I started training mine up a livestock panel a few years back and they still were getting to the top part way through the season and then just folding over and smothering out everything planted in front of them.  This year I put them on an arch and I AM HOOKED!  I don’t know why but it feels like something you would see in the Shire from the Hobbit movie and I just love being able to pick tomatoes from the ceiling.

Also, these couldn’t be easier to construct and are reusable year after year.  We purchased these panels at our local Tractor Supply store.  They are 16 ft long so you will definitely want a trailer to bring them home.  I tried picking them up myself in the bed of the truck and lets just say that didn’t end well.  16 ft is just too long to hang out the back of the pickup safely…

Once we got them home I initially thought that I would need a T-post to keep each of them secured as I planned to put them with the bottom resting inside the raised bed.  After placing the first arch elevated up off the ground like this though I quickly realized that there is no way all 5 foot nothing of me would be able to harvest off the middle of this arch without a ladder.  So the other 3 panels were just placed at ground level and I really like the effect of it.  

I just plant my tomatoes in the bed in the center of the trellis and as they grow train them up and over.  I have also grown green beans, peas, melons, and different types of squash up them and they look great.  Growing up the trellis has also really helped to create more usable space in the garden beds.  In the case of the squash, it also has helped a lot in the battle against the dreaded squash bugs.  With the plants up the trellis, they have fewer places to hide due to less of the stems and leaves lying on the ground.  WIN WIN!

So if you are looking for a way to maximize space in your garden or even just adding a great visual element I highly suggest adding some panel trellises.

I’ve long had the dream of moving to a bunch of acreage and having a self-sufficient homestead.  I love learning and have been collecting skills just waiting for the day we would finally make the move.  Years and years have gone by and I finally have realized that, hey, I’m getting most of the stuff done on my half acre in an HOA that people with all the acreage are.  So I wanted to share how we are checking lots of homestead boxes without a barn, a greenhouse, or even an acre of land.

1. Start a garden.  When I decided to really kick our food production we didn’t have anywhere to even put a garden.  Our soil here is tragic and would take years to amend to be workable so I built 1 4×4 raised bed box.  I filled the box with bags of soil from Home Depot and started growing.  Over the next few years, I added more boxes to increase what we can grow while still maintaining my sanity.  Don’t jump in with too much to start, you’ll just overwhelm and burn yourself out!  You can add to your garden every year until you have enough space to produce what you need.
2. Learn to cook.  I started out with the goal of making our bread from scratch.  I didn’t need any acreage to get really great in the kitchen so I started making what I could and got better and better at what I couldn’t.  I now have no problems whipping up a loaf of artisan sourdough but in the beginning, my family sure choked down some tough stuff.  The same goes for learning to cook the cuts of meat we had available from our cow (more on that later).  Anyone can whip up a great steak but what do you do with the odds and ends cuts?  Getting proficient in the kitchen is the most important skill in my opinion because it doesn’t matter how much you can grow or harvest if no one in your family wants to eat it.
3. Learn to preserve food.  There is no sense in having a huge garden and tons of stuff rolling into your kitchen if you have no idea what to do with it or how to keep it from going bad.  I would buy (and still do buy the things I can’t produce) and put them up for the winter.  I love to can but I also learned to ferment, how to properly freeze, dehydrate, and now I am starting to learn about freeze-drying.  I was able to test out what my family will eat and how they eat it best.  This is how I decided what type of apples to actually plant and start planning how much of a crop we need to get through the winter.  (I found bulk produce from a local source on Facebook and I have also gone to “you pick” farms in our area).  I also started getting raw milk and learning to make cheese, butter, and other dairy products at a small scale waiting for the day I get that family milk cow.
4. Find a source for meat.  Of course, I mean a source that isn’t the grocery store.  Each year we get a cow and a pig put into our freezer and that is what we eat off for the whole year.  We don’t have the space on our half acre for these animals so we found someone, a real person, to raise them up for us and then we pay that person for the animal and we pay a butcher to process them.  If you can’t find someone and get on their list watch for the 4H livestock auctions and animals for sale after the county fair.  This is someone else raising your livestock on their land but you have the benefit of purchasing the whole animal vs. just cuts at the store.
5. Learn everything you can and practice it.  One of my favorite homestead YouTubers always says “Turn your waiting room into a classroom” and that has really stuck with me.  I constantly am watching and reading more information on how to make the most of what I am able to do here on my little piece of land.  I have learned so much and found that I can do anything I really have put my mind to.  I do often bite off more than I can handle (definitely just my personality) but I am getting to learn how to create processes and flows on a smaller scale so that when I am on a large farm one day I don’t succumb to the overwhelm.

So if you are waiting until you move to a farm to get started on homesteading DON’T.  Find the things that you can do right now where you are to learn and grow.  If you move to a farm purchase a bunch of livestock and plant a huge productive garden when you’ve never done any of this stuff you will just find yourself overwhelmed.  Take a few of the steps listed above and start your homestead exactly where you are right now.

We definitely have tons of food rolling in from the garden and now I am starting to get creative in saving it all!

Many of my gardening neighbors have already pulled their gardens out but I just cant imagine tearing out my plants when they are still cranking out so much yummy stuff.

Of course before I get to processing all the peppers I will be saving the seeds. This year was a strange year and many seed companies actually RAN OUT OF SEEDS! That is just insane to me but I want to make sure that next year I will be fine getting my garden going. So I save the seeds from my peppers before chopping them up.

After the seeds are saved I then slice and chop all the peppers. This definitely took a while because the basket of peppers in the video is only a third of the peppers that were still in the garden.

When you are thinking of how to preserve your peppers think of how you will ultimately use them. We mostly just use the peppers in cooking so most of the peppers are getting diced then dehydrated and frozen. I am doing both dehydrating and freezing so that I have peppers in two places. In case something happens to the freezer or I just run out of space in there I will have shelf stable dehydrated peppers to pull out.

Fermenting is something new to me but OH MY GOSH I am obsessed!! Fermenting allows you to preserve veggies without having to can them and I personally think that it makes the so much more delicious. I started with fermenting carrots then tried peppers, and now I have a little bit of everything that has come out of the garden fermenting to try.

I ferment the peppers with a little bit of garlic. You don’t have to add garlic but honestly I love pulling out the garlic and eating just that. I’m sure it makes me super kissable!

Which methods of preserving do you use for your peppers? Anything new for me to try?

We’ve definitely gotten a bumper crop of jalapenos this year!! My favorite thing to do with jalapenos is can them in pickling liquid to use on nachos. So here is how to create pickled jalapenos in your own kitchen and preserve them for winter. I use water bath canning to make my delicious pickled jalapenos that we give as gifts at the holidays and devour on nachos throughout the year.

Pickled Jalapenos

Jalapenos, sliced

Whole garlic cloves, smashed (optional)

8 cups water

8 cups vinegar

1 cup good quality salt

1. Slice jalapenos and stuff into pint-sized canning jars. Place one garlic clove in each jar.

2. Mix water, vinegar, and salt. Bring to a boil.

3. Laddle hot brine mixture into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

4. Wipe the rim and threads of jars and attached canning lids. Place in a water bath canner, ensure jars are covered by at least 2 inches of water.

5. Process for 10 minutes or according to your elevation. (Please check with your state extension service for appropriate processing times. These are given as recommendations only. )

Products used in this video:

Presto Pressure Canner: https://amzn.to/36m1wGK (the price on these is pretty high right now, sorry )

Complete Canning Equipment Set: https://amzn.to/349gU6x

Jar Lifters: https://amzn.to/3jitdDU

Canning Funnel: https://amzn.to/33g0MAQ

2 Inch Printable Labels for Canning Jars: https://amzn.to/3cIdn2V

Let’s connect on social:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/WhitneyBinghamSocial

Facebook: www.facebook.com/WhitneyBinghamSocial

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/WhitneyBinghampins/

***DISCLAIMER! I am not sponsored by any brands listed. These are products I love & use in my own life. I do, however, get a small cut if purchased through the links I provided, but it is at no additional cost to you. I would not share links for products I have not used and loved!!

Summer squash can be one of the most prolific growers in any garden. As they grow they have a tendency to get very leafy. Today I show you how to prune back zucchini plants to improve access for pollinators, increase airflow, make it easier to find insects, and overall ensure your plants are healthy!!!

Social Media:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/WhitneyBinghamSocial

Facebook: www.facebook.com/WhitneyBinghamSocial

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/WhitneyBinghampins/

Product Links For Items Used In This Video:

Fiskars Microtip Pruner: https://amzn.to/2BhWJsH

Live LadyBugs & Preying Mantis: https://amzn.to/2Bpiiro

Tomato Tie Tape: https://amzn.to/31CTsyF

***DISCLAIMER! I am not sponsored by any brands listed. These are products I love & use in my own life. I do, however, get a small cut if purchased through the links I provided, but it is at no additional cost to you. I would not share links for products I have not used and loved!!

The first time I decided to get into backyard chickens I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into or how many to order. This means that I ended up with 40 chickens being sent to my house in the mail! While you can see there are super cute they don’t stay small for long.

I ordered meat birds as well as laying hens and only one of the meat birds made it to the point where you are supposed to kill and eat them. That bird was more like a dog than a chicken so of course when it was time to eat him I couldn’t. I named him Chunky Chicken and he would come when I called him and hop up in my lap if I was sitting in the yard. Since meat birds are bred to get large fast for eating they have a slew of health problems if you let them go past the 13 weeks of age recommended for harvesting them. Poor Chunky Chicken’s legs started to turn under to support his weight. He was definitely the slowest of the chickens and sounded more like a pug than a chicken. This is I’m sure what ultimately lead to his demise.

A mountain lion came down into the yard in the middle of the day when we weren’t home and tried to eat poor chunky!! A neighbor chased that cougar off but that was sadly the end for Mr. Chunky. A little bit gruesome and super sad learning experience for me as a chicken farmer!

I ordered my chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery: https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/

Here are the supplies we used to build these 4’x4′ boxes:

2x8x8 Doug Fir Lumber – https://thd.co/2zLqPnc

#8 3in exterior screws – https://thd.co/3bKMjh8

2x2x24 grade stakes – https://thd.co/2XahzkE (I will say that these may have been a bit of overkill and when we built the other boxes we went with a smaller stake 1x2x24 https://thd.co/36cGW9w)

Z-MAX 18-gauge galvanized hurricane tie – https://thd.co/2WHX5kd TP

20 gauge galvanized tie plate – https://thd.co/2yeITpj

We ordered everything online from The Home Depot and picked it up at the store.

After the boxes were built we got our dirt from a local supplier and supplemented it with compost.

The Wall-o-Waters we used in our larger garden bed can be ordered from amazon here: https://amzn.to/3dUVs8z these are great for extending shorter growing seasons and can be used year after year if properly cared for.

Let’s connect on social at www.instagram.com/whitneybinghamsocial or www.facebook.com/whitneybinghamsocial

See more of my favorite products here: www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-f41b1af0

My dad has been incredibly successful in his gardening efforts, and keeping the plants thriving through the iffy spring frosts. Here is a picture of him next to his 23 foot TOMATO PLANT!! No lie.

The plant in front of it is also an incredibly tall tomato as well. These are both varieties of cherry tomatoes.

Getting plants a great start in the spring is key to being able to have an earlier harvest and a more bountiful one. Since we are just putting in our garden this year I have called my dad almost every night to pick his brain about what to do.