Jan 6, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Square Foot Gardening

My dearest fellow gardeners, Welcome to a new year of gardening! Whether you’ve been gardening for a while or are just getting started or have never even planted one seed in your life, I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be an outstanding year. Today I wanted to share a a quick email with you from an NOH reader who has given me some real inspiration for my gardens, both in our courtyard and behind... read more

Dec 13, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

10 books I’m reading next

I just can’t enough of books. And one day, perhaps I’ll buy myself one of those fancy e-readers or an iPad so I can read ebooks more quickly and easily — and eliminate one huge area of clutter in my house which is storing all the books I want to read! The following list are books coming up next on my “To Read” list as 2012 draws near. I don’t know if I will find much... read more

Dec 9, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Seed Savers Exchange

Seeds. They are the life-force of your garden. Without seeds, most of the plants in our garden would cease to exist — whether you are planting seeds yourself or using store-bought seedlings — and in turn, life would become far more complicated since qe depend on plants for far more than just food. Now you might not realize it, but more and more GMO products are creeping into the food supply... read more

Dec 2, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} No Ordinary Canning Jars

Over the last few years, I have mentioned my love of canning several times and shown everyone my oh-so-European glass-lid canning jars. Once I decided I was going to start canning in Germany, it really did take me quite a few months to adjust to the idea of canning in these things. I grew up canning with my mom in Ball and Mason jars — and I was pretty sure that I’d read somewhere that these... read more

Nov 24, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Garden Life is a day early this week for several reasons. One is that it’s Thanksgiving and two is that Mackenzie is turning 3 tomorrow. So my Friday is going to be SUPER busy as I prepare for our turkey dinner on Saturday and celebrate a bit with our little girl. Hence the change. Next week, it will be back to the regularly scheduled programming.  Earlier today, I shared how to make your very own... read more

Nov 18, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Treat houseplant scales naturally

Over the last 6 or 7 years, we have collected quite a collection of houseplants. Some of them have fared really well, and others I killed pretty quickly (like every beautiful orchid ever brought into our home).It’s not that I intended for the plants to die; I just wasn’t very good at paying attention to them, giving them water regularly or diagnosing any problems they might develop.... read more

Nov 11, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving Book Review

I have a confession. I’m a bit of a book junkie. I love all sorts of books that help me learn how to do things, inspire me, entertain me and teach me more about myself. One of my go-to books during the canning season is my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It’s got over 400 recipes to help you use up all sorts of goodies from your garden and orchard. Whether you’re just a beginner... 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

Oct 28, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Winemaking 101: The tools

 Long-time NOH readers will find it no surprise that we have begun really enjoying to make wine over the last 3 or 4 years. It’s not something I’ve really talked a lot about because it’s a rather involved process, and we were really still trying to learn what everything is and what it’s for. But I know that a lot of people have expressed an interest, so I thought it would be fun to... read more

Oct 21, 2011 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Saving Jalapeno Seeds

The weather seems to be turning cooler every day here. We’ve gotten past the first light frosts without any losses, but I’m starting to consider what I should do with all these green tomatoes we still have on the vine. Some of them (like the yellows) seem to be very slowly ripening still. But we have a LONG way to go on the reds. So if you’ve got some great green tomato tips, fill me... read more