You hold this seemingly inanimate object in your hand. Once you place it in soil, give it some water and light it GROWS! And it keeps growing, giving pollinators a purpose and habitat, sequestering carbon, building soil, and giving you food—plus providing its own seeds to continue the process.
Being part of this process ties us back into nature in a way that very few things can. And more of us are feeling that pull back to nature as gardening continues to grow as a hobby and passion across the globe.
*This post contains affiliate links*
Why Start Seeds?
Slow Bolt Napa Cabbage
On a more practical level, an obvious benefit of growing a garden from seed is major cost savings. A packet of seeds is usually less than the cost of a single small potted vegetable or herb start. Add perpetual savings if you can save the seeds that grow from the plants as well. More about this in my article, Seed Saving Starts Now.
Remember only open pollinated varieties are recommended for seed saving, as these are the only kinds that will grow back ‘true to type’. Many seeds sold are hybrids, meaning that they took certain traits from two different plants and combined them. Growing seeds saved from those hybrids will likely revert back to parts of their parent plants, sometimes with really funky outcomes!
I’m always looking for ways to stretch my growing season up here in Minnesota, and Winter Sowing lets me get a jump on starting seedlings – without extra lights! The trick is in choosing the right seeds to start and when!
Late in January, you can find me thawing out some soil to plant seeds. Not seeds to grow under lights just yet, though; I send these earliest planted seeds out into the elements. This is the art of Winter Sowing! And of course I wanted to share what I’ve learned over the last few years.
Before we get crafting the weird little mini greenhouses that make winter sowing feel sort of like a pre-school art project, let’s go over the basics.
What is Winter Sowing?
Winter sowing is a way to work with Mother Nature to grow plants from seed. You plant seeds in a container and set them outside. They sprout in the containers and are ready to plant out into your garden from there. Trudi Greissle Davidoff was the first to write about this process, and still has a website dedicated to this style of seed sowing.
Winter Sowing Jugs planted and outside in February
I’ve loved seeing the backyard chicken community grow over the years- and especially this past year! So many new chicken owners; I lovingly refer to us as “chicken tenders”. So it seemed like a good time to gather my thoughts for an overview on getting your hens ready for winter. This article focuses on smaller backyard flocks because this is what I’ve had the most experience with, and what most newbies start with.
For us backyard chicken tenders there are specific city rules and responsibilities. I go over some of those and other local chicken keeping resources in my post, Chickens in the Hood. I also bear my soul in the sobering blog, Fresh Eggs to Chicken Soup, about when we decided to cull a flock of our hens a few years back.
Transitioning to Winter
Transitioning hens to winter can be smooth when you follow a few simple steps… Yes, even if we’re rushing after a freakishly early snowstorm and weeks earlier than normal! Just pat yourself on the back that you’ve taken a step to lessen your reliance on corporate food systems and get a good pair of gloves for winter chores.
Keeping chickens over the winter really comes down to keeping them dry and out of the wind along with giving them plenty of food and water. This should give you happy hens down to -20°F. But, let’s get real- nothing is happy colder than that. Like at any other time of year, being with your hens and knowing their routines is your best offense.
If there’s one thing you get out of this article, let it be that chickens are tough birds! While cold by itself can harm chickens, the thing that can really harm your hens is that sneaky combination of damp + cold together which causes frost bite faster. We’ll cover this in depth later on. For now, we’ll go over three area; the coop, the hens, food + water, but of course they all intermix along the way.
The Coop
Coops come in all shapes and sizes. If you ever need coop inspiration check out Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply’s annual “Chicken Coop Tour”. So, what might work in one yard/coop/flock may not in another. I’ll give basic ideas that can be used to fit your chicken coop no matter the shape or size.
Current Coop, notice covered run area
Coops need ventilation, but not wind. This can seem antithetical. Think of it this way- we leave our coops uninsulated but cover the 6’X6’ mesh window in winter. Heat, and most importantly moisture, will escape between the roof trusses this way.
Once upon a time, when we were chicken newbies, we insulated our coop. Airtight. Too well. Luckily, that was during the warmer winters of a decade ago. But, even with lows around 20°F I noticed a LOT of humidity in that coop.
Poop in the Coop
As air gets colder it loses its ability to hold moisture. Add to that, the fact that chicken poop also contains all the urate (what humans would pee separately) and you’ve got a high percentage of water to deal with. The urate is also where that ammonia smell comes from. Most people keep a minimum of 4-6 hens in a relatively small space in urban/suburban settings.
So, let’s imagine it’s one of those -10F mornings and they’ve been in there all night (PS- chickens poop in their sleep) cooped up… then they go outside with colder temps, and maybe some wind chill, the dampness surrounding their combs quickly becomes frozen and you’ve got a hen with frostbite in a few minutes.
With colder but dry combs as the hens come out of the coop, they’re much less likely to get frostbite. So, you can see how important good ventilation becomes!
One of the basics is keeping chickens dry – and if you didn’t notice over your honey-moon period of chicken keeping over the summer- chickens release a LOT of poop, around 1/3 – ½ pound per day depending on the breed. That $#% needs somewhere to escape! If you’re really interested in the chicken digestive tract, and not squeamish about lots of chicken poop pictures, Check out Fresh Eggs Daily’s post: All About Chicken Poop.
Poop Plate ready for scraping off poopsicles!
Here’s where I’ll give a big Shout out to the “Poop Plate”. This is any board (or piece of metal for really easy scraping) that you put below the roosts to catch poop, because remember chickens poop in their sleep! This makes cleaning the coop so much easier in winter.
The back side of the fencing is covered in plastic, notice no snow on that side!
Lots of northern chicken tenders enclose their chicken run to some extent. I usually tack on an old clear plastic shower curtain or some garden poly. This lets light in, but keeps wind and snow out. It can even get a little like a greenhouse on calm, sunny days. I tend to wrap just two sides, because the whole idea is to have them outside, and it’s only on the coldest days that I’ll confine them into either the inner coop, or the coop + run.
How Cold is Too Cold?
As always, I think watching your chickens and see where they hang out is your best chance for raising happy hens. There’s no hard and fast rule to how cold chickens can survive because it depends on the breed, any wind and relative humidity. But generally, if it’s not getting above 0°F I don’t let mine out. If it’s only going to get to single digits, I tend to let them out in the afternoon- and keep them in the run so they don’t get so involved in scratching they forget how cold they are. This usually only happens a handful of times every winter.
We also try to have a solid covering in place for winter over the run, this really helps keep snow out. This not only makes it nicer for the girls in winter, but also in spring when everything melts having snowpack underfoot becomes one HUGE mess! Ask me how I know 😉 *We usually have small run areas, 4’X6” or 3’X8’.
I know some of our chickens hated going into the snow and would only venture out after others had forged a path. Others would fly into the middle of a snowy backyard without a care. Both are normal. Both are OK.
Hay There!
Add more hay. We use hay in our garden to insulate plants, and in our coop to insulate the chickens. We’ll be trying the deep litter method again this winter. This is the practice of adding more hay to the spent bedding throughout the winter and letting it decompose in place. While this sounds gross, it’s actually pretty cool, *if* you can keep the moisture down. The idea is come spring, you’ll have some finished (or nearly finished) compost for the garden. The decomposing hay and chicken poop give off heat, a nice bonus during our cold winters.
You’ll also want to make sure that ALL the chickens can comfortably fit on a roost up off the ground as sleeping on the floor invites disease and is colder. They also appreciate a roost off the ground outside in winter!
Coop Heaters
A point of contention for some chicken tenders is whether to heat the coop. Heating the coop can keep your chickens from getting acclimated to the winter temps and they’ll end up staying inside more; getting less fresh air and less chance to move around and forage. It can also pose a fire hazard if a cord is near or on the ground. You may think you’ve got the cord tucked away, but seriously chickens can be worse than rock stars at an after party.
We never heated our coops until a friend gave us this heater with her hens that we added to our flock. I will say they serve a purpose. It goes back to we do use a timed light bulb to add light hours to their days. Adding light keeps chickens laying eggs more consistently. Chickens slow down and speed back up their laying with the seasons, unless given a little supplemental light. We usually set it to go off an hour or two before normal sunrise, starting around November, going until February. I’d suggest starting earlier in the morning rather than at night, because a light that suddenly goes off might catch a hen off guard. This means a hen could spend the night on the ground and will end up more stressed out as a result.
The Hens
It never fails, I always have that one hen that starts molting about the time the temperature dips. I take care to give hens molting in cold weather extra dry spaces, as girls without feathers around their necks or under wings are the only hens that might have a hard time staying warm enough.
In general chickens are very capable of keeping themselves warm. While they aren’t exactly like wild birds (think chickadees and cardinals) remember they are birds. Some birds hang out in Minnesota (and even colder places!) all winter long. That said, cold tolerance varies with breed; larger breeds being the best in cold climates mostly due to body mass.
Frost Bite + Comb Care
Frost bite can harm our hens quickly and permanently. It can happen within a few minutes but is avoidable. The bigger, thinner and more ridged the comb, the easier it is to get frostbite. I’ll give a shout out to pea combs here. Those tiny, barely-there combs hardly ever get frost bite because they have good blood supply and are so close to the head. Big floppy combs, while adorable will need some extra care in a typical Minnesota winter.
You can see a bit of frostbite on this buff’s comb, black tip and then white.
When it gets “January Cold”, as my kids call it- I bring out the small jar of coconut oil and place it above the wood stove to have at the ready. Coating the combs and wattles creates a waterproof barrier between the skin and the cold. Not very insulating, but it keeps the wet off. And remember Cold + Moisture causes frostbite faster on combs. Have I pounded that in enough?
Even so – I like to push the limits and let my girls outside as much as possible, and mine have gotten frostbite. You’ll first see white tips on their combs. Then they will turn black. Really bad cases the affected parts will fall off. This is very painful for your hens, and we try to avoid this at all costs.
Food + Water
As always, give your hens plentiful feed, indoors and outdoors, as long as it can be kept dry. I tend to up their protein during the transition time too, this especially helps that one hen who’s always molting. The protein can be ground up nuts, leftover beans, or a few extra meal worms. I also make up some fun winter treats like garland from produce past its prime; like apples, kale/broccoli leaves, cabbages, and even cranberries. Another favorite treat to feed inside the coop (because it is dry and full of extra energy for when it is really cold and they are stuck inside the coop) is the “Flock Block”
Some people put dog waterers inside, and this just seems like a mess waiting to happen. If you have a smaller backyard coop, please do not put an open topped heated dog waterer inside your coop. Chickens will walk through, poop in, and just get wet (wet = cold) with open water inside a coop.
We use a simple heating pad under the regular waterer which is raised up off the ground. This keeps the water clean, and thawed on all but the coldest of mornings. We just inherited a heated waterer unit and plan on using this outside the coop for an additional water source during the winter to replace the extra water dishes I fill up in the summer.
The girls love snacking on my harvested microgreen trays before composting.
I will typically add a tablespoon or two of Apple Cider Vinegar to their water once a week just to help their systems. ACV is one of my secret winter weapons to keeping my flock healthy.
I also keep greens around for them for calcium and for something to work at in the winter. I am a huge fan of brassica leaves for my hens. This gives them a great boost of calcium, plus so many other nutrients. It also keeps them busy. I toss over the lower/larger broccoli, cauliflower, beet and kale leaves all summer. I purposefully leave some brassica plants standing in the garden as long as I can to break off leaves and parcel them out to the girls. Later in winter/early spring they get leaves I’ve frozen for them.
Keep it FUN
Adding some herbs, like thyme, mints, lemon balm or oregano to their bedding isn’t necessary, but is a nice extra line of defense. Thyme and oregano have serious herbal benefits with anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant effects. I add herbs to their bedding, which they scratch in too, to give them a leg up on any congestion issues they might get. *I use thyme tea to sooth my own sore throats and coughs too.
For a real treat, we’ll string up a cabbage, or set out a chicken treat stick. We plan to give them some ‘garland’ for a Christmas treat – and if you missed it, I just presented my girls with a pumpkin Rooster- ha! I wanted to leave with you a reminder that keeping chickens is FUN!
I’ve got some video on winter prep under my “Chicken TV” Stories on Instagram, if you’re looking for visual how to’s!
Me and my old girl Sassy
I hope this helps prepare you for a FUN winter of chicken keeping in the bold north! Let me know if you have other tips and tricks for keeping your hens happy all winter long!
Many of you have been asking me about vegetable gardening this year and I love it! I wanted to take this chance to cover (more of) the bases at once.
Specifically, you’ve been asking me about planting seeds versus getting plants later – not sure how COVID 19 will affect things this season… While I don’t have a crystal ball, I have been looking into things, and talking with local garden centers and farm stores, communicating with seed companies and plant distributors here’s what I can gather…
Seeds Stocks
Purchase seeds from local stores, near me in White Bear Lake places like Hugo Feed Mill, Costa’s Greenhouse, Niemczyk Gardens, Egg Plant Urban Farm Supply and Bachman’s are all stocked with seeds (if they carry) and growing out plants for you. Many online seed companies are waaaaaay behind in orders, not taking orders for a while or just closed to everyone but farmers for this season. Places like those above carry seeds from some of the best known and trusted, organic companies around, like Seed Savers Exchange, Renee’s Garden and Botanical Interests. For browsing beautiful varieties check out my earlier blog post about Seed Companies.
My Local Favorites:
Hugo Feed Mill: Phone orders, 651-429-3361, prepayment with curb/dock side pick up. Here’s a BLOG all about this Hugo institution.. Costa’s Greenhouse:orders@costagreenhouse.com or Call 651-653-1269, curbside pick-up. Free delivery over $125. (greenhouse opens April 24th) Here’s a BLOG I wrote about them. Bachman’s Maplewood: Online or phone (612-861-7311) ordering, Curbside or Delivery. Niemczyk Gardens: Online preordering, pickup, (greenhouse opens April 25th) Egg Plant Urban Farm Supply:order@eggplantsupply.com, call back for payment, curbside pickup.
White Bear Lake Seed Library: email wblseedlibrary@gmail.com for FREE seeds, detail on their BLOG. Scheduled seed pickup on Saturday April 25 from 9-10 am at the White Bear Lake library’s parking lot. To pick up seeds on this date you must have your order in by Friday April 24 at 7pm.
Farmers Markets: Yes Farmers markets will continue to run, but with an increase in interest in growing your own food, and market restrictions, it just makes sense to purchase what you can ahead of time. And many farmers markets won’t start until many gardens are fully planted.
**Sadly, all of the small local spring plant sales put on by garden clubs, master gardeners, and even the Friends School Plant Sale are cancelled for this season.**
Hugo Feed Mill
Buy from Locally Run Stores
Same goes with buying plants later in the season (Once spring finally wins this drawn out battle over winter). Try to shop local and small companies that have online or phone ordering with curbside pickup in place. The above stores all have that happening.
Typically, April 15 is our last frost date in MN, but who knows what typical is these days. Tomato plants likely won’t be in stores until much closer to May, when our climate can handle them without cover. So let’s look at what you can get going sooner rather than later!
Seeds to Start + When
There are lots of seeds you can start outside before the frost is gone, such as: peas, spinach, lettuce, kale, radish, beets, kohlrabi, carrots can all be started NOW! Many of the seeds listed will start germination at soil temps of 40-45F. And, even though we’ve been cold, the soil is warming up well!
The next week or two will be a great time to start broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, Swiss chard and other brassicas outside as well.
If you feel like trying something new, how about making a tiny Greenhouse of your own! Cutting a milk just in half, poking some holes on the bottom and planting cool weather crops in them is a great way to jump start the season! Just don’t plant carrot seeds in these, as root crops don’t tolerate transplanting.
Starting seeds Indoors
**Use only seed starting mix (not garden soil) when starting seeds!**
anything that is sterile with perlite or vermiculite works
The time for starting peppers from seed has mostly past, unless you get the fasted maturing varieties and can wait until August to harvest.
Tomatoes started in Soil Blocks
It’s getting right on the edge of time to plant tomatoes, but still worth it, look for faster maturing varieties- tip* Cherry Tomatoes usually produce a few weeks earlier than full size varieties.
Now and up to the next two weeks is a great time to start both summer and winter squash, cucumber and herb seeds indoors.
Don’t forget the easy to start flowers too, marigolds, cosmos, calendula and nasturtiums love a little head start!
I know this is a LOT of ‘overview’ info, but I wanted to cover the basics in one swoop. If you have other questions, please ask away… And I know we all have lots going on right now, but gardening is a truly calming and rewarding adventure- I hope you give it a try!
**If you are interested in learning more, I’ll be adding a recording of my “Vegetable Gardening Basics” class to my website soon! Stay Tuned!
And, because we all do better together, **please add to the list of places you know that have seeds to start for your garden, or that will have their greenhouses filled with safe and healthy food plants!**
I hope this helps you sort through some of the unknowns of starting your garden this season!
For this suburban Homesteader this means dyeing your Easter Eggs with whatever you’ve got in the house. Plus this means you can actually eat them without worrying about ‘extra’ chemicals.
Bubbles on a dipped egg right out of the dye
Natural dyed Easter eggs have a simple yet stunning charm, plus I think the process is much more manageable for parents with younger kids…
I know we’re all busy but if you can chop a few veggies and simmer them while boiling the eggs you’ve got this!
Another great part is that the kids drop the eggs in the liquid dye containers (old yogurt cup, mason jars, what you have) and then wait to see their creations until the morning!
Natural Dye Basics
My boys got into the ‘science’ part of this with labeling the dyes
These natural dyes take at minimum 3 hours to really set in, and we let ours soak overnight. So, the ‘hands-on’ time for kids is more in the prep of the food items.
I love introducing the idea that food can be used for crafting as well as nutrition with my kids. My boys also love guessing which will be the most blue, dark, beautiful etc. I appreciate the added layer of anticipation this process invites.
That being said – there are obviously as many ways to do this as there are chickens who lay all those eggs, so YOU DO YOU!
PS: All chickens also appreciate the over cooked cabbage, beet peelings and blueberry mash!
If you happen to have a LOT of eggs coming in from your chickens, try making my Homestead Strata recipe!
My Favorite Fruits and Vegetables for Easter Egg Dyeing (*depicts color of processed egg)
Yellow Onion Skins:
Boiling Onion Skins
*RUSSET RED I had saved these for a few weeks, but you may have enough for a small batch just laying in the bottom of your veg bin (or is that just me?) Boil in water 40 minutes to release the color
Lavender Flowers:
*OLIVE I usually have some older and not very fragrant bunches of dried lavender flowers (and leaves and stems) around. Rinse them off, crumble into a pot and boil for 30 minutes.
Red Cabbage:
Boiling chopped Cabbage
*EASTER BLUE I used the wilted outer leaves plus a few more, 6 or 7 leaves in all and chopped them randomly to help them release their beautiful colors. Boil for 30 minutes.
Beets:
*DARK RED I also usually have a few remaining beets from last fall’s gardens in the bottom of my veg drawer. These slightly shriveled beets are perfect for taking thick peelings off of to use for dyeing (and I still save the beets to roast) Boil for 30 minutes.
Grape:
*BLUE/GRAY I usually forage some wild grapes every Fall and freeze the extra juice. So I’ll add some water to the juice I had already boiled to thin it out to have enough to cover the eggs. *This could work well with purchased juices too!
Blueberry:
*BRIGHT BLUE I used a half cup of frozen blueberries and 1 cup of water. Not the most cost effective food use, but wow were these eggs turned vibrant and a fun compliment color to the red cabbage. I mashed and boiled for 5 minutes.
Turmeric:
*YELLOW I use powder so no need to simmer, just mix with water and vinegar before dyeing the eggs.
Egg Dyeing Process
For me part of the beauty of this process is the anticipation it builds by just leaving the eggs in the dye overnight- my kids are used to this way now, so they know what to expect- but if explained to kids as both a science experiment and a way to wake up to a surprise, you really can’t go wrong!
You basically chop up veggies or mash fruit, boil to extract to colors, cool and strain.
Hard Boil the eggs and cool.
Then get into a container that works for submerging however many eggs you want to dye. Once in the container, right before you’re going to dip the eggs, add 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar per cup of liquid. Then let the kids dunk the eggs and wait!
One difference between this and the commercial dye kits is the colors can rub off more easily, so be gentle. Also I find the beet dye usually oxidizes to brown within a day, so I added a bit of cherry juice this time (remember just use what you’ve got!) to help it hold the red. I also recommend polishing with a little olive oil once *completely* dry.
So we leave our sit/soak overnight – and the kids love scooping them out in the morning – we let them air dry and then GENTLY rub them with olive oil. Project done. Kids feel like artists. I like that I didn’t buy anything extra.
Always Experimenting
I finally got to the point of laying pretty flowers and leaves onto these before dyeing and I loved it. I ended up boiling the eggs with the imprints tied on in the onion solution (with vinegar). I followed THESE basic instructions and ended up happy for my first attempt. I can’t wait to try again next year!
Bottom Line: we love making homemade Easter eggs!
Beets, Tumeric powder, Red Cabbage
We’ve come a long way since the first time I tried dyeing eggs without the fake colors and extra plastic + packaging.
But ever since that first year, we’ve been hooked!
Here’s another idea with a match up of natural dyes used to finished colors from this year.
These colors are from what you get when left overnight. Let me know if you give this a try, I love seeing everyone’s photos!!
There’s something so fun and even empowering in using regular household things to create art. Plus – We will be able to eat the hard boiled eggs without worry of added toxic dyes.
Happy Spring and Enjoy the return of all the eggs!
Growing your own salad greens is one of the easiest ways to kick start spring. Greens are fast growing, nutritious, and delicious. And like every early spring after a long winter, it’s a great time to have something to nurture that will nurture you back in a few short weeks.
It’s also a great project to introduce kids to the basics of gardening as lettuce greens grow FAST- as close to instant gratification as growing food gets!
You don’t need much in the way of supplies to get started; just a container, some potting mix and a few seeds. If you happen to have a grow light, great- but once the Spring Equinox arrives, even up north in Minnesota, a southern facing window will grow good greens. So let’s get planting!
Container
After picking many salads from this container it is still growing strong on the 4th of July!
Any container with holes will do; so you’ll need a drip pan/saucer too. If you have used the pot before, please take the time to Disinfect it (wash in warm soapy water, then soak in a 1:9 bleach solution for 10+ minutes (I leave mine in the water for a few hours).
Potting Mix (NOT soil!)
Potting mix is sterile and gives baby seedlings the best chance of growing past the delicate first few days when they are prone to ‘damping off’ which are pathogens (fungi and bacteria) that break down the tiny stems. Many solid brands exist; Epsoma, Burpee, Miracle Grow, a smaller company, called Purple Cow Organics is available at small shops near me as well, like Bachmans, Hugo Feed Mill and Hedberg Landscape. Some of these businesses are offering pay ahead and curbside pickup during the Covid19 outbreak.
Seeds
There are so many lettuce ‘greens’ combinations it’s deliciously staggering! The basic types of lettuces are leaf lettuce, butterheads, crisp heads and romaine.
My best advice is just to grow what you will eat! But for the beauty of it, add in some reds too 😉 Lolla Rosa, Red Iceberg, Red Salad Bowl, Rouge D’Hiver ( I added scarlet kale in the video).
Try growing more salad items in the same pot- radishes, basil, dill, cilantro.
Kids love the flavor combos!
Many Seed companies sell a “Salad Mix” that include a variety of shapes and colors all maturing around the same time. Here’s a link to my favorite seed companies and their online + mailed seed catalogs for fun lettuce variety browsing!
Leaf lettuces:
These are typically pick and come again types that you’ll pick a few outer leaves and let the plant keep growing, these are best for a small container garden.
Mesclun:
This is baby leaf lettuce mix; traditionally of leaf lettuce, arugula, endive, chervil – now we’ve gone flavor crazy and add in spinach, kale, mizuna, Swiss chard, mustard greens, frisée, mâche, radicchio, sorrel… and I love it!
Butterhead:
These are the tender the bib lettuces, soft and sweet, great for wrapping . They do form a head, but its looser and you can harvest the outer leaves like other cut and come again types.
Crisphead:
Icebergs fall into this category. Typically having tighter heads and crisp structured leaves, these are best suited to grow to maturity and be taken as one full head, doing well as either the ‘last lettuce standing’ left in a container, or being transplanted out into a garden bed once the weather warms.
Before jumping onto the next variety, just remember how much more flavor all homegrown veggies have compared to their grocery store counterparts. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the taste and crunch of a homegrown ice berg!
Romaine:
Romaine’s outer leaves can be tough when you buy it from the grocery, but you can enjoy the outer leaves all season wen you grow it at home! If you can let it grow to a full head it is also amazing on the grill!
There are many other fast growing greens I love, from Mizuna, Cress, Mustard Greens etc. Even radishes grow happily with lettuces. Get as creative as you want, and enjoy the variety of flavors that grow well in a container!
Kale
A special word about kale, since I have a known addiction to this hardiest of garden greens, see this previous blog post for further proof. Please know (and consider) that you can transplant these out into the garden from the container and they will continue to grow and produce through fall’s frosts.
Get Growing
Most lettuce seeds need to be barely pushed into the soil. Some, like spinach, require a mere 1/2″ of soil covering them to germinate. Most germination will happen in a few day, so seeing seeds emerge 3-5 days after planting is a fast reward as well. **Lettuces need on average Six Inches of Soil to grow solid roots.**
Light
We all know plants need light to grow, and lettuce greens are no exception, but they only require part sun, so a sunny window, as long as it’s not in the months surrounding the winter solstice, should grow just fine. If you have an indoor grow light, use it by all means!
The best part about growing in a small container is that you can move it. Eventually, being able to bring it outside, leaving it on a deck or balcony, after ‘hardening off’ the lettuce seedlings… If you have questions about seed starting in general check out my Seed Starting 101 blog.
I hope you try your hand at growing a little salad bar garden of your own! Let me know which are your favorite varieties, and of course ask any questions!
Who doesn’t love those Free Seed Catalogs– right!?!
*Updated 1/30/24*
They can fast forward the time to lush summer gardens without that pesky weeding. Their pages are saturated with possibility and so much incandescent color inspiring us to dream a little bigger, a little bolder, a little MORE each year.
Looking for help planning your Vegetable Garden? I’ve got a FREE Garden Design Class on my You Tube Channel!
Seed Stash
And dreaming is an important part of gardening for me – so of course I want to share that with you! There are a surprising number of well established Organic and Heirloom seed companies. Turns out there are almost as many seed companies out there as there are ways to plant those seeds. And after a while you find what fits best for you.
I’ve gathered my favorite Free seed catalogs, and online links for ordering those beauties, along with the accompanying online versions for those that want to stay paper free. There’s a bit about each of the companies to hopefully inspire YOU to dream big – but purchase responsibly – with an eye to saving more seed each year. For more on saving Seeds and local Seed Libraries, check out my earlier Post on just that.
Recently acquired by EPIC Gardening, Botanical Interests was started 25 years ago and they are sticking to their motto of inspiring and educating gardeners.
Hungarian Bread Poppy
I adore their seed packets. They are by far the most beautiful, illustrated with Botanical art with and the most informative. I read somewhere that most gardeners get their ‘how to’ info right from seed packet (which puts me in my place – ha!) another reason to choose these packets if you’re new to the garden game.
I adore their flower selection, from Hungarian Bread Poppies, Mexican Sunflowers and Bachelor Buttons and had great luck with their Sugar Magnolia snap peas and Calliope Carrots as well!
As their name implies, you’ll find only Organic Seeds here. I have been consistently satisfied with their seed stock from germination to disease resistance- which is exactly what comes from growing seeds organically (and not coddling them with chemicals).
Arugula + Pea shoots
They take educating gardeners and farmers seriously, and did a great Joe Gardener podcast called Why Buy Organic Seeds with Joe L’Ampl of Growing a Greener World. Their seed catalog is extra enticing to me, I’m going to have to control myself. I especially love their microgreen seeds, pea shoots and arugula are some of my favorites. I also have great luck with their Midori Edamame and many of their herb seeds.
These guys have a huge inventory of seeds and sell more F1 hybrids than the other seed companies I’ve mentioned, they also grow lots of heirloom seeds that germinate well. There are some things that I do prefer to grow that are hybrids, or things that, as a Nothern gardener, I just can’t get to overwinter to set seed (looking at your cole crops) and Johnny’s is usually where I buy those from (Bellstar Broccoli, Graffiti Cauliflower, Veronica Romanesco). They are also 100% employee owned, which you gotta love!
Seed Savers Exchange
Heritage Farm Display Garden at Seed Savers Exchange
SSE holds a special place in my heart and garden, and the only seed farm I’ve visited. I wrote another blog post about these grass roots people and their love and stewardship of so many rare seeds. They grow most of their seeds out on Heritage Farm just outside of Decorah, Iowa. Worth a visit to one of their events, especially the annual Conference + campout!
Their seed catalog shares seed stories and recipes, and does an amazing job of welcoming you into their community.
Seed Savers Exchange is also where I’ve gotten some of my favorite seeds that I save annually (Glass Gem, Tiger’s Eye, Borage, Cilantro, Wisconsin Lakes Bell Peppers, Black Hungarian Peppers, Winter Density Romaine). When you buy from them you are helping save seeds for future gardeners, which is becoming more important each year!
Southern Exposure is a well-loved small seed company that grows most of their seed in Virginia, a little further south than I usually like, but these guys grow great seed! They have a history of helping others save seeds and other great growing guides on their website. Their seed catalog is a fun mix of illustrations and photos. I also got to meet one of their leaders, Ira, at the Seed Savers Exchange Seed Swap. She was a joy to meet and talk with. Owning that I had a fan girl moment 😊!
Meeting Ira at the Seed Savers Exchange Seed Swap!
After hearing about all those seed catalogs, you might be ready to jump in but don’t know exactly how or where. Check out some of the local gardening resources, under HomeGrown Garden Resources. And, if you’re ready to get growing I’ve got a Seed Starting 101 article to take through step by step!
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company is no longer on my recommended list because of the way they conduct business. From Linda Black Elk, member of the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Lakota Nations and Food Sovereignty Coordinator at United Tribes Technical College:
* Baker Creek has been confronted by Indigenous, Black, Asian, and many others for their use of white supremacist dog whistle language.
* They have been confronted for taking seeds from Indigenous communities and re-naming them. This is Indigenous erasure.
looking forward to seed starting fun!
**UPDATES** Since I first wrote this piece a few years ago, I’ve added more eco friendly Seed Companies to my favorites list:
This was the first herbal salve I ever made, years ago and it is still one of my all time favorites to use, pretty much daily. this Calendula salve softens, heals, soothes and calms my skin in ways that nothing else can.
Making salve is kind of the gateway herbal bath and body product. Once you realize that you can mix a few natural, quality ingredients and end up with a practical, beautiful and healing product most people feel empowered. I want you to feel that power too!
At a time when more and more of us are becoming aware of what we’re
putting on and into our bodies – along with the carbon footprint the products we
use leave behind… making your own salve is a great place to pivot.
These salves also make great gifts! As I am writing it is prime Holiday Shopping time, yet my gifts are being made from things I am already have in my home. Nothing beats a consumable, homemade gift as far as I’m concerned. Bonus that you can use canisters you already have, furthering your commitment to ‘reduce – reuse – recycle’!
Basic Benefits of Calendula Salve:
Calendula petals contains anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial properties, and is used to soothe a long list of skin ailments. Plus, it’s safe to use on babies (yes, even the finished salve with beeswax)! The oils and beeswax are both sustainable and deeply healing in their own right – so being able to swirl and melt them all together can make just about anyone feel like a healer.
There are
two parts to making salves.
*Infusing
the oil with an herb/flower you’ll be using.
*Adding the thickening + healing agents to that oil.
Flowers First
Like all recipes, it’s important to start with quality ingredients. Growing my own Calendula adds so much to the garden, as both a trap crop for many common garden pests, and as a draw for beneficial insects – plus they’re gorgeous. I prefer Calendula Resina because it has the highest concentration of petal ‘resin’ aka the good stuff. My original seed packet came from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
These are also great starter plant to seed save from; more on seed saving here. This is all before I snip off the buds to use their medicine. More in depth info on growing these and other beauties at my Companion Planting Flowers for your Vegetable Garden.
Harvesting Calendula
Summer is in full swing when it is finally time to start
harvesting the flowers. This is both rewarding and a great way to tidy up the
garden. Picking them at their peak, with fully opened petals but not drooping-
and after the morning dew has dried but not in the heat of the afternoon, will yield
the best resin.
So, start with either homegrown calendula or skip that part of the
process and buy your calendula from a trusted source. The only place I’ve been consistently
happy with is Mountain Rose Herbs.
They have an amazing selection and grow things they way I do.
Making Calendula Oil:
Once the flowers are cut, I usually let me calendula (and any other herbs/petals) wilt for a good day or two- or even place in our dehydrator overnight to reduce the water content. This make for a more intense diffusion and reduces the chance of mold in the oil as you let the plants sit and infuse. After they’re wilted/dried a bit cover the petals with enough oil so the petals are fully submerged. This also helps keep any possible mold at bay. I use a mason jar and screw the lid on. I usually write the date I started the infusion on a dissolving label and let it set for at least 4 to 6 weeks – usually more.
Sweet Almond Oil is my go-to carrier oil for infusing. It has the softest
feel, a good shelf life and healing properties of its own. I’ve used a light
Extra Virgin Olive Oil as well, and that works fine too.
Infusing the Oil
Infusion is the process of extracting chemical compounds or flavors from plant material in a solvent such as water, oil or alcohol, by allowing the material to remain suspended in the solvent over time, a process often called steeping.
Herbal academy
Think of this as a cold brewed tea on overdrive. There are quicker methods where you heat the oil. I’ve never tried this, but if you want to check out the Double Boiler Herb-Infused Oil section of the Herbal Academy article, you can make the infusion in a day. It will not be as potent as the slower, lower temperature version.
*You can also slowly add petals to this jar as they bloom- just
make sure they are dried a bit and remember to keep adding oil to cover petals
completely.*
By the time I’m ready to make salve the bulk of my outdoor garden
work has slowed down – and if you don’t have time to make the salve right away,
just try to strain off the oil from the infusion within 8 weeks. This straining
is as easy as leaving it to drip through a sieve, until the very end when you’ll
want to get in there and squeeze out every last drop of goodness. The oil will
be cloudier as you squeeze, this is totally normal.
Alchemy Time
Ingredients:
1 C Calendula Infused Oil (or less if adding other oils)
1 Oz Beeswax
20-40 drops of Essential oil of choice. Here’s a great list of Essential oils for salves and their properties.
Now it’s time to get your other ingredient(s) and containers in order. Mainly, beeswax and any other oils you’ll be adding to the mix. One word about beeswax. If you can buy directly from a beekeeper- the raw goodness, plus the smell of honey will add another layer of healing to your salve. Local beeswax will keep the carbon foot print low as well!
I keep my salve recipes pretty simple and just add a bit of jojoba or emu oil to the pot as I’m warming the ingredients. And topping it off with essential oils just before I pour it off.
So Simple
Melt + Pour.
It really is that simple.
Notice my pyrex measuring cup in lieu of an actual double boiler- means one less dish!
In a double boiler (see my cheater version above) or a heavy pan start warming the infused oil and beeswax. If you want to make a larger or smaller batch a good rule of thumb is 1 ounce of beeswax for every 1 cup of oil. You can play around with these ratios as much as you’d like. Adding more beeswax will give you a harder salve; some like a harder slave for summer so it doesn’t melt.
The only trick is to not let the mixture get above 140- low heat is the trick here! If adding essential oils (I do love this, but unless capped they loose their fragrance quickly) do so right at the end. I usually turn off the burner and add just before I pour in.
I usually opt for Lavender or rosemary – but this time I let my
son choose. I make this as much for his eczema as anything else, so I figured he
could chose the scent…and I love that after smelling over 30 bottles he chose frankincense,
which is an essential oil known for being wonderful for your skin!
Let the containers cool and cap in a few hours.
Congratulations! You’ve just made your first calendula salve.
One cup of oil turned into this much calendula salve.
These are great as gifts, and you’ve solved the dilemma of needing an upstairs + a downstairs + a car + a backpack skin cream without any fake chemicals or plastic packaging. Well done!
Walking into the Hugo Feed Mill & Hardware reminds us all why we call the good old days good. This place really is that special, not that you’d ever hear it from them…
This is a place that withstands the test of time and triumphs with knowledge blended with caring. I mean, when was the last time a store’s sales person actually listened to you; and then actually knew what you needed, had it for a fair price and did what it was supposed to. Obviously, their customers love them.
Steve Marier runs the Mill and is a fourth generation Marier Mill Manager (say that three times fast). He could easily double as the town historian. He’s been a part of Hugo’s shift from agricultural land to housing developments and Hugo feed mill is still thriving because he and his family desire to adapt to best serve their neighbors.
Walk Down Memory Lane
Steve remembers shoveling and delivering coal to homes and farms on the rail line, along with the huge pile of corn cobs that would get dumped in the parking lot after combining time. The mill itself was built in 1917, it’s been in Steve’s family since 1925. For many years it was mainly a country grain business, grinding local grains for feed.
I remember being a young girl, 8 or 9, and going ‘up to the Mill’ to get mallard ducklings to raise on our family’s pond. Since then Hugo Feed Mill has held a special place in this Urban homesteader’s heart. More history on their website.
It’s their up-to-date practices, with the latest products and applications mixed perfectly with their ability to help you grow that keeps customers coming back.
Greenhouse
Their greenhouse is open for the season with herbs and bedding plants. They’ll be overflowing with their signature HUGE selection of peppers and tomatoes by May 18th; thank you cold and wet Minnesota Spring.
Steve helping me find the right plant last Summer
Steve, aka “Dr. Pepper” estimates around 425 peppers 175 tomatoes varieties to be available in the Greenhouse this Spring. They hold planting parties and tasting events on site. Steve also gives ‘Pepper Talks’ around town. Follow them on their Facebook Page, or sign up for their “timely tips’ email list to stay in the know on their events and specials.
The Mill is a great community partner as well. They give seed and starter plants to Giving Gardens each year. Giving Gardens is a non-profit helping neighbors grow food for themselves and food shelves.
They also tend a Kids Potting Bench where kids can pot up a free flower. Special flowers and pots available for some special kids over Mother’s Day weekend!
**Mention this blog or that you saw it on their Facebook page to get the special Mother’s Day plants!**
Happy Mothers Day from Hugo Feed Mill
Garden Supplies
A peek into their store
A full line of soil amendments, fertilizers and seeds is waiting inside the store. From sprinklers to live traps they have everything the home gardener could need- and if its not in their store they can likely order it for you. I learn something new each time I shop there.
Chick Orders
Two of our chicks from earlier this Spring
Their chick orders, minimum order of 5 per breed, run now through the end of May. They have over 20 breeds of chickens, and mallards. This is the first place I bought chicks, a dozen years ago. If you stop in when they have the chicks waiting to be picked up you might even catch a glimpse, and they sometimes have extras (another good reason to follow them on Facebook). More about raising urban chickens HERE.
My favorite place to get straw & feed
I also get all my straw from them for my backyard flock’s coop bedding. These bales also make a great base for straw bale gardens!
And their organic chicken feed, Nature’s Grown Organic, is my girls’ absolute favorite.
… & Hardware
Find farm supplies like fencing and stock tanks. Horse supplies like bedding and barn lime, bird feeders and seed and pet foods, even plumbing and electrical items (which I admit I didn’t really know!).
The Old Mill
Attached to the old mill is the storage and granary part of the business. Backing up to the loading dock always makes me feel like a little more of a farm girl than I really am 😉
There is always something new to find at Hugo Feed Mill, whether feed, seed or knowledge you’ll have to go find out for yourself.
I feel lucky to have had Hugo feed mill in my neighborhood for all of my years here, and close to 100 years in their family.
Let me know if you stop into Hugo Feed Mill- and be sure to tell me what you learned when you were there. They’re great at helping you get your fork in the dirt too!
This is our family’s story of how we transitioned through loving our backyard chickens to ultimately culling them after they stopped laying.
For us crazy chicken people it’s *finally* time to place our orders and prepare for our hearts and homes to be overrun with cuteness and chicken poop. We pick up our new girls next week from EggPlant Urban Farm Supply and we can’t wait!
Living the Good Life
But this story is about our Old Girls, our first flock at this home, because although no one likes to talk about it- even those adorable baby chicks get old. My advice is to have a plan BEFORE you bring them home. It’s helpful to know what you’ll do once they stop laying, get sick, or just really old.
Truth Talking
This was a more emotional experience than I was prepared for. Much more so than when I’d had them in a farm setting, or that one time we had to cull a nasty rooster. We had 4 hens in our backyard chicken flock which my oldest son named Netty, Betty, Stella, Bella. They were regularly carried around, hand fed and in general, doted on.
I need you to know that for our family, two things can and do co-exist:
1. I loved raising and tending to my girls; from fluffy baby chicks, to their awkward adolescence, molting, bumblefoot, vent gleet, even on -15F days where I had to change their water multiple times a day. They’re really endearing animals. Tending to their needs and completely spoiling them was our pleasure. Getting those eggs was awesome too!
2.I loved knowing where this meat came from: When the time came, we knew the girls had enjoyed a life far better than any of their counterparts who end up in a grocery store come from.
Now, I still get an occasional emergency rotisserie from Costco- but on average I really like knowing where my food comes from.
So, for us- once we got over the emotional roller coaster, the answer was clear. We’d be butchering our hens before Winter set in.
How We Decided it was Time
My family hadn’t gotten more than an egg a week from the girls since the end of August. I think I was in denial for quite a while…
Beetle Feeder Mania
After almost 2 full years of happily laying in the nesting boxes I began to find eggs scattered in the backyard. This was likely related to the Japanese Beetle ‘feeder’ I had made for the girls. They became so obsessed with the beetles that they didn’t return to their nesting boxes to lay their eggs in fear of missing the next bug!
The Perfect Storm
Bumble Foot Wrapping
Two of our four hens contracted bumble foot in late July and I figured the ‘no eggs’ was directly related to them taking their sweet time healing from that. Also a shout out to my dear friend, Nicole- a vet tech who helped with the initial backyard surgery. I owe you one girl!
Then one of the Ameraucana’s went into a full molt, then a Black Australorp followed. Hens usually slow down or stop laying while molting because feathers are all protein, and that takes A LOT to regrow your whole feather duster.
Egg Eaters
As I mentioned earlier, the hens weren’t going back to their nesting boxes to lay, so they were laying in the yard. Eggs laying around usually leads to one thing; egg eating. They were likely all eating eggs by the end. I only ever found a few remnant shells, but all four hens wouldn’t stop laying at the same time.
We tried many things to deter egg eating, and encourage laying in the coop. Replacing their finely crushed egg shells with oyster calcium in case that was the issue. Placing ‘false eggs’ for the nesting boxes and continuing to use the herbs that I grew to help promote laying and keep/get them healthy.
Since we had an egg eater, we couldn’t give them to a farmer to enjoy their retirement only to wreak havoc by teaching a new flock of hens to eat eggs…
It was Time
So, I guess once the molting was over, I had to ask myself a hard question. Was I going to keep a flock of non-laying hens through a cold Minnesota Winter? Cold winters can mean boredom for the girls. I’ve used lots of ways to combat boredom before- from scratch blocks, hanging cabbages, new roosts, swings etc., but this time it didn’t seem like a good trade off.
The idea of doing all that work without return didn’t sit well with my homesteader heart.
it was time
Having “The Talk”
with our Kids
We talked to our sons about it at length. My husband and I reminded them of our discussion back when we first got the baby chicks that they would have to say goodbye to our backyard chickens at some point. Our one son was fine with it, our other boy cried for hours when we first brought it up. He was sad about losing them for weeks.
Eventually, the
butchering day came.
After a major refresher (thank you YouTube) we prepped for it and had a day when our boys were going to be gone for a 5 hour stretch…
…Afterwards
Not going to sugar coat it; that was difficult. I was sad. I kept trying to remember that we gave them a good life. Then, as there was work to be done, I just kind of came to terms with it.
The birds have now all been stewed and souped on. Even my boy who swore he wouldn’t eat any of the meat, chose to and really liked the soup. And I have to say the bone broth was really amazing.
So, love it or hate
it; that’s this Suburban Homesteader’s story.
This time around my boys are just as excited to get our new baby chicks. If anything, we’re all wiser, and if anything we will lavish even more love on this new generation of backyard birds because of our previous girls. We are definitely more appreciative of the meat we eat because of this experience.
If you are (still) interested in raising backyard chickens, read my Chickens in the Hood blog for more how to info.
One thing I know for sure; I’ll never judge another person’s decision on anything like this. It is such a personal choice. One that I am proud our family made.
Those girls will always have a special place in my heart, they were good teachers in so many ways.
I’m curious; if you have chickens, what are your plans for
when they stop laying? Obviously, no judgment here 😉
I can’t wait to share photos of my new fluffy babies with you all!
