Pressure Treated?! If you've ever looked into raised beds, you've likely looked for the materials to build them out of and, if wood, probably come across mixed advice when those discussions center around using pressure-treated (PT) wood. Out of the abundance of caution, we've always steered clear of pressure treated wood - that is until … Continue reading Raised beds with pressure treated lumber?!
micro-Farming
Pastured Pork Pros and Cons
We've had a few seasons of raising pastured pork and are starting to understand the pros and cons. We aim to share them here for those who really want to understand some of the potential blessings and hardships associated with raising pastured pork. We love Joel Salatin. It was largely his videos on pigs raised … Continue reading Pastured Pork Pros and Cons
Land/Auction Update
Just realized today that we neglected to post any updates regarding our recent trip to auction to bid on a 37 acre farm. Well, we went there ready to bid. We set a price we all agreed on. We were ready to go. The bidding quickly got beyond our max price. We never even got … Continue reading Land/Auction Update
Sprouts – add this tasty super food to your emergency meal planning
Sprouts: Fresh produce all year long - no garden required! Many people (ourselves included) who value eating healthy, organic, nutritious foods and who also concern themselves with securing a sustainable food supply will eventually ask themselves the question "How will we continue to eat healthy foods when we cannot harvest from the garden?". There are … Continue reading Sprouts – add this tasty super food to your emergency meal planning
Time to think about gardening!
It's snowing furiously outside at the moment. It probably seems crazy to think about gardening this time of year, but this is when we start to plan for the upcoming season. Where we live, the growing season us typically from the end of May til the end of September. Gardening, like most things worth doing, … Continue reading Time to think about gardening!
Harvesting Broccoli
Today we pulled our first head of broccoli out of the garden for our dinner. We thought it would be a good topic to cover. Knowing when the broccoli is ready There are a few ways to determine when broccoli is ready to harvest. First, it must have a head of broccoli of course! Second, … Continue reading Harvesting Broccoli
Growing and Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
Today we had the fun experience of harvesting sweet potatoes. Here in PA, we aim to harvest them before the first fall frost which is still nearly a month away. We could have waited a few weeks to let the potatoes get a bit bigger, but sometimes we just harvest when you get the itch! … Continue reading Growing and Harvesting Sweet Potatoes
Keeping the deer out of the garden – and people too!
Several weeks ago, we noticed that despite our efforts up til that point (ie. a four foot fence), that deer were still gaining access to one of our gardens. They were unfortunately helping themselves to the green leaves of our beets which ended up making the yield lower. When they tired of beets, they moved … Continue reading Keeping the deer out of the garden – and people too!
The Intrepid Homestead 