Can two please cohost more often or even start your own project together. Both of you are such a wealth of information and work so well together. Hearing the comparisons of your daily life and perspectives is extremely helpful!
These two women + farmhouse on boone have taught me so much this past year! We have a little urban homestead but from raw milk cheese to sourdough these ladies know what’s up and I couldn’t be more grateful for them ❤️
@@kyla3419 some places cannot legally trade it. If that's the case they can only sell raw milk designated as "pet treats". There are search pages to find places for raw milk & other produce. They aren't always up to date so contact any listings directly before venturing out to visit them. L0calharvest RealM1lk (Misspelled to keep from being deleted... again) If in a state where it is illegal altogether some ranchers have gotten creative by selling shares to a cow (since you can only drink your own cow's raw milk in such places). Look for "milk shares" in such states.
A great video on onions. I have watched Melissa's channel for years as well as yours. Great information. Even though I grow in zone 3 Manitoba I can still grow enough food through the 6 months of gardening season to support the whole family. Another key is as soon as you harvest something get more in the ground. I am a huge fan of recycling. I have probably 25 people saving me there plastic containers from the grocery store. Margarine, yogurt, sour cream containers and millions of others even 1 gallon milk jugs. Drill a hole in the bottom and instant planting container. There is no need to buy more plastic. I put a tomato in a 1 gallon jug and I can start it 2 months ahead of planting things outdoors. Always garden happy. God Bless Joe Scott
We use a manure tea. A 50 gallon barrel with water, manure, kitchen waste, grass clippings and weeds. We keep it full of water and keep feeding it. It breaks down and we use the water out of it. It us concentrated so we will put a quart into a gallon of water and then side water with this. Tge plants grow vigorously using this.
Winter sown onions from seed are a godsend. At least they were last year for me. Put mine out in late January. Planted them in May. And had a great harvest!
I tried starting many of my own garden starts last year for the first time. And I found that Charles Dowding’s method of multi sewn onions worked great for both bunching and bulbing onions for me in South Dakota zone 4. You can plant a large amount of seed in a 70 cell tray, plant them in clumps as quite small starts and harvest your thinning to give more room for bigger bulbs. Works great for my beets which I sow 4 seed per cell. Then twist out the largest ones as you look to harvest them. 70x4=280 beets starts in one tray!!! When you plant them in a block in a staggered equal distance pattern, it even helps keep weeding down. Check him out…..I will never go back to single plant rows again!
This is a great method if you have relatively good soil. If you start with very poor soil, the traditional single plant row might be better for the first years when you are building the soil.
2 of my favorite homesteaders! Thank you! This is going to be our very first year on our homestead! We just moved in November. I have my seeds and am going to get some started this weekend!
We just transformed our 12×21 family room into a year-round grow room after Christmas. I brought in my 7 tier leaf greenstock planter and planted lettuces, radishes, herbs and beets in it. I'm also growing tomatoes, peppers and squash in grow bags in my new grow room. My husband made me a gorgeous custom 8x6 cabinet (similar to a curio/china cabinet) for my orchids (including vanilla orchid). I painted it a bright raspberry pink and filled the room with pops of bright colors. It's my family's new favorite room! It does wonders for my winter blues and gardening itch until I can get back into our main garden in the spring. And no more store bought tomatoes during the winter!!!
Two of my favorite RU-vid content producers are best friends and made a video together! It’s a great day! And was a great video! I love it when you collaborate!
This was absolutely fabulous, thank you both! I'm gardening in zone 9b. It's my 2nd year trying onions from seed & idk if they're going to work 😳 but this chat was incredibly helpful. It would be amazing to hear Melissa's onion update next year - so curious to hear how the experiments have worked!
So glad you mentioned the sprouts! Right there with you and remembered I have sprout seeds! Busted those out while listening in! Please let us know how your greenstalk does indoor in the winter, I really want one but don't want to spend the extra $$ not knowing if it will work for us in winter.
There is something similar to the greenstalk stackable at the dollar tree I just got a few the other day they go extremely fast though but more affordable
If you have trouble growing onions from seed (like I did for YEARS) I tried leeks last year and they're far easier! no spooning necessary....~! I am also giving red cipolini & texas grano onions a try (from seed!) Thank you ladies for sharing your wealth of wisdom- I honestly don't think I could've made it through this pandemic without yall's homestead channels. THANKS for keeping me sane and focused on learning SKILLS I should have!
Something to consider about onions; consider not just bulb size but storage ability. You may be able to grow a few more smaller onions, but if they aren't getting to maturity, regadless of size, they won't store as well. So another variable to consider/test.
Juicing gardener used to live in Ohio, but moved to Arizona a few years ago. I don’t know what she is doing recently because she went through a real adjustment growing in the desert, but her videos from Ohio are very interesting. She would sow seeds in plastic gallon jugs and leave them out all winter. Then transplant them in the spring. Very interesting method to get a jump start and have hardened off plants all in one.
Winter sowing with Cheryl Mann. Great RU-vid channel with lots of information. We successfully used her method last year and are doing it again this year.
I see homesteading as a lifestyle. It's also a yearly cycle. So yes you're being a type of prepper because you have to plan by the year 🤗. You can only grow vegetables in the warmer days and when raising meat type chickens you're best raising them in the warmer weather. Also if you hunt it's usually only allowed in the fall. So if you live the "homestead" lifestyle you'll be living with a yearly lifestyle.
My ground has “reappeared” but it is gushy and muddy and not workable. I am just starting and haven’t developed my garden and I’m still working on getting a greenhouse up. Once that’s done, I’m hoping that next year, I can get going earlier after having set up the garden this year. My husband and I just bought an undeveloped property so we had to start from complete scratch. There was literally nothing on the land but rocks!
Every person who plants seeds, whether it is on your balcony or acreage are homesteaders. Preppers are people that store and prepare for any emergency. Our great grandparents and grandparents were self sufficient. They could be called preppers.
As a new homesteader I agree but I have been watching a lot of preppers talking about and teaching to grow and get back to the old ways. So I think we will see the combination of the 2 very soon
We are using the containers from rotisserie chicken to start our onions this year. We ate the chicken in a few meals and used the bones to make chicken stock which we canned, the containers to seed start. Win-win!
Love both your channels! Such wonderful and insightful information. Thank you for both getting together and sharing this. It is obvious why you both are such special friends. We are blessed with your knowlege.
I've had my own garden for year's and gardened with my parents growing up. The only luck I've had with onions are with sets. I love this topic. Hopefully with these tips I've had better luck with my onion seed this year!
Love this! I'm a gambler! I'll take a 1/4 of new seeds and try to start them or grow them a new way. I'm in TN and really experimenting with low tunnels this year and few new crops. Thanks ladies!
Yes onions, celery..the seeds don't last over 2 years usually ...the germination goes down REAL fast after the first year. I started growing onions from seed for the size! Still haven't perfected them yet but when they're in sets they are in their second year and they are focused on seed production rather than bulb size so I switched to seed last year lol
We have always canned dried and fermented from our large gardens, but are not homesteaders! We have a dirt basement and a large pantry next to our kitchen! We buy our meats from local farmers and our son raises pigs so we don’t buy much from the store. Have started our peppers and some cold tolerant plants! Have also always grown and supplied family and friends with flower plants!
I find that with most processes it's trial and error for me. But, the longer I do it, obviously the better we get at it, the process that is. This is my first year starting onions from seed, so thank you for all the tips.
Plant lettuce (in the fall) and in the ground close to a patio for thermal heat. Cover with a clear plastic container. Have a little bit of air be able to get in under it. It will grow all winter. I am trying to start winter sewing onions in milk jugs tomorrow. Can't wait to see what happens.
Very informative!!! Thank you ladies, such useful tips. Just started my onions last night, zone 7a, approx. last frost April 8. Intermediate & Long day onions 🧅. Taking notes. You’re both beautiful and knowledgeable. God bless you both.♥️🪴Stay safe.
Here's a twist on the homesteader or prepper mind: I was ready to apply a friendly pre-emergent herbicide to the backyard lawn and saw our free range hens pecking the emerging weed/herbs. I recalled last spring being amazed how 2 hens cleared out all our weeds; I mean, they would have earned good money had I hired them. So instead I get to subtract the herbicide I won't use, subtract the weeding help I won't need to hire, and add those as real assets to having hens (beyond eggs, compost activating, manure, and being adorable - which gives us joy). Had I been a prepper (and I did a bit of that once), I wouldn't have noticed these subtleties or accounted for them since I'd be ordering online and more concerned with storage, instead of taking the time to observe and think all those factors through...then smile at how sweet a deal that is! The lifestyle angle is far more thorough, and way less stressful.
Stumbled over your channel a few days ago and I really like it! I grow some of our vegetables and have chickens but although I live in the countryside I don´t have much land to use except for potatoes, wich the whole village grow together. Preserving isn´t a big problem for me, I´m old enough to remember som trick from my mum and my MIL but I would love to have a pressure cooker! Storage is also a big problem. In theese days here in EU we really thinking hard about what to do if the war in Ukraine spreads and still, if not, there´s gonna be hard economical times with raising cost for everything, electricity, fuel and FOOD. Wish we had more summer and less winter, growing season is only 4 month, seeding inside early and put out in the garden in the middle of june. Some varietes you can seed out in autumn; garlic, carrots etc and I sow cales in my garden house in april and put snow on it. But many vegetables have to wait until june and if we get an early frost...tomatoes really don´t work outside the greenery, peppers, cucumber and so on. Onions I mostly grow from bulbs, seeds take to long to grow but I´m gonna try with shallots this year.
I switched to growing onions from seed three years ago because was frustrated with the sets going to flower. I will never go back to sets. Ppl are so surprised with the size of my onions and I can choose from more varieties. I also start my onion seeds 16 wks before transplanting out. I plant them in the plastic clam shells and transplanting them is very easy because the root are quite strong. I plant them a little deeper too. I live in Alberta, Canada.
I love hearing the brainstorming and sharing of experiences! You two ladies have so much experience and it shows that you're always learning and adjusting in the garden. LOL, true statement Miss Jennings Music Class. Bert in the Tremors movies series is a great example: prepper, not not homesteader. Perhaps we could get some videos explaining or demonstrating cooking with freeze dried ingredients.
YAY 2 of my favs! I am up north and mice /chipmunks seem to decimate my attempts to grow in cold weather using cold frames /low tunnels. Any suggestions? This was so helpful- I have not succeed with onions yet- but not giving up!!!!
I did it backwards. Lol Started onions from scraps (cut the root end off and planted it) and in the 2nd year it went to seed. Used that seed to start the next batch. No, I have no idea what variety it is but it grows well and tastes great. Since then I added sets and heirloom seeds to my collection. Note that if saving onion seed you don't want to do different varieties close enough together for cross-pollination.
😂 When we plant our onion starts into the ground they are actually still blades of grass! Wow, have we been doing it wrong! Although I will say that we get beautiful big onions. I need a video on planting onions because they are so dense I'm having trouble imagining how it works to have them bulb before transplanting. We definitely need to use deeper containers rather than the trays. Always good new information. Thank you, Ladies!
I was just going to start my onions seeds today for the first time. Glad I watched this first, because now I will make sure to plant them in a deeper container! Thank you! When do you transplant them out? I keep hearing conflicting info about them able/not able to handle frost or freezes.
I'm trying winter sowing for the first time. I have six different types of plants I going to test winter sow, seed starting under lights in the house and direct sow. Next year I'll try just using what worked best. I have started several types of plants inside last year and they seemed to stall out for a couple of weeks after planting out and after just a short time the direct sow plants caught up and pasted those started inside. I'm in TN in zone 7 so I have lots of growing time and can often get two to three crops of the fast plants, so no matter what, the garden does pretty good.
I have some onion sets that are still in the ground from last year. They overwintered nicely and hopefully they’ll do some good this year. Nice to know I can save seeds if they flower up. Yay! Thanks for doing this!
Thank you so much! I didn't realize that onion seeds lost germination so quickly! I just sowed some more of my last year's seed now that I know this "just in case"! I didn't know that I should be giving them a haircut either so I just gave the ones that I started Jan 21 a haircut. Very helpful tips! Thanks for sharing.
Tried sprouting beans from food storage, they must've been too old, very low sprout rate so I just threw them in my chili. Microgreens are in a loaf pan on the living room windowsill, radish & lettuce mix are in a pot under the grow light. Carrots planted in a deeper pot, onions in a shallow pot, likely won't germinate for quite a while now.
Each onion leaf represents an onion layer. Feeding them sufficient nitrogen to get as many leaves as possible before bulbing starts is important to get the biggest bulbs possible.
Thanks so much, I learned loads about growing onions, I just started last year and I did save seed from that bolted onion and good to know that feeling I have of wanting to get seeds started is to be heeded. Really enjoyable chat, that was fun,
I always do better with seeds than with sets. My store bought sets tend to flower. My seed sewn onions never do. Eliot Coleman recommends planting in clusters of 5. Then you can thin down to 3 as the season progresses. It’s true onions grow better with friends.
Hi Girls love following you both. I am in Nelchina Alaska and this will be my 1st year of sows in jugs at the end of the month for all my brassica's. I look forward to trying the onion from seed but will be doing them in homemade soil cubes. So I can transplant in May, our last frost is sometimes in June. We are in Zone 2/3a so we have a normal season of about 90 days.