Nearly 20 years ago, we set out to create a self-reliant homestead. Now we produce our own food and our own power, and can tackle whatever craziness this wild world throws at us. If you’re ready take back control from Big Pharma and Big Food and feel confident facing Everyday Emergencies, join us.
Common Sense Home Good News Letter 1/5/25
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"One of the biggest problems with learning herbalism is trying to figure out where to stick more trees and plants in the yard and gardens." Deep winter is an excellent time to research and dream, and wander about the yard considering potential projects (when you're not in the middle of a storm or freezing your backside off). Each year we typically add (or discover) some "new to us" plants, though I could live until my eleventy-first birthday and still have some on my wish list. We started with the annual gardens, and windbreak trees to create a protected microclimate. (We added ponds and structures to help with the microclimate, too.) Then came fruit and nut trees, shrubs, brambles, and vines, with herbs and perennials tucked in here and there. Lately it's been mostly bee food plants and medicinal plants (or both). I love being able to go out and harvest food and medicine from our own yard. There are so many wonderful medicinal herbs that are easy to grow, even in small gardens. The plants we grow may even adjust their medicinal compounds to help take care of us when we are in need (as suggested in the book, Plant Spirit Medicine). Plants communicate with other plants via chemical communication to boost defenses, so it wouldn't be surprising if they adjust with exposure to us, too. With the constant stream of AI generated media (and the heavily edited images and video even before AI), it is so important to stay grounded and connect with real things. Tending a garden engages all the senses, and has health benefits beyond just getting exercise. Gardening can also help to create community, if we swap seeds, or share the labor or the harvest. I know I always enjoy chatting with gardening friends about how the season is going, or new plant varieties, or even troubleshooting garden problems. I have a few questions for you this week - One, for those who live in northeast Wisconsin - would you be interested in a seed swap, or a get together in March where I put together "garden starter" seed bundles? Two - I have a chance to test and review one of the funky indoor garden setups. Is this something you would like to read about? Three - are you a gardener? If so, what's your favorite part of gardening, and what's your most challenging part of gardening? Helping you create Resilience and Abundance, Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan) This week's featured articles...We're going Old School this week with an Ode to Horseradish. Sure, most folks know that it packs a fiery kick in the kitchen, but it's also good medicine for cold and flu season. First up - how to use horseradish for medicine. Second - how to make three types of horseradish sauce from the fresh root. (Horseradish is a digestive aid, and is anti-microbial.) Finally, how to grow horseradish without it taking over the garden. |
Laurie Neverman @ Common Sense Home
Nearly 20 years ago, we set out to create a self-reliant homestead. Now we produce our own food and our own power, and can tackle whatever craziness this wild world throws at us. If you’re ready take back control from Big Pharma and Big Food and feel confident facing Everyday Emergencies, join us.
The faded flower spikes of the mullein plants stood like sentinels, watching over the pumpkin patch. A downy woodpecker flitted in, hopping up and down the spires, looking for seeds. We hadn't planted the mullein, but we'd made room for them when they appeared in the garden bed, as they were useful to man and beast alike. Morning walks included sampling now, checking various fruits for ripeness. The elderberries had started to turn, but early apples were long done. The grapes needed picking...
When we left the suburbs over 20 years ago, I had no idea where this journey would lead. Yes, we knew we wanted to move to the country and build a sturdy home that focused on providing for our needs, not just looking pretty. We knew we wanted to give our sons the opportunity to grow their own food, build things with their own hands, and learn at their own pace. I didn't know that the food we grew and stored would help us through job loss, or that the medicines we grew in the backyard would...
The years came together like a tapestry, weaving in all the moments of our lives and reminding us why we chose this path. That time when our eldest (then around six years old) came in from playing outside holding two tiny wild raspberries in his outstretched palm and proclaimed that he had harvested them "from the bounty of their land." Making fire-baked pizzas in the oven of the masonry stove — and that same stove keeping us warm in below-zero temperatures when the primary heating system...