This hanging planter is a fun do-it-yourself project, and it’s perfect for small spaces. Not only is it useful, but it also provides a decorative appeal to the kitchen. Use insert pots to prevent a mess when watering your herbs. Depending on the size of terra cotta pots you choose, a ...

Simple Pleasures of the Home(Conari Press, 1999) by Susannah Seton is a collection of stories, recipes, crafts, and ideas for your home. These DIY pillows use lavender or hops to help you sleep soundly. Sleep pillows go back to Colonial times. They were herb-filled pillows that were used by the ...

From the end of November to the first of January the entire nation is a in a flurry of activity. First there is Thanksgiving dinner to plan and attend. Many families travel halfway across the country for this special time. Right on the heels of this comes Black Friday and Cyber Monday — the ...

Photo by Getty Images/FotoCuisinetteI love to try growing new things. I love to grow the tried-and-true things, too. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but I always learn something new. Recently, I started thinking about what new plant I could try that would work well for my climate ...

Dividing Perennial Herbs and HouseplantsDividing perennial herbs and houseplants helps to enlarge and revitalize often old unproductive plants.By David Squire May 2017Propagation(Fox Chapel, 2016), by David Squire, is the essential guide to raising new plants for the home and garden for both ...

Each year, the International Herb Association nominates an Herb of the Year™ as a way of focusing attention on either an underused or unknown herb. This year, Capsicum has been chosen as the 2016 Herb of the Year™, as it is not only used for culinary purposes, but also for medicinal use, ...

In general, herbs need at least six hours of sun daily and good drainage. The soil need not be anything special; in fact, some of the fragrance and flavor of herbs can be diluted if they are grown in soil that is too rich. Herbs do not need a lot of fertilizer, either – they are usually ...

Yes, I said giddy! Because that is how excited I get when I think of spring, planting seeds and warm weather. Of course, we are a ways off from that, but the seed catalogs are coming in and we are starting to make our garden plans.We bought our first home about a year and a half ago. Last ...

Who doesn't love a hot biscuit right out of the oven? Here on the farm, biscuits are a staple and always a huge hit. This is a great recipe to have on hand as the weather gets cooler. We are working outside getting the winter bird feeders set up, trying to catch the rest of the fish from the ...

Dear readers, buying our little hobby farm in 2009 was the realization of a dream. A big dream. I recently ended the last story of our first summer on the farm by using the anonymous quote: “When one of your dreams come true, you begin to look at the others more carefully.” I can’t ...

When my father was called to fight in World War II, he left my sister and me in the tender, loving and capable hands of our grandparents, who lived in Woodward, Oklahoma. Grandma had a natural remedy for all of life’s uncertainties.For a chest congestion, she treated us with a warm ...

When my maternal grandparents migrated from the North Carolina mountains to the Illinois prairie in the 19th century, they brought with them many home remedies. Living in the mountains, far from a doctor, home remedies were necessary for a family’s survival.Those old-time cure-alls were ...

My Grandmother Crabtree, or Mamie as we called her, made Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies look tame. Mamie had homemade remedies for just about any ailment we grandchildren came up with. Growing up in the 1930s, I didn’t know anyone who actually went to a doctor — except my oldest sister ...

It was many years ago when Mom used her homemade remedies for my childhood ailments. Mom’s tried-and-true treatments consisted of a mustard plaster and a milk poultice, which were used frequently since we very rarely visited a doctor.The mustard plaster was applied to treat a chest cold or ...