What if you could cook amazing restaurant style pizza at home easily and mess free without a wood fire oven?

We all know that it can be hard to get a perfect thin crust and the distinctive wood fire taste in a conventional home oven, and it took me a long time and many different tries to develop a recipe and foolproof method to make pizzeria style and perfectly cooked pizza at home.

Now I cook amazing wood fire style pizza at home quick and easy with perfect result every time using a pizza hot stone and an aluminium tray.

In fact it's a better pizza than most restaurant pizzas I have ever had.

The best news?

It's actually not that hard, and I can explain how in the next few minutes

Try this method with my Thin pizza dough recipe and my Easy no cook pizza sauce for excellent result

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What is a pizza stone?

A pizza hot stone is a heavy plate that fits in your oven commonly made from stone or clay. Its designed to hold high and constant heat really well. Which means food like pizza will cook from the bottom and form a amazing crust without burning the top.

How to use a pizza stone?

• first the pizza stone needs to be very hot and sitting in the middle of a hot oven.
• Heat the pizza tray on the stove top
• build your pizza on top of the hot tray
• slide the hot pizza tray on to the hot pizza stone in hot oven 225C/437F
• cook for about 5 minutes or until the top cooked, cheese melted and golden.

Why cook pizza on a pizza stone?

It's the best and easiest way to achieve a perfectly cooked Italian style pizza at home in your own domestic oven without a wood fire oven. When you combine the pizza stone with a heavy duty pizza tray you can achieve an even better result and in an easier way.

How is the pizza better with a pizza hot stone?

A pizza stone absorbs the heat and holds very high temperatures for a long period. The pizza crust begins to cook immediately, a similar effect and cooking style of a traditional brick oven. Using a pizza stone will give you a faster cooking time and much better crust.

The semolina sprinkled on the pizza tray starts to burn slightly with the high temperature, giving the pizza an authentic Italian wood fire taste.

What is a pizza tray?

A thin, heavy duty aluminum or steel tray that retains heat well.

First you form a crust on your pizza base on top of this tray when heated then slide it on to the hot pizza stone in your oven.

Some pizza stones are sold with a pizza tray. Otherwise they are pretty cheap from catering stores and amazon online.

Build your pizza on the pizza tray

• roll your pizza dough out to a round thin pizza base
• sit the pizza tray on your burner and turn the heat on, sprinkle a thin layer of semolina on the tray
• place the pizza base on to the tray with the semolina
• spread a layer of sauce on top of the base
• build you pizza the way you like it while the tray is getting hot and and the base is cooking underneath. Don't overcrowd the topping
• check regularly the color underneath the crust by carefully lifting up a corner of the base It should have a golden brown color when it's done. ( Simply turn the heat off if the base is getting too dark)
• sprinkle a good layer of grated mozzarella cheese on top of your ingredients. If using pepperoni put them on last for a crispy pepperoni top
• carefully place the tray on to the hot pizza stone in the oven.

Note: The semolina is used both as a non stick purpose but it also gives the pizza an authentic wood fire taste when it starts to burn slightly on the hot cooking surface. If you don't have semolina then regular flour can be used instead.

Care for your pizza stone

Don't wash your pizza hot stone instead simply wipe it clean with a damp cloth if needed. Don't use soap. The stone doesn't like too much water or big temperature changes as it can crack the stone.

Put the stone into a cold oven and bring it up to temperature from a cold oven then cool it down in the oven and wait to put it away until completely cold.

The pizza tray can be washed normally with soap and water and when using a pizza tray the hot stone never really gets dirty. All the mess stays on the aluminum tray for easy cleaning.

My personal experience

I love pizza!! Who doesn't?

I love making my own dough and I can use up whatever I have on hand at the time. Sometimes the topping is fresh vegetables from the garden, other times its a seafood delight, meat lovers or supreme!

Being a chef and a food enthusiast I'm always trying to perfect my favorite dishes.

I love my pizza base thin and crispy, ideally with a few air bubbles.

For years I was trying to figure out how to get the thin pizza base cooked crisp with that special pizzeria touch. I thought I had to invest in a outdoor pizza oven to achieve that result.

When a friend told me about a pizza stone that you can use in your own home oven for a simpler and cheaper alternative, I needed to give this a go.

It took me a few tries to work out the best way to use my Weber pizza stone baking tray. Once I got the feel for it. It was a game changer! No more average, doughy crusts or burnt tops.

The result is better than most restaurant pizzas I tried. It's now one of my families favorite meals. I would never make a pizza in the oven without a pizza hot stone again and cooking it on the aluminium tray first just takes the pizza to the next level.

Top Tips

• Bring the dough out to room temperature before rolling it out. This will make the rolling allot easier especially if you like a thin crust. If the dough is fridge cold its hard to work with and difficult to get it as thin as you like.
• When it comes to the topping. More is less. Over crowding the topping can result in undercooked dough.
• Only use good quality mozzarella cheese to achieve that stringy, melt in your mouth cheese that we all love on a pizza.
• The pizza cooks quickly in the hot oven so check regularly to avoid burning it

Try it yourself

Make pizza night a regular hit at your house too! Your guests will think you have an Italian pizza oven outside.

That's how good this pizza tray on pizza stone cooking method is.

No more undercooked doughy pizza base or burnt topping.

Cooking pizza this way is a great method because its faster, no mess and great result every time.

Enjoy your freshly cooked, homemade pizza today. You deserve it and you can do it!

Try this cooking method with my thin pizza dough recipe and easy no cook pizza sauce recipe

Let me know your thoughts when trying this pizza cooking method or if you have any other excellent tips on how to make great pizza at home by commenting below

FAQ

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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

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Grow fabulous no dig potatoes

Growing potatoes no dig method is an easier way to grow stunning potatoes with faster planting, quick, easy harvest and a high yield crop.

Finding better and more effortless ways of growing food means you can become self sufficient sooner.

Recently I mastered an easier, faster and better way to grow amazing potatoes and I´m very excited to tell you all about it.

It´s fast, simple, high yield, less weeds and no digging. You will love it!

Start grow fabulous no dig potatoes the easy way with my simple method below:

Easy no dig potato garden grow guide

Instead of growing potatoes in soil the traditional way you can grow potatoes above ground covered in straw or hay and once you try this no dig method you never want to go back to planting them in soil again.

Learning how to grow potatoes in straw makes planting, growing, and harvesting potatoes simple. 

This straw potatoes method means you can plant a big crop of epic potatoes without it taking up too much of your precious time.

Follow my easy no dig potatoes grow guide and succeed with an easier and better way to grow this amazing vegetable at home.

In this article I will explain how to plant and harvest no dig gardening potatoes grown in straw as well as how to store potatoes so you can enjoy them for a long time after harvesting and also other useful information and tips that I have learnt along the way.

With these easy steps you can enjoy fresh homegrown potatoes with less effort

How to plant potatoes in straw/hay

Planting potatoes no dig method means we are planting potatoes above ground covered in a thick layer of straw or hay

• First you need to find a well drained sunny spot to plant the no till potatoes.
• Sprinkle the surface area with organic fertilizer such as blood and bone or potato food.
• Place your seed potato on top of the soil or put a layer of hay down on your chosen grow area then the seed potato on top about 20cm apart. If you choose the later then sprinkle the fertilizer on the straw rather then the soil underneath.

I planted my potatoes on top of raised rows because my grow area wasn't well drained. If your area is draining well then it´s no need to make raised rows like I have done in the pictures.

• Cover the seed potatoes with a generous layer of straw on top.
• Water it, leave it, sit back and watch it grow.
• When the green stems are about 5-10 cm tall. Sprinkle with more organic fertilizer then add another generous layer of straw on top (A process called 'earthing up potatoes')
• Top up with more straw 'earthing up potatoes' as they grow to ensure long stems that will bear the potatoes.
• Earthing potatoes should be repeated once or twice more to achieve the best high yield crop and a minimum amount of competing weeds. If tubers do appear through the mulch, just add more straw to keep them covered. Earthing potatoes also prevents the new tubers from turning green.

Benefits to growing potatoes under straw/hay

• It´s an easy no dig no dirt grow option. No garden forks or shovels needed.
• Easy planting. No need to dig or prepare the soil before planting. Instead simply plant the potatoes on top of the soil or the layer of straw.
• Quick and Simple harvest. Once the potatoes are ready just pull the hay away and find your little potato treasures hidden among the straw. Just simple pick the potatoes from the stalks with your hands.
• Cleaner crop. Potatoes grown in straw/hay rather then dirt are cleaner to handle and hardly needs a wash.
• Less watering. The straw helps keep moisture in therefore less watering is required.
• Less weeds. The straw also helps keep the weed at a minimum and not much weeding is needed.

Growing potatoes in straw is a time efficient, low maintenance growing method.

When to plant and harvest potatoes

when to plant potatoes?

You can plant potatoes in spring, summer and autumn. The potato plants don't like frost so most gardeners plant their potatoes after the last frost. The straw or hay keeps the young potato plant warm and free from frost when covering them with a thick layer which means you can start plant them early in spring.

I plant three different stages. I plant my first crop early spring, the second crop, mid summer and the last crop in autumn. That way I have potatoes growing and ready for harvest most of the year.

Try this potato pancake recipe (Raggmunk) for a great lunch dish that highlights homegrown potatoes

Care for your crop

No dig potatoes straw method are a very easy care crop to grow.

• Weeding: Potatoes don’t like too much weed but the straw keeps the weeds out and I hardly need to weed at all.

• Feed them with potato feed or blood and bone for nutrition
• water as needed

How to harvest no dig garden potatoes

Then we need to look after them so they last us until next year and we never have to buy potatoes. 

Try this delicious roast garlic and potato soup recipe

How to store potatoes long term

Store the potatoes unwashed in crates or boxes in a cool, dark, breezy spot and use as needed. 

Stackable food crates with air holes are good for longtime storage of potatoes and other root vegetables. They stack on top of each other and allow for great airflow.

My experience growing potatoes no dig method

Whats your favorite vegetable to grow?

Mine is potatoes. If I had to pick only one, potatoes is what I would choose.

Growing potatoes is a must do for me. Me and my family eat a lot of potatoes. It's a vegetable that can be stored for a long time after its been harvested which makes it a great crop to grow for a self sufficient lifestyle. It´s also an easy crop to grow.

For all these reasons potatoes are my favorite vegetable to grow and I grow a large crop of it every year.

I have a lot of spare wheat and barley straw at my property from another project. When I heard that you can grow potatoes in straw, it was an easy transition to make.

I was delighted to discover that growing potatoes no dig method is way faster and easier than growing potatoes in dirt like I used to.

This method of growing potatoes in straw is so much quicker and easier.

Growing potatoes in no dig garden is my favorite way to grow this amazing vegetable!

Start your no dig potato garden now

You like eating healthy, locally grown and organic food. Growing it yourself is the best way to guarantee yourself that every day. Potatoes is a great crop to start with or ad to your vegetable garden because it’s so easy to grow and stores well.

Grow potatoes no dig method in straw is a great option because its faster, no fuss and no digging needed.

Don’t wait to start grow amazing no dig potatoes the easy way at home! They’ll be ready to eat before you know it!

Follow these tips for an easier method to grow potatoes and get the most out of your vegetable garden!

It’s simple, fun, inexpensive and so rewarding. Enjoy your freshly harvested, homegrown potatoes without spending hours growing them. You deserve it and you can do it!

Start small, grow bags or planting pots are fine, then grow from there. Once you start eating your own homegrown potatoes you never want to buy the store bought alternative again.

Don’t hesitate any longer give this amazing vegetable a space in your garden. You can do it! and you will love it!

Your own homegrown produce is much more nutritious and taste better than the store bought alternative.

Other article you might like to read:

• How to grow garlic at home successfully
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Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

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How to grow garlic at home

Do you like eating healthy, organic and locally grown food that tastes amazing?

Do you like gardening and growing plants?

If the answers is yes then I think you are ready to start grow your own garlic?

Here are my top reasons for growing a large crop of garlic every year:

• Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow and therefore a great option when growing food and being self sufficient.
• Garlic is super healthy and makes food taste so much better.
• It stores really well so there is no wastage.
• Buying locally grown garlic is very expensive.

Because of the above reasons and more there is no better time than now to start growing garlic at home.

Growing garlic is easy, fun and rewarding!

I will explain in the next few minutes how to grow garlic at home successfully.

Garlic grow guide

Follow my easy how to grow garlic at home growing guide from seed to harvest and have success with your homegrown garlic

In this article I will explain how to plant, harvest and store garlic so you can enjoy it for a long time after harvesting and also other useful information and tips that I have learnt along the way.

Types of garlic to grow

There are two types of garlic to grow: soft neck garlic and hard neck garlic. There are more sub variants but that's the main two to focus on to start.

If you like garlic scapes then a hard neck garlic variety is for you.

The soft neck varieties tend to store better and if you like to plait the garlic then soft neck is the better option.

I grow soft neck garlic. Mainly because that what I had on hand at the time when I started growing my own garlic and it has worked really well for me.

I was given a really good strain to plant when I first started and have been growing the same clone since. I simply plant extra then pick out the best and biggest cloves to plant again. Now I have a really good supply of excellent garlic.

How to grow great garlic at home

Make sure you use good quality garlic cloves for planting to achieve best results. If you know someone who grows great garlic, ask them if you can buy some to plant. Otherwise look for them in farmers markets or gardening stores.

Often the supermarkets garlic has been treated and won't regrow.

First you need to prep the garlic cloves for planting.

Simply remove the outer layer of skin from the head, then separate the cloves from the garlic head. Keep the skin on the individual cloves.

If they have started to sprout by now that’s fine. They are better to replant then to eat.

I pick out my best and biggest cloves to plant and keep the smaller ones for cooking with. Planting big cloves results in harvesting bigger garlic heads

Then you need prep the garden bed or pots for planting

You can plant garlic either in garden beds, pots or grow bags.

They like loose, light, PH neutral and well drained soil.

Take a soil PH test if you are unsure of the PH value.

When and how to plant garlic

When to plant garlic ?

Garlic needs cold temperatures in the beginning of planting so it's best to plant in winter. A general rule is to plant on the shortest day of the year. It doesn't have to be exact but around that time is a good time line

How to plant garlic at home in a garden bed ?

First I make rows in the garden bed, then I press holes in the rows with a pole around 5cm deep and 15cm apart from each other.

Then place one clove in each hole. Pointy end up.

I cover the holes back up. Then add a generous amount of mulch on top. Any organic mulch works. I use wheat straw myself. The garlic seem to do well under the straw and they don’t mind a thick layer.

The straw keeps the weeds out, adds nutrition and protects the plant against frost.

Care for your crop

Garlic is a very easy care crop to grow.

• Weeding: Garlic don't like too much weed but the straw mulch keeps the weeds out and I hardly need to weed at all.
• Trim the scapes: If you grow hard neck garlic it's best to trim the scapes when they form to encourage bigger heads of garlic. Garlic scapes are also very tasty to eat.
• Water when needed.

Garlic is fun to grow because they germinate surprisingly fast so you see the progress quickly and they’re very low maintenance.

Crop rotation

It's a good idea to rotate the garlic crop every 3-4 years. This will reduce pests and diseases as well as improve the overall health of the crop.

When do you harvest garlic?

The general rule is to harvest it 6 months after it was planted.

When 3-4 of the outer green stalk leaves has turned yellow. That's a sign that the garlic is ready for harvest.

When this happens I dig a couple of heads up and look at them to see if they are ready.

If they are left in the ground for too long then the skin around the cloves becomes thin and cracks. It's better to dig them up before that happens as they wont store as well.

The garlic should be harvested when the soil it grows in is really dry to prevent them from going moldy when in storage.

Dig the garlic with a garden fork. Be careful not to spear the garlic heads. The garlic grow deep in the ground so put the fork down deep so you can lift the heads up from underneath.

Then we need to look after it so it lasts us until next year so we never have to buy garlic. 

Try this delicious roast garlic and potato soup recipe

Cleaning and drying garlic after harvest.

I hang them in bunches upside down from the green stalks for a couple of weeks until the green stalks are totally dried.

Try my Spirali with spinach, garlic and olives for a quick and easy pasta dish highlighting garlic

Store and preserve garlic

Once the stalks have dried out I can cut them off to really short stumps and store the garlic in a cool, dark, breezy spot and use as needed. Or you can plait the garlic and hang them in big plaited bunches.

The garlic keeps really well for at least 6 months like this

My first experience growing garlic

I clearly remember when a friend gave me some homegrown garlic to plant in my own garden. I had never planted my own garlic before but I was keen to try it out. The garlic was so beautiful, so I knew I was off to a good start! Large stunning cloves!

I did some research on how to grow garlic at home and planted it in the middle of winter, around the shortest day. I was surprised how easy it was, how quickly the seedlings came up from the ground and how easy care the crop was. When it was finally time to harvest. I dug up the biggest best looking garlic I had ever seen. That was me hooked!! I had found my new favorite crop to grow!

I knew I wanted to grow a bigger crop next year, so I saved most of my harvested garlic for replanting, I have slowly built up my crop every year. Now I plant over 1000 heads and I never buy garlic from the shop to cook with or to plant and it's all from my first crop that I slowly build up my seed (clove) supply with.

Start growing yours now

Start small, grow bags or planting pots are fine, then grow from there. Once you start eating your own homegrown garlic you never want to buy the store bought alternative again.

Don't hesitate any longer give this amazing vegetable a space in your garden. You can do it! and you will love it!

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Extend your vegetable growing and harvesting season so you can get the most out of your homegrown veggies all year around

It's not hard, time consuming or expensive. It can be done with minor alterations and simple, affordable equipment. I can explain how in the next few minutes.

Growing my own food and living off the land is my passion and a lifestyle I chose a few years ago. This can be challenging when living in a colder climate.

Over the years I worked out how to extend my vegetable grow season and it's a lot easier than I ever thought.

I'm exited to share my 11 tips for a longer grow season and how to get the most out of your vegetable garden!

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What if we could enjoy our homegrown produce all year around?

You can! and it's not difficult!

What about if I live in a cold climate and only have a short grow season?

I live in a cold climate. Long, frosty and sometimes snowy winters. I still manage to live very close to entire food self-sufficient even in winter.

In this article I will share my top 11 tips for a longer grow season. How to make vegetable plants grow faster and explain how I manage to grow fresh vegetables all year around with only basic equipment, minor alterations and choosing the right plants to grow for each season.

It's easy, affordable, rewarding and you can do it too

With these easy steps you can enjoy fresh homegrown vegetables for longer

To be self sufficient, I need my vegetable garden to produce early in the season. This can be achieved with help of a few simple and affordable planting equipment and choosing the right plants to grow.

Stagger the planting and plant hearty fast growing greens early in the season and cold climate varieties late in the season. Protect the plants and seedlings against frost.

Extend your veggie grow season with my simple tips below:

1. Well drained, raised garden beds

First I need a raised growing area or planter box with drainage. A well drained garden bed or planter box improves the overall health of the plant, extends the growing season and yield of anything you plant. Poor drainage can prevent plants growth and development.

A raised garden bed or planter box can also increase the temperature of the soil which leads to faster growing vegetables

Mine is a raised garden bed home built from wood. The growing area is raised for good drainage. Planter boxes, old tractor tires or containers with drainage at the bottom works fine. If you have a poorly drained garden bed than you can consider raised rows for improved drainage instead.

2. Good soil

Use good compost!!

Choosing the perfect soil for your raised garden bed or planter box is important to ensure that your garden bed has good drainage.

Select just the right type of free-draining and moisture-retaining soil.

The soil feeds the plants. Mix in plenty of organic matter to help your plants grow. This is very important for the veggies to grow fast and healthy.

I use chicken manure from my hen house as compost. You can buy quality organic compost at your local garden center.

Chicken manure from scraping the bottom of the hen house is excellent for the vegetable garden

3. Start seeds and seedlings indoors

Start your seeds and seedlings indoors gives you a head start on the growing season. This can lead to an earlier and longer grow period as well as a better and higher yield harvest. Starting seeds and seedlings indoors gives you a few extra weeks of growing time, which can make a big difference, especially if you live in a cold climate with short summers .

Be careful not to plant your seeds too early. The plants can outgrow their seed trays or pots before the weather has warmed up enough to plant them outside. A general rule is to plant your seeds 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date.

Use seed starter trays for easy seed planting and transplanting without damaging the seedlings.

Not all vegetables like being transplanted. Root vegetables for example is better to plant straight in the ground or planter box because they have deep roots and don't transplant well.

4.Mulch

Mulch can prolong your vegetable growing and harvesting season by adding nutrient to your soil, keep moisture in and keep the soil temperature warm and frost free for longer.

I use straw as mulch in my veggie garden but any organic matter, like leaves, grass clippings, bark and pine needles work well too.

Add mulch to your garden bed in autumn before the ground freezes.  Hearty crops such as carrots, parsnips, spinach, beetroot, silver beets, and kale do really well under a thick layer of mulch and can often last into winter with the extra layer of insulation to stop the soil from freezing.

5. Fast growing vegetables

In Spring and autumn choose fast growing herbs and vegetables to plant.

After a long winter, my stored and frozen vegetables are running low. Being self sufficient, it's essential that I start my veggie garden early and succeed with an early harvest.

To guarantee myself an early harvest I need to choose short growing season vegetables to plant early in spring together with a heavy duty frost cover to help the growing process and avoid frost damage on my seedlings. By doing this, I will have fresh vegetables ready earlier then most people in my area plant their first seeds or seedlings

My favorite short season vegetables to plant in spring for an early harvest are:

Don’t wait to start growing some of these plants that grow fast at home! They’ll be ready to eat before you know it!

Once you have indulged in these for a while and they are finished in your garden, the other later garden veggies will be ready to harvest.

Prepare the garden area again and replant these fast growing high yield vegetables again in the end of summer. Apply the same technique and these great short season vegetables will be ready before it gets too cold again and the growing season is finish.

Read more about homegrown food and what I do in spring here

6. frost cover

How to make vegetable plants grow faster:

If you live in a colder climate than a frost cover to avoid frost damage is a helpful equipment

It also helps speed up the growing process of your plant because it creates a warmer climate underneath the cover which will make the plants grow faster.

A heavy duty frost cover protects your vegetables and herbs against frost, wind, hail, and animals.  Great in colder places.  A thicker, stronger cover than other garden covers.

Its the best cover I have ever used. The material lets enough sunlight and rain in and protects against the cold and frost. It creates a micro climate under the cover and the seedlings thrive. Its also heavy enough that it can handle a fair amount of wind.

Most well stocked garden centres have great options of frost cloths for plants as well as other great equipment for planting veggies. You need garden hoops or other similar structure to hold the cloth up and give enough space for the plants to grow underneath.

7. Plastic Sheeting

A plastic sheet cover can prevent plants from freezing and extend the growing season. The heavy plastic sheeting warms the air temperature around the plants as well as maintaining warmer soil temperatures which leads to an increased growing period.

plastic sheet covers are generally used on top of low tunnels or hoop rows. They generate more heat than fabric covers which makes them ideal in cold climates. They are available in different thicknesses from most garden centers.

Greenhouse plastic sheet cover locks in moisture and heat, keeping your plants healthy and protected against extreme weather conditions like frost, cold winter, heavy rain and strong winds.

If you want to provide an ideal growing environment and if you are serious about growing herbs and vegetables year round.
Using a greenhouse plastic sheet to cover your growing plants is a great idea.

The Plastic row cover provides a stable growing environment and can increase the inside air temperature a lot which increases the growing period!

You need hoops for the sheet cover to sit on to provide enough space for your growing vegetables. Both the plastic sheet cover and the hoops are very affordable. Extending your growing season with this method is both an effective and low cost option.

8. Stagger the planting

Stagger the planting and create a longer grow season

You don’t want to plant everything at once in the spring and leave it at that. Then everything is ready about the same time in summer. Once that is harvested there is nothing left in the garden to eat. Instead stagger the planting to create a longer growing and harvest season.

The ultimate goal is to spread things out so there is always some homegrown food available to harvest. 

9. Planting by the moon

Make sure you plant the right plants at the right time with a Moon calendar.

The calendar is simple to use and applies anywhere in the world.

When following the moon calendar, seeds germinate sooner, plants are healthier and produce higher yields

Moon planting is an old science-based technique that has been practiced by farmers and gardeners for a very long time. Its about being in tune with nature’s patterns.

The moon calendar will guide you on when to sow your above ground and under ground crops as well as best time to prune, weed and harvest. Cultivate, apply fertilizer and much more.

10. Grow tent

A grow tent is excellent to start seeds or seedlings during winter to give you a head start to the grow season so you can have homegrown vegetables ready to harvest early.

I plant seeds in my seedling tent before winter. Two month later (the coldest two month of the year), the rocket and the herbs are ready to harvest, the cabbage and peas are growing nicely ready to replant in my raised garden bed.

Small planter boxes work well in winter.

It is a great option if you don't have much space. They are great on a balcony or veranda or inside a growing tent. The growing tent needs to be placed somewhere sheltered to avoid wind damage.

11. Crop rotation

It’s a good idea to rotate your crops. This will reduce weeds, pests and diseases as well as improve the overall health and yield of the crop. Strong healthy crop results in a longer growing and harvesting period.

This is an easy cost free way to extend your growing season and harvest a bumper crop every year

My story

There is so much reward and benefits in cooking and eating your own homegrown food. That's why I decided to create a longer grow season for my vegetable garden. Homegrown produce is much more nutritious and taste better but that is only a couple of many reasons to grow your own food.

I love growing food and have been doing it for a few years now. In the beginning it happened that I lost a few seedlings early in the season to unexpected frost. I decided to purchase a frost cloth to avoid this happening again.

This simple garden cover did more to my garden then just protect my plants against frost. I soon discovered how fast seeds germinated and young seedlings thrived under the frost cloth. I bought some garden hoops, attached the cloth to it and used it like a hot house grow tunnel. It was more effective then the greenhouse I had previously.

I extended my veggie growing season by creating a warm and sheltered space for my vegetable plants.

The veges were unaffected by the harsh cold. It gives me a good head start to the new growing season.

My growing set up is very basic. With just a few minor alterations I extended my veggie growing season a lot.

I choose short growing season vegetables like soft herbs, lettuce or Chinese greens to plant in the off season or sturdy greens like broccoli and cabbage for best outcome. Leave plants like tomato cucumber, beans, capsicum etc for the peak growing season.

Read more about my homegrown food here and what I do in spring here

I plant by the moon

A friend gave me a moon calender for my birthday a couple of years ago. I never thought of planting by the moon before that but decided to give it a try. It's a very simple process. Now I plant everything in the right moon face, my vegetables are stronger and healthier with bigger yield then before I used the moon calander.

The Moon’s gravitational pull causes tides to rise and fall, it also affects moisture in the soil.

More moisture is pulled to the soil surface during the full Moon and the new Moon, it's said that seeds absorbs more water then which results in faster germination and more established healthy plants. It makes sense to me and I won't plant any other way!

Don't hesitate any longer! Make the most out of your garden. Follow these easy tips for a longer grow season and get the most out of your vegetable garden!

It's simple, fun, inexpensive and so rewarding. Enjoy your freshly harvested, homegrown vegetables for longer. You deserve it and you can do it!

You may also like to read

• Self sufficient homesteading - spring
• Ways to be self sufficient, Autumn
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Homesteading in winter can seem a bit more challenging and less rewarding then the other seasons when you live in a cold climate.

However we always have a good amount of our own food to eat all winter.

As long as you have been organized in summer and autumn with storing, preserving, freezing and drying homegrown food you should have enough of your own food in storage and freezer.

Fresh produce

We have a good amount of fresh produce growing in winter as well.

I plant a selection of hearty greens late summer and cover the area with a heavy duty garden cover, that way I still have some fresh greens to pick in my garden.

Green vegetables available in my winter garden are kale (both curly and green), silver beet, bok choi, wombok cabbage, spinach and herbs (coriander, thyme,rosemary).

Plant protection blanket

A plant Cover Freeze Protection Blanket is truly amazing! It provides protection from frost, wind, snow, hail and low temperature in winter.

Keeps your plants warm, works perfect for fast germination and seedlings growth. It extends the growing season for your plants.

I have had hard frost and really cold temperatures as well as a couple of days with a layer of snow sitting on top of the frost cover. Besides all of that the vegetables underneath have not been effected at all. Even fresh coriander and bok choi is looking great still. It creates a little micro climate underneath.

The vegetables are not growing bigger this time a year but they are surviving and feeding us through the winter. That is amazing!

Plant garlic

Planting garlic is one of the main winter tasks at my homestead. We plant a large crop so this is a fairly big job. I try to do it in the middle of winter, on the shortest day of the year or close to it.

I just separate the cloves from a garlic head and put the clove in the ground pointy side up. 

The straw keeps the weeds out and I hardly need to weed at all, just watch them grow.

Garlic is fun to grow because they germinate surprisingly fast so you see the progress quickly and they’re very low maintenance.

Birds and other animals leave it alone as well so there is no need to cover up with netting or any other barriers. 

You can read my full garlic growing guide here

In winter we do a lot of maintenance and changes to the garden beds as well as preparing them for spring planting season. 

Preparing garden beds

Meat

I have oyster mushrooms in my indoor growing room, root vegetables and pumpkin in storage, homegrown vegetables in the freezer as well as some winter greens in my garden.

Even though winter is more challenging and less fresh vegetables growing, we have enough of our own food to eat all winter. If you can be self sufficient in winter, then you can do it all year around.

Check the links below for ways to be self sufficient in the other seasons. What I do and what they bring.

spring

summer

autumn

You may also like to read

• Planting equipment and plants for my early veggie garden.
• Spring is on its way and I extended my vege growing season
• Raising animals for food
• Home grown food
• Recipes

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Autumn is a busy time of the year planning and preparing for winter.

Making sure I have homegrown and wild food stored away and frozen to enjoy in winter are essential steps to self sufficient living.

Make the most of your homegrown vegetables and find the best methods to store and preserve them for winter. Freeze, pickling, store and make preserves are my main ways to be self sufficient with homegrown vegetables all year around.

Vegetable garden

In autumn when my summer vegetable plants have stopped producing and died off, I pull them out and keep any seeds for replanting next season.

I planted more hearty greens in late summer which are producing in late-autumn and even in winter.

It's great to have fresh greens again this late in the season.

Fresh vegetables still growing in my garden in autumn are: lettuce, coriander, bok choi, wombok cabbage, kale, spinach, pumpkin and broccoli side shooter.

Storing and preserving

Preserving as much as you can in autumn and put your root vegetables in storage for winter is important for self-sufficient living.

Carrots can be blanched and frozen or made into hummus and chutney. Beetroot can be pickled. I try not to let anything go to waste. It’s a pretty busy time of the year. 

Apples

I pick fruits like apples and pears and preserve them. Either freeze them or make sauce and chutneys out of them.

They can be peeled and cut then frozen raw in freezer bags or made in to apple sauce then frozen.

The apple sauce is a great accompaniment for roast pork and great in baking too.

Tomatoes

When the tomatoes has stopped ripening, I pick all the green tomatoes and make jam and chutney.

Making an easy tomato chutney is a great way to use up your green tomatoes and make them last all year long.

When storing it in sterilized jars they last for a long time. At least one year until it´s time to do a new batch.

I leave the jars in an outside cupboard where it’s dark and cool. I only store them in the fridge once they are opened. 

Foraging

Autumn is the time of the year for wild mushrooms in the paddocks, garden and parks.

Field mushrooms mainly grow in the paddocks. They are best picked and cooked fresh.

That’s the only two wild mushrooms I pick in New Zealand. There are a few more edible varieties but it’s the only two types that I feel confident to identify, and they are delicious to eat.

Hunting

Autumn is an important time of the year for hunting.

It's deer hunting season as well as duck shooting season so there is plenty of food around in Autumn. 

See my hunting for food page.

Try my venison, mushroom stew and venison schnitzel recipe. Or this roasted wild duck.

Read my tips and favorite ways to cook venison here

Check the links below for ways to be self sufficient in the other seasons. What I do and what they bring.

winter

spring

summer

You may also like to read:

• Homegrown food
• Raising animals for food
• Gather wild food
• methods of food storage and preserving
• Recipes

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

When being self sufficient we naturally eat seasonally, fresh and local. All seasons has something new and delicious to offer.

Self sustainable living in summer is easy with so many amazing choices available.

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If there is too much of a crop and we can't consume it all before it goes bad then I think of ways to preserve them for winter when not much fresh vegetables are available.  

For more information on storing and preserving food click here

Ways to preserve vegetables

I freeze as much as possible when I have excess of it. That way I can enjoy homegrown vegetables in winter when it's not much fresh vegetables growing.

Broccoli, beans, cauliflower, snow peas, peas and zucchini all freeze very well. Even cherry tomatoes freeze well. Frozen cherry tomatoes are great for sauces and stews

Dill also freezes well. Other herbs like parsley, basil or rocket I make into pesto or other pastes. That way I can keep them in a jar for months and use a spoon when needed. Coriander I make into a green salsa that can be jarred or frozen.

I also tend to barter my vegetables with friends who have excess of a different crop to me. That way we don’t get bored of eating the same thing every day. 

Garlic

Harvest, drying and storing garlic   

In the middle of summer, it's also time to harvest clean and hang garlic. The general rule is to harvest it around 6 months after it was planted and it should be planted in winter and harvested in summer.

The garlic should be harvested when the soil it grows in is really dry to prevent them from going moldy when in storage. You can read my full garlic growing guide here

Wild food

Self-reliant living includes what and how we eat. There are several different options when it comes to sourcing our food ingredients. Foraging and gathering your own wild plants to consume is one of the most natural thing we can do and great for self sustainable living. Many plants that grow wild are highly nutritious with medicinal benefits and just more healthy.

Do research and find out what wild foods are available where you are.

Be sure to only pick edible foods.

Some of my best childhood memories involves foraging and gathering food with my family and I love creating the same experiences for my children. Many wild plants are not ready to pick until autumn. The main wild plants that I forage for in summer in New Zealand are watercress, stinging nettle and blackberries

Watercress

Watercress can be found in many freshwater creeks in New Zealand.

Stinging nettles

There are plenty of stinging nettles in the paddocks in summer that can be made into delicious soups, tarts or sauces.

They can also be blanched and frozen then easily added to a soup or pasta dish. (Stinging nettle is extremely nutritious and tasty) so I love using them. 

Try my excellent nettles recipes on this site:

crumbed fish with creamed nettles

Nettles Soup

Blackberry

Blackberry is a scrub weed and can be found growing wild in paddocks, gardens and forests in many parts of New Zealand.

Read more about gathering wild food here

Fishing and harvesting Seafood

Summer is the busiest time for fishing and harvesting seafood from the beach.

Catch and cook fish is a great step towards a self sustainable living

The weather is good and the shellfish is in it's prime condition. Read my seafood harvest guide here

Calmer seas and warmer weather brings more diving opportunities. Summer is the season where I dive and Spearfish the most. Fish and seafood dishes are on the menu much more frequently.

Read more on my fishing for food page

The best thing with self sustainable living is all the amazing delicacies that we get to eat all year around. Each season has something fresh and exiting to bring. However summer is hard to beat with all the amazing choices.

Check out the other seasons and what they bring below:

Spring

Autumn

Winter

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Self sufficient homesteading is a rewarding and natural lifestyle choice. Spring is an exciting and busy time of the year when living self sufficient. It's also very enjoyable and worth all the hard work.

I try to be organized early and I know that the more time and energy I put in to my self sufficient home garden now will pay off very soon.

Preparing the garden beds

I prepare my garden beds in early spring and make them ready for planting. It’s essential that I start my veggie garden early.

I do a soil test. It shows whether my soil is acid, neutral or alkaline. The test also comes with a list of crops and what soil type they prefer. I can feed different areas of the garden accordingly. The areas that I want to be more alkaline I add more lime to and the area that I want to be more acid I add more manure to.

All parts of my garden beds get a sprinkle of neem tree powder or granules. This is a natural way of getting rid of slugs and other bugs that eat the seedlings and eat holes in leafy greens. I have tried neem tree oil as well but much prefer the powder or granules that just get dug in to the soil.

Now I’m ready to plant.

In spring the main focus is on my self sufficient vegetable garden.

It gets easier each year. I'm learning the best selection of plants for my area and set up. I only plant what I know I can grow well.

To guarantee myself an early harvest I need to choose fast growing veggies to plant early in spring and a good frost cover to help the growing process and avoid frost damage on my seedlings

Make a plan for the garden

I draw up a plan of the garden bed, what plants go where and how much space I want to give each item. Then I mark out the different plant's areas with sticks or garden stakes and write notes on the stake with a marker pen. Otherwise, I forget and I do find it helpful.

I decide which plants I will grow from seeds and which ones I will start as seedlings. 

Fast growing plants like lettuce, spinach and soft herbs I do from seeds and the slow growing individual plants I do from bought seedling to speed up the process 

Below is my choice of seeds vs seedlings 

Seedlings: 

Tomatoes, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli. 

Either/or: 

Spring onion, leek, kale, silver beet, zucchini, pumpkin, beetroot, wombok cabbage 

With the plants I grow from seedlings I put new seedlings in when the plant is half grown, that way new crop should be ready soon after the first crop has been consumed. 

Self sufficient homesteading means I need to have food growing all the time so good planning is essential.

Protecting the young plants

Once the seeds and seedlings are in I cover the area up with mulch. This helps keep moisture and warmth in and reduces weeds.

In spring my place gets frost occasionally. I cover the area with a frost cloth to protect the plants. The cover also speeds up the growing rate. It creates a micro climate under the cover and the seedlings thrive. It works really well and I can be sure to succeed with an early harvest!

Fishing and harvesting shellfish

Fishing and harvesting shellfish is another focus in spring when living a self sufficient life style.

Try my clam fritter recipe and my mussels in curry, coconut and lime for simple and tasty ways to cook fresh wild shellfish.

Self sufficient homesteading is a busy but rewarding lifestyle all year around. Check out what I do the other seasons below.

summer

autumn

winter

It’s rewarding in so many ways to be in charge of your food supply and where your food comes from.

Living a self sufficient and sustainable life is healthy and the best way to enjoy food. More flavors and nutrition but best of all free from nasty chemicals and sprays.

I'm happy and proud to feed my family nutritious, organic, free range and delicious food daily.