I have a rather embarrassing story about Brussels sprouts... I had never grown them before, so I decided to give them a try last year. I usually have decent luck with cabbage, and considering Brussels sprouts are in the same family, I figured I had a good shot. I started the seedlings in my basement, and they grew beautifully. Once I transplanted them into the garden, they took right off and the plants were gorgeous and ...Continue Reading
Archives for January 2017
I’m Teaching My Kids to Fail
How's that for a politically-incorrect title? Failure is a pretty distasteful word in our culture. "They were such a failure..." "He totally failed at that..." "Failure is not an option." We've all heard and said those phrases and they carry an extremely negative connotation, don't they? As a recovering perfectionist, I've had a longstanding beef with failure. I hate messing up, I hate making mistakes, and I hate knowing ...Continue Reading
Heating with Wood on the Homestead
I'm a such a sucker for roaring fire. I grew up with wood heat, and to this day, if I'm in a house during winter without some sort of heat source to stand next to, my soul feels a bit empty. When we moved into our little prairie house in 2008, it only had a forced-air furnace and that was a serious bummer. Not to mention, the 100-year old house had pathetic insulation and the curtains would actually move when the wind blew. We ...Continue Reading
How to Acid Stain Concrete Floors
I really debated posting this one... The topic of acid staining concrete floors strays a little from my usual subject-matter and seems slightly more suited for a home renovation blog. But I decided to go for it anyway, as I figured a) I have a ton of very thrifty, very handy readers who love frugal, DIY stuff, and b) I honestly just wanted a reference for myself, as I have a bad habit of doing a complex project and then promptly ...Continue Reading