Jan 13, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Our fall/winter garden

It’s been a few weeks since you were last able to peek into our garden…and there have actually been some noteworthy changes. We’ve had unusually warm weather here for the last few weeks, with only one brief freeze while we were gone (not that we’re sad about missing that). I know the the warm spell won’t last forever because the weather in Germany has been anything but... read more

Nov 4, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} November garden happenings

It’s been a couple of weeks since I actually talked about my garden, so I figured it was time to make a few notes about what’s growing, what’s been harvested, what I’ve done out there lately and where it’s all headed next. Since we’ve had a few batches of frost here already, anything like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers are officially done for the year. While debating... read more

Aug 16, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

10 projects we are working on or wrapping up

There’s been a lot going on around our farm lately. We’ve entertained quite a few guests, and each one has helped spur on our cleanliness level and a bit of decorating. We’ve been trying to do a little bit here and there to lesson the extremity of some of our projects. A few of them are going to be a lot easier if we can get our helper guy over here to take care of some things…and a... read more

Jul 29, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life] Squash time

Welcome to week 3 of the Garden Life link up. We’ve had plenty of rain this past week and our plants are just thriving. Still battling the mildew a bit but the grapes are starting to turn purple and they already taste quite good. Now we just have to get them covered before the birds find out they taste great also! Our tiny little salad burnett plant has really been thriving…such an incredible... read more

Jul 15, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} – What is growing?

Welcome to the very first installment of the Garden Life Link up! I know that a lot of you reading this blog have your own blogs –and your own gardens. So I thought it would be fun to start a link up that will be posted every Friday right here on No Ordinary Homestead. You can post a link to your own blog (or even Flickr or other photo account — at least I think that should work) and show us... read more

Jun 6, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

E. coli and growing your own

The last few weeks of shopping here in Germany have been interesting. You’ve likely heard by now that in Germany there has been an Escherichia coli (my favorite bacteria, BTW, because of the amusing name) outbreak and for about two weeks now, no one has had a single clue about where the source of the outbreak started. First cucumbers, salads and tomatoes from Spain were blamed — but no proof... read more

May 17, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

10 Things I’d Like to Grow This Year

I can’t believe it’s the middle of May already and I have yet to put one seed in the ground! I had such good intentions, but we’ve been quite swamped with work and visitors and traveling and LIFE! But I still hope that one of these days soon, I will still put some seeds into the ground and create some sort of food in our new raised beds in the courtyard. So today, I’m going to dream... read more

Mar 4, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

How to build a cold frame for the salad table

In 2009, when winter just seemed to be dragging on forever, we decided to build a cold frame for our beloved salad table so that we could extend our growing season just a bit. We’ve actually had lamb’s lettuce and spinach growing (oh so slowly) in there all winter. The regular baby lettuces that we use as a cutting mix found it a bit too harsh in there but the others are quite hearty for the... read more

Apr 19, 2010 Posted by Tiffany

Medium-sized aquaponics how to — Preparation

A couple weekends ago, we decided it was time to start putting together our first aquaponics system. It’s a 500L fish tank with  200L sump pump and a grow bed which is 120x180cm large (30cm deep). Our intent is to grow either catfish or tilapia in it and crawfish in the bottom of the fish tank. The sump will only be used for water overflow and to flush the system. We will eventually add a few more... read more

Apr 12, 2010 Posted by Tiffany

Building our first Aquaponics system

Last weekend I had another one of those wild ideas that suddenly just manifests in your brain when you look at something. A little light goes off and you wonder why that thought never crossed your mind before. We get a lot of those around here. Pure moments of genius. Well, in our world anyway.  And we always share them with one another in an almost apprehensive way; knowing what we’re about to say... read more