An Update on Projects from Around the Homstead

Spring has brought on a lot of little projects here and has certainly spiffed up what were some real eye sores around the yard. Everyone loves some before and after pictures so here are a few for you. Keep in mind, with me projects are never completely done, they just improve slowly over time.

Our mailbox was such a problem. A rotted, hollow post falling into the street. We gave it a much better replacement.

Before

After

The front flower beds where an erroding mess of weeds when we first moved in. That spot has taken some serious work but it's getting better all the time. You can find more info on how to build the retaining wall here. 

Before

After

Finally, this past weekend I FINALLY got my perennial herb garden installed. Mostly. Still looking for a few plants but I got a lot of good ones including English thyme, rosemary, sage, and oregano. In the after picture you'll notice it looks a bit empty but these perennial plants will grow to fill in the space. It's important to not crowd your plants. Decorative rocks can visually fill the space till the plants do so. You can learn more about growing herbs here.

Before

After

 So there's an update from our yard. What projects have you been up to? Feel free to post in the comments below.

4 Gardening Books for Adults

Last week I shared four gardening books for young children that I love so this week it seems only reasonable to share four gardening books for adults! Winter is truly the best time of year to get in some educational reading on your garden and yard so you'll be ready when Spring comes. Like last week, I'm including links to where you can order these books online but I am not getting any money for it.

1. "Growing Your Own Food" by Monte Burch

Great for beginners, Growing Your Own Food covers everything from getting your garden ready to specifics on vegetables, herbs and fruit trees. If you're new to gardening, this is a great place to start. The pictures and instructions are easy to follow and it gives you enough info to get started without bogging you down with in dept information you can get later on.

Grow Your Own Food on Amazon

2. "Your Backyard Herb Garden" by Miranda Smith

This has been my go to book on herbs for years. After checking it out at the library, I knew I needed a copy for myself. Your Backyard Herb Garden covers everything you need to know to establish a thriving perennial, annual or mixed herb bed. It also covers how to use the herbs culinary, medicinally or otherwise. It's the only book on herbs I've ever felt I needed and is full of useful charts and illustrations.

Your Backyard Herb Garden on Amazon

3. "The Weekend Homesteader" by Anna Hess

I originally saw this at Barnes and Noble and loved it but forgot about it as life got busy. My mom gave it to me for Christmas and it's just fabulous. Designed for part time gardeners (or weekend homesteaders), it has loads of project ideas that cost little and are totally doable for most people. From reading this book, I radically changed the layout of my garden and am looking forward to implementing a lot of its advice in the future.

The Weekend Homesteader from Mother Earth News

4. "Grow A Little Fruit Tree" by Ann Ralph

Mother Earth News ran a story about this book and after a few online gardeners encouraged me to get it, I got a copy. If you are in any way interested in growing fruit trees, then you've gotta read this book first. Ms. Ralph is very thorough and includes lots of details while still being easy to read. Like the other books on this list, Grow a Little Fruit Tree is full of great pictures. Honestly, I think I'd struggle with any gardening book that didn't have good illustrations to communicate what is being taught.

Grow A Little Fruit Tree from Mother Earth News

So, there are four of my favorite gardening books. What are some great gardening books you would recommend? Anything new you're looking forward to reading this winter? Please share in the comment section below.