Mranimal Farm

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Gardening

Best Plant for Novice Gardeners – Peppers

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If you have never planted a garden before, or perhaps you just don’t have a “green thumb” there is one plant you should definitely try.

I have to admit, our garden does well enough, but we aren’t the best gardeners ever.  Part of that is due to the fact that we have a lot of other things going on which take precedence to things like weeding.  There have been many garden seasons where we had several crops fail.  Each year it seems like something new happens.  However, there is one crop that ALWAYS does well….

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Save Money on Heirloom Seeds for Your Garden!

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We have been buying non-GMO, organic seeds online for several years.  Saving money is important to us and we thought we were doing SUPER well by buying seeds each year in November on a Black Friday sale.  The fact is that we were saving money on vegetable seeds for our garden.  And, also, gardening in and of itself saves SO much money each year on produce.  However, there is an even better way to save money on heirloom seeds for your garden!  Buying heirloom seeds in BULK can really give you a very significant savings!save money on heirloom seeds…

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Winter Squash – 5 Types of Winter Squash You Should Grow

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I am going to admit this here, but pllllease don’t laugh.  When we were thinking about our first garden, I thought winter squash had to grow in the winter.  I didn’t read the seed packages and I learned later….too late for that season….that isn’t exactly how winter squash got it’s name.

Winter squash come in several different varieties.  And as I found out the hard way, winter squash is not actually grown in the winter. It is grown through the summer and harvested in the Fall.  However, it can typically be stored (if in the proper conditions) through the winter.  Winter squash, unlike summer squash, is harvested when its skin is hardened.  This trait is what helps it to be able to be stored for a period of time – ya know, like through the winter.


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How to Transplant Started Plants

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The first year that we started plants inside, it felt like a huge task transplanting plants from their little tray pods and into the ground safely. I mean, they look so fragile.

transplanting plants

What if we break them?  Or what if we pull their little leaves off getting them out of their pods?  What if they don’t grow once they are set in the ground?  There were so many questions that need answers.  But, it turns out that it really isn’t that hard.

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Garden Planning – 4 Basic Things to Know to Start your Garden

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Four Garden Planning Basics

Even though Spring and Summer garden seasons are over, and we are not planting a Fall garden this year, we are thinking about our garden planning.  We usually start garden planning for our Spring garden in the late Fall/early Winter.

Having a solid plan for the garden well ahead of time to actually plant just makes things run so much smoother.

Here are our top 4 garden planning basics:

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Seed Starting – How to Start Plants Inside

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start plants inside

So, gardening season is upon us and we can’t wait to get things growing!  There’s hardly anything better than going outside, picking a fresh vegetable and bringing it in to use for dinner.  Starting plants inside (called seed starting) is a great way to get a jump start on the growing season and also for some plants that need longer growing times to production.

Growing our own food is part of how we save $2500 per year homesteading!

The first time we started plants inside, it felt so very overwhelming. (If you need some help transplanting your started plants, we have you covered.) There are a ton of decisions, what kind of soil to use, what containers to use, where to put them.  And, well, despite a ton of reading and research, the result  – an epic fail.  I am talking, all of our plants died within a few weeks.  Seed starting shouldn’t be difficult, but it can be.

After trying a lot of different things, we have come up with a seed starting system that is reliable and works well.  So, here is how you can start plants inside successfully!
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