wort when I was feeling down, ...
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Here’s How To Live Sustainably When You Have a Small Lot (Urban Permaculture Zone 4)

Living sustainably may be easier on a few acres in the country, but that doesn't mean you can't use all ...
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Saving tomato seeds to plan for next year is an easy way to become more self-sufficient and perpetuate heirloom varieties. Every year your crop becomes better adapted to your particular micro climate. Just about any factor you want to improve, you CAN with saving tomato seeds from your garden.

You Can Save Your Own Tomato Seeds

Did you know you can save your own tomato seeds? They're actually pretty easy to save and grow. Saving tomato ...
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How To Have Fun When Gardening With Kids

Gardening with kids is the only way gardening happens around here. My kids love to be included in the garden, ...
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Making Up Potting Bags: DIY Potting Bag Tutoriol

Making Up Potting Bags: DIY Potting Bag Tutorial

Hi, I'm Carley from Making It Up as I Sew Along, and this is my backyard. Actually, it's my front ...
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Learn how to live more seasonally with these ideas from Farming My Backyard.

How To Live In Tune With The Seasons

Living in tune with the seasons has always had a sense of romance to me. Even before beginning the backyard ...
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27 Reasons to Love Dandelions

There are a lot of reasons to love dandelions, despite the fact they often get a bad reputation. They are ...
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How to Plant Potatoes

Growing potatoes is a pretty straightforward process. They don't even have to be labor intensive, and can be grown in ...
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What if beautiful and useful plants started growing on their own? When you plant perennials the garden starts itself each year!

Do You Want a Garden That Plants Itself?

What if instead of weeds sprouting up all over your garden, beautiful and useful plants started growing on their own? ...
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How To Grow Ginger From The Store

If you are anything like me, you like trying random gardening experiments. I'm always trying to plant things that I ...
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How To Recycle Concrete Into Urbanite For A Unique Garden

With a little creativity and some grunt work, beautiful paths, patios and other projects can be made by recycling unwanted ...
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You Need To Try No Dig Gardening For Great Soil

No dig gardening is a great way to cut down on weeds, watering, and enrich your soil and it even ...
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Note the absence of the abused women in these statements. Note the way we simply do not exist.

How to (Not) Grow Rosemary

My parents have a gorgeous rosemary plant that just keeps growing and growing. They are forever hacking away at it ...
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Inexpensive Tools Every Gardener Should Have

If you are getting started with homesteading or growing your own food you may think you need to run out ...
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How to Make an Upcycled Pallet Planter for Cheap

Making a pallet planter is a quick way to increase the vertical planting space in your garden. If you find ...
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Hugelkultur: Colossal Garden Beds For Remarkable Results

In my first urban homestead in Portland, there was a large cedar tree in the front yard. As I looked ...
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