Banana Plant Indoor Growing Guide: Complete Plant Care Ever thought about growing a banana plant indoors? We’re all familiar with bananas, especially the Cavendish type you find at the grocery store, but there are plenty of other varieties out there. If you’ve visited a tropical area, you might have spotted these stunning equatorial plants and…
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How to Grow and Care for a Coconut Tree The coconut palm delivers the ultimate tropical vibe—more than any other plant. It’s not just a stunning landscape feature but also a major commercial crop in warm climates. Copra, the dried meat from its fruit, is used to make coconut oil, a key ingredient in soaps,…
Who doesn’t adore fresh strawberries straight from the garden, still warm from the summer sun? Homegrown strawberries are always delicious, but growing them in raised beds can make gardening a whole lot easier. Sure, setting up raised beds takes a bit more work at the beginning, but the payoff is worth it—you’ll save a ton…
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Aww, fruit trees! They say the best time to plant one was yesterday—since they take so long to bear fruit. And while it’s true you won’t get any harvest in the first year, it doesn’t always mean waiting forever. Luckily, there are fast-growing fruit trees you can plant. First, let’s talk about whether you should grow…
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This year, when we planted our Roma tomatoes, we mixed in some of last year’s compost in the bed. For all the other beds, we used aged hay from a friend’s horses and goats. By the time we got to the Romas, we’d run out of farm “stuff.” I’d started my Romas from seed, and…
When most folks imagine a food garden, they picture annuals like tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. But there’s a whole world of perennial vegetables, fruits, and herbs that thrive in nearly every gardening zone—except the absolute coldest. Every year, we make it a point to add more edible perennials to our garden. The idea is that…
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A mulberry tree is an absolute must for your homestead or backyard. These fast-growing shade trees provide food for your family and excellent fodder for chickens, ducks, goats, and other livestock. Every part of the tree—the leaves, bark, and berries—is edible. Mulberry trees make a fantastic addition to any family orchard. When we first moved…
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Out of everything I’ve grown, I’d say pineapples excite me the most. I’m not entirely sure why, but there’s just something amazing about planting a pineapple top and getting fruit a couple of years later. This photo is from August 2011, about four months after I planted my first pineapple top. Here’s the same plant…
a fruit garden on your property means years of harvests since most fruits come from perennial plants. Your backyard orchard will feed your family, support wildlife, and add beauty and shade to your land. From the day we moved here (and even before), we knew we wanted a family orchard. When we bought this place,…
