If there is one place on the homestead I’ve struggled more than any other, it’s the garden. While some homesteaders seem to naturally possess the gift of coaxing breathtaking blooms and vibrant vegetables from raw soil, I do not. I can grow eggs and milk and meat all day long, but when it comes to the vegetable garden, I’ve had some absolutely spectacular fails. There have been years I’ve completely lost the battle with pests of all kinds, years when (thanks to poor compost) I’ve ended up seeding the plot with a literal lawn of grass, and years when I’ve poisoned the whole darn thing by unknowingly applying hay mulch that had been sprayed with a potent herbicide. If it’s possible to mess something up in the garden, I’ve done it.
But I’ve never been one to quit after falling flat on my face, so onward I march. Each spring, I order a fresh batch of seeds, dust off the hoe, pull on my gloves, and try again. With a decent amount of blood, buckets of sweat, and most definitely tears (yes, I’ve cried over vegetables), I’ve slowly turned my brown thumb into one that’s the faintest shade of green.
Despite the tough years, lately I seem to have (sort of) found my gardening groove and my battle-hardened garden is now one of the most picturesque parts of our homestead. The lushest time in our growing season is late summer, and it’s hard to stay away from my little fenced plot that time of year. Dusk is the most enchanting part of the day and I relish the chance to sit on the crooked blue bench in the corner and soak it all in. The abundance is overwhelming. The bushy bean plants sway with a dense crop of heirloom pods, the heavy heads of cabbage sit tidy and expectant in their rows, the potato plants fill every square inch of their bed with leafy stems and dainty white flowers, and the copious squash vines curl up the sides of the gate, framing the entrance in a way that makes the space feel almost sacred.
If you’ve ever found yourself reeling after a miserable garden year and wondered if it was worth trying again, let me tell you: it is. Shake off the failure and start again. Your persistence will eventually pay off (I’m proof of that!), and the rewards are beautiful and oh-so-tasty.
Maybe you haven’t yet mustered up the nerve to take the plunge and start digging around in the dirt. Maybe you’re waiting until you know enough or until the moment arrives when you feel totally ready. My advice? Dive in. Plant that first seed, get your hands dirty, know you’ll eventually mess something up, and then? Well, you’ll simply learn from your mistakes and keep on trucking, because that’s what homesteaders do.
There are few experiences that top the feeling of hooking a woven basket over your arm and heading outside to “shop” for ingredients—walking between the rows, plucking plump tomatoes from the vine, snapping waxy peppers from their stems, and clipping bunches of crisp lettuce from the cool, wet soil. Then once the basket is full, you’ll carry it all back to the house and craft it into a home-cooked meal. It’s one of the best feelings this crazy homestead life has to offer, and I cannot wait for you to experience it.
Gardening: Three Ways
In-Ground Gardens
When most of us think of vegetable gardening, this is the method that comes to mind. It’s classic, it’s simple, and it requires minimal prep and equipment. I had a traditional in-ground garden for years and it served me well. Each spring we would till the plot, mark the rows, and plunge seeds into the earth when the soil warmed. It was humble and it worked. We built a wire panel fence around the perimeter the first year we were on our homestead (if you have dogs, deer, or free-range chickens, a fence is not optional). But besides the purchase of a tiller, those few items were the extent of our initial garden investment.
Like most gardeners, my biggest complaint with my in-ground plot was the weeds. The task of pulling weeds from between the rows and seedlings was never-ending and in order to keep up with it, I needed hours in the day I couldn’t seem to find. Each year, I’d start with the best intentions but end up losing the battle by mid-July. I inadvertently discovered most vegetables grow surprisingly well even if they are surrounded by weeds, but I still lost plants each year as they were choked out by lamb’s-quarter and bindweed. While many homesteaders use tillers between their rows to help manage weeds, our garden wasn’t laid out in a way that made that possible, which left my hoe and me to do the dirty work.
One year in a stroke of providence, I was rummaging through a pile of musty books and found an unassuming little volume titled The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book. Ruth Stout was a visionary who pioneered the deep-mulch method—a revolutionary technique that involves laying a heavy sheet of mulching material over the entire garden before planting. She swore by the way the deep layers of organic matter nurtured the soil and kept it from drying out, and she maintained this was the design nature intended all along. I was utterly intrigued. I was completely fed up with weeding at that point, so I figured I had nothing to lose. I convinced Christian to bring a half-ton bale of hay over to the garden after we tilled it that spring so I could begin my initial mulch layer. He thought I was crazy, the neighbors thought I was crazy, and even I began to question my sanity as I forked mounds of hay over the freshly worked soil.
By the time I was done, the layer was nearly 10 inches deep, which is what Ruth recommended. I marked my rows and spread the hay so I could plant my seeds directly into the soil. As the seedlings popped up, I pulled the mulch around the base of each plant to block future weeds from springing up alongside them.
And it worked! The soil under the mulch stayed loose and damp, and was filled with more earthworms than I’d ever seen in my life. My plants grew beautifully, and while the garden was not completely impervious to weeds, the time I had to devote there each day was drastically reduced. Instead of hours spent on my hands and knees weeding, I’d spend 10 to 15 minutes a day adjusting mulch and adding more hay to any sparse patches. As long as I kept the layer thick enough, the seeds in the hay didn’t germinate and the weed seeds in the soil didn’t have enough light to grow. It was a dream.
Unfortunately, our mulch gardening adventure ended abruptly when I unknowingly used herbicide-tainted hay in my garden. This mistake cost me an entire growing season and subsequently made our soil unfit for growing vegetables for several years, until the herbicide residue finally broke down. However, the silver lining in this whole mishap was that it directed me toward a new method: raised beds.
Raised Beds
Raised beds are especially trendy right now, but that’s not the reason we chose them. We had toyed with the idea for years, but considering the scope of the project, it always was relegated to the back burner. That is, until we were left with no other options. Our original plot was fairly small, not to mention there was a sizable tree growing right smack in the middle of it—it was time to start over. We took out the tree, leveled the ground, and more than doubled the footprint of the garden by adding twenty raised beds.
I was attracted to the idea of raised beds for a number of reasons:
• Raised beds can help the soil warm up sooner in the spring. Our winters last a long time, so I was especially excited about this possibility.
• It’s often easier to manage weeds in beds, thanks to clearly defined walkways and no rows to weed between.
• Higher beds prevent soil compaction by keeping kids, dogs, and random humans from traipsing across the soil and packing it down.
• Raised beds provide better drainage. This wasn’t something I was necessarily concerned about here in drought-prone Wyoming, but if you live in a wet climate this could be a considerable perk.
• It’s easier to keep raised beds tidy, and I love the organized aesthetic of a well-executed raised bed garden. I’ve also found I want to spend more time out in my garden when it doesn’t feel like constant chaos. Funny how that works.
Raised beds aren’t without their challenges, however. We found the most formidable aspect of beds to be the amount of work it takes to build them, as well as the cost of materials.
There are dozens of different material options, and after many rounds of rousing debate, we personally settled on heavy-duty steel bridge decking panels with redwood 4x4s at the corners. Overkill? Perhaps. But these babies will last until Armageddon. Thanks to years spent rebuilding projects that quickly fell apart, Christian and I have learned our lesson and make it a point to create things that will last.
Wood is the most common material for raised beds. Building with less expensive, untreated lumber was tempting, but we quickly determined we had no desire to rebuild the beds every several years when the boards began to decompose. Redwood and cedar are hardier, naturally rot-resistant options, but they are prohibitively expensive if you plan to build more than one or two small beds.
We looked at lots of photos of gardens built with galvanized panels, which we pondered for a while. However, because the panels are thin, you must build an entire frame out of wood to support them so they don’t bow out. That equals more cost in purchasing lumber and in labor building the frames, so bridge decking ultimately made the most sense for us. (Check steel suppliers or building companies, as typical building stores won’t carry these.)
Each bed is 4 x 10 feet and there are twenty beds total. The metal panels on each one are 18 inches high. Christian cut the panels to size with a plasma cutter (they are thick!) and then screwed the corners to the redwood 4x4s. We installed a drip system with a timer in each bed, which makes watering (my least-loved summer chore) a breeze.
Do I think raised beds are for everyone? Nope. But they were definitely the answer for us, and our first growing season with them was one of the best I’ve had so far. I’m hooked.
Container Gardening
Even with 67 acres at our disposal, I still love growing things in various pots and containers on our deck and covered porch. If you live in a place with limited garden space or you’re without a garden altogether, container gardening might be the answer. Dozens of favorite vegetables, including tomatoes, beans, squash, potatoes, and herbs, can thrive in containers, and even the starkest apartment balcony has the potential to become a lush forest of food with a collection of pots.
Containers can range from flowerpots to recycled five-gallon buckets to plastic bins. Lately, my favorite trick is to scour yard sales and thrift stores for old pots and pans and then plant my flowers and herbs in those. There is the tendency for vegetable plants to not produce as prolifically in pots as they do in the ground, so use high-quality organic potting soil and a good plant food or fertilizer throughout the season to keep plants as productive as possible.
Use this DIY spray instead of toxic pesticides to battle the bugs in your garden.
Combine 1 onion, 4 cloves garlic, 2 cups mint leaves, 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper, and 1 cup water in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture through a mesh strainer into a 1-gallon jar. Add enough water to fill the jar to the top and mix in 2 tablespoons natural liquid soap (I use mild castile soap or natural dishwashing soap).
To use, pour some of the liquid into a spray bottle and spray on affected plants two to three times per week or after a heavy rain. This spray is best used within seven days.
Starting Seeds Indoors
I usually don’t plant much of anything in my garden until May (we have an annual Mother’s Day blizzard around here), but I start my seeds in the house much earlier than that.
Starting seeds takes effort, but it’s definitely worth it. Not only can it save you hundreds of dollars (vegetable seedling costs add up quickly if you have a large garden), but the sky’s the limit when it comes to variety—you’ll be able to grow whatever organic, heirloom varieties strike your fancy. (And you can show off your purple tomatoes and exotic peppers that the local garden store doesn’t have.)
I’ve tried a number of DIY and repurposed seed-starting setups over the years, but simple plastic greenhouse trays and small seed-starting pellets remain my favorite. I prefer coconut coir pellets to peat, since coir is a more sustainable material. Simply soak the pellets in water for several minutes and they’re ready to go.
Seeds don’t need light until they germinate—a warm room will suffice for the first few days until you see their teensy leaves peeking from the soil. After that, good light is crucial, so set your seedlings in a sunny window or use grow lights.
We have an annoying shortage of usable south-facing windows in our house, so I use grow lights in our basement. We purchased 4-foot fluorescent shop lights from the local home improvement store and hung them on a metal shelving unit (one light per shelf). The lights are attached to the shelves with short lengths of chain, which enables me to easily raise or lower the lights depending on the size of the plants. Keep the lights low at first, then gradually raise them as the plants grow taller. This prevents seedlings from getting leggy and spindly—ain’t nobody wants leggy seedlings. The lights should be on the plants for 16 hours per day, but I can attest to seedlings’ ability to survive if you forget to shut the lights off occasionally. Whoops.
Keep the soil moist at all times—especially during the germination phase. Peat or coir pellets dry out quickly, and tiny seedlings don’t last very long if they become dry. As the plants mature, they’ll need to be repotted into larger containers with potting soil. For repotting, I use either red plastic cups (super classy) or the black plastic packs with four or six cells (the kind you get when you buy potting flowers at the garden store). I reuse my containers year after year and they work like a charm. If you are reusing pots and trays, it’s wise to disinfect them to prevent the spread of plant diseases or fungi—many folks do this with diluted bleach, but I prefer white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide instead. Simply spray each container, wipe, and rinse well with water before adding the soil mix and seeds.
Vegetable Growing Guide
I begin growing in early March when the garden still resembles frozen tundra and the winds whip blinding walls of snow across the pastures. A happy glow comes from the storage room in our basement, and if you peek your head around the corner, you’ll find tray upon tray of the tiniest seedlings stretching their way toward the shining grow lights. I felt constant overwhelm the first few years I started my own seeds, as it was hard to keep track of what to plant when. Hopefully this simple guide will eliminate some of the confusion for you during planting time.
Planting in the fall is an option many folks often overlook, although the feasibility will depend on your climate and location. I know many homesteaders in southern states with lovely fall gardens, but my Wyoming fall garden isn’t quite as prolific. Go here if you need help determining your first and last frost dates.
| BEANS | BRUSSELS SPROUTS |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds any time after your last spring frost date when the soil has reached a temperature of at least 60°F. Planting Notes: Beans do not transplant well, so they will need to be direct sown in the garden. Soak the bean seeds in warm water for a few hours before planting to speed up the germination process. Use your homegrown beans to make Sesame Green Beans. |
Planting Method: Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. You can also direct sow seeds 4 months before your first fall frost date. Planting Notes: Transplant Brussels sprouts in the garden after the danger of spring frosts has passed and your seedlings have their first true leaves. Brussels sprouts are a crowd-pleaser at the table when I roast them with a bit of butter and Parmesan cheese. |
| BEETS | CABBAGE |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds 2 weeks before your last spring frost date. For a fall harvest, plant them 10 to 12 weeks before your first fall frost date. Planting Notes: Each beet seed is actually a capsule with several seeds in one, so plan on thinning the beets as they mature. Beetroot and beet greens are equally appealing and can be used in all sorts of interesting ways. Check out Roasted Beets & Whipped Goat Cheese and Beet & Potato Mash. I grow classic red beets every year, but we also love the golden and white varieties. |
Planting Method: Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. For a fall harvest, start seeds 6 to 12 weeks before your first fall frost date. (The variety of cabbage you choose will determine the exact time frame, so check your seed packet for recommendations.) Planting Notes: Transplant cabbage seedlings when they are 3 to 4 inches tall. You can also direct sow seeds outdoors in the spring when the soil is thawed enough to plant. Cilantro Slaw is a fabulous way to serve your homegrown cabbage as a quick summer side. |
| BROCCOLI | CARROTS |
Planting Method: Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. For an autumn harvest, broccoli seeds can be started indoors 85 to 100 days before your first fall frost date. Transplant the seedlings to your garden when the plants are 3 weeks old. Planting Notes: Set broccoli seedlings outside in the spring when the plants are 5 to 6 inches tall or approximately 2 to 3 weeks before your last spring frost date. Broccoli is susceptible to pests so spray it frequently with homemade pest spray (here). Homegrown broccoli is amazing roasted with garlic and olive oil or in Broccoli Cheddar Soup. |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds in the garden 3 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date. Planting Notes: Carrots take forever to germinate—it may be as long as 3 weeks before you see teeny seedlings rising from the soil. They dry out quickly, so keep their rows consistently damp while you wait. In Zone 8 and warmer, you can also plant carrots in the fall or winter. Honey Whipped Carrots are a mouth-watering way to serve your harvest. |
| CAULIFLOWER | GARLIC |
Planting Method: Start seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before you plan to transplant them. For a fall harvest, start seeds indoors 12 weeks before your first fall frost date; seedlings can be transplanted 6 to 8 weeks before your first fall frost of the year. Planting Notes: Cauliflower can be transplanted 3 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date, as long as the seedlings are around 5 inches tall. We prefer our cauliflower roasted rather than boiled, with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. |
Planting Method: For the best crop, plant garlic in the fall, about 4 to 6 weeks before your first fall frost date. Break bulbs of seed garlic into cloves and plant each clove pointy-side up. Planting Notes: Garlic can be planted in early spring, but fall garlic tends to produce greater yields. I plant mine in mid-September (this will vary according to your growing zone) and cover the bed with a layer of mulch. I ignore it for the rest of the winter and the green shoots peek through the soil in the spring as the weather warms. Water and weed the garlic bed until the tops begin to brown (usually mid-July for us) and then they are ready to harvest. Garlic is especially delicious in … okay, who I am kidding? Garlic is delicious is nearly everything, as evidenced by its inclusion in dozens of recipes in this cookbook. |
| CORN | GREENS |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds in the garden 2 weeks after your last spring frost date when the soil has reached a temperature of at least 60°F. Planting Notes: Corn requires a lot of nitrogen as it grows, so amend the soil heavily with compost or other fertilizer for best results. Eat it on the cob or slice it off to make Browned Butter Skillet Corn. |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Planting Notes: Greens such as kale, chard, collards, mustard, arugula, and spinach are cool-weather plants that perform best before the summer heat arrives. You can continue to sow rows throughout the summer for later harvests too. Some varieties of greens are especially frost-hardy and withstand very cool temperatures late into the growing season, which makes me especially fond of them here in Wyoming. |
| CUCUMBERS | LETTUCE |
Planting Method: Direct sow after your last spring frost date, or start seeds indoors 2 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date to get a head start on the growing season. Planting Notes: Cucumbers are delicate and very sensitive to frost. Don’t transplant them until the soil has reached 65 to 70°F. This is usually at least 2 weeks after the last spring frost date. Pick small, firm cucumbers to make Garlic Dill Icebox Pickles. |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds when the soil has reached a temperature of at least 45°F. If you want a jump start on your harvest (especially since many lettuce varieties cannot handle warm temperatures), you can start lettuce seeds indoors as early as 10 weeks before your last spring frost date. Transplant the seedlings as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. Planting Notes: Lettuce bolts in warm weather, so succession planting can be helpful. Sow a handful of seeds or transplant a few plants each week to extend the harvest as long as possible. |
| ONIONS | PEPPERS |
Planting Method: Start onions from seed 8 to 10 weeks before your last spring frost date. Transplant after the danger of frost has passed. Planting Notes: It’s entirely possible to grow onions from seed, but I’ve found onion sets to be a much more low-maintenance option. The sets can be planted early in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked and are hardier than the fragile seedlings. You can find sets at any garden store—they usually come in large bunches for just a couple of dollars. |
Planting Method: Start seeds indoors at least 8 to 10 weeks before your last spring frost date. Planting Notes: Peppers adore heat, so keep the seedlings warm, preferably in a room that stays around 70 to 75°F. Do not plant them outside until your garden temperatures are averaging 65°F during the day and 55°F at night. There are an endless number of pepper varieties, both sweet and hot. My favorites are poblanos, which I add to my Fresh Garden Salsa and Chicken Poblano Chowder. |
| PEAS | POTATOES |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds 4 to 5 weeks before your last spring frost date when the soil reaches a temperature of at least 45°F. Planting Notes: It’s possible to start peas indoors even earlier, but they don’t love being transplanted, so be careful with their young roots if you do plan to move them. We love both English peas and sugar snap peas, but they rarely make it into the house, as my dear children have a habit of devouring them as fast as they can ripen. |
Planting Method: Direct sow seed potatoes in the garden any time after the soil can be worked in the spring. If your region is prone to very hard frosts later in the spring, wait to plant potatoes until 1 to 2 weeks before your last spring frost date. Planting Notes: Buy seed potatoes from your local garden store or order them online. Avoid using grocery store potatoes, since they may be sprayed with a substance that discourages sprouting. I like to grow varieties that aren’t commonly available at the store. (You’ve got to try purple potatoes at least once!) Cut large seed potatoes into chunks, leaving at least 2 eyes per piece. Plant each piece and mound the dirt higher as sprouts pop through the soil. Potatoes are fairly hardy and can survive a few light frosts in the fall. The possibilities are endless when it comes to potatoes, but Crispy Potato Stacks, Zesty Oven Fries, and Scalloped Potatoes rank right up there on the list of my favorite spud recipes ever. |
| PUMPKINS | SQUASH |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds after your last spring frost date when soil temperatures reach at least 70°F. For a slightly earlier crop, start seeds indoors 2 to 4 weeks before your last frost date and transplant once all danger of frost has passed. Planting Notes: If you are planning on making pies, select a pie variety—they have far superior texture and flavor. (My long-standing favorite is the Winter Luxury Pie Pumpkin, an heirloom variety.) Pumpkins prefer rich soil, so add lots of compost to their bed. Ripened pumpkins can be removed from the vine and stored in a cool, dark place for most of the winter. Honey Pumpkin Pie will make you extremely thankful you decided to add pumpkins to your garden plans. |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds 1 to 2 weeks after your last spring frost date. You can start squash seeds indoors 3 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date. Do not transplant them outdoors until all danger of frost has passed. Planting Notes: Squash are generally divided into two categories. Summer squash (such as zucchini, crookneck, and pattypan) are ready earlier in the season, have thinner skin, and do not store very long. Winter squash (such as acorn, butternut, Hubbard, and spaghetti squash) won’t be ready for harvest until late summer or early fall, but have a thick rind that allows them to last in storage most of the winter if conditions are right. Serve summer squash in Summer Squash Gratin or make Butternut Pasta Sauce with your winter varieties. |
| RADISHES | TOMATOES |
Planting Method: Direct sow seeds as soon as the soil is workable in the spring, usually about 2 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date. Planting Notes: Radishes are a cool-weather vegetable and do best in temperatures of less than 65°F. Plant them as early as you can to avoid them bolting and becoming bitter. You can also plant them in late summer for a fall harvest. |
Planting Method: Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date unless you live in a very warm climate. Do not transplant tomatoes outdoors until all danger of frost has passed and your soil temperature reaches at least 60°F. Planting Notes: Several weeks before you plan to transplant your tomatoes, harden them off by setting them outside during the day as the weather warms. This helps to minimize transplant shock. Place the seedlings deep into their holes for stronger plants. You’ll love having homegrown tomatoes for Warm Cherry Tomato Salad. |
Herbs are an absolute necessity in my kitchen. I would be clueless if I had to cook without them. While I do purchase and use a considerable amount of dried herbs, I grow as many as I possibly can. One of the very best parts about herbs is that it takes exactly zero acres of land to grow them—if you have a sunny windowsill, you’ve got this covered. Use pots with plenty of drainage (place a tray or saucer underneath to catch overflow) and feed them monthly with fertilizer designed for edible plants and you’ll be well on your way to growing fresh flavors for all sorts of dishes. Here’s a list of my favorites, which I plant or maintain every year without fail.
| BASIL | DILL |
| An annual you can start from seed or purchase from your local nursery, basil is an herb no homestead should be without. Plant basil next to tomatoes to ward off pests, or put it in a pot in a sunny window. As it grows, pinch off any flowers to keep it producing as long as possible. Use your fresh basil for Warm Cherry Tomato Salad and Tomato Basil Galette. | Nothing says “summertime” more than seeing tall stalks of dill poking above the fence in my herb garden. Although it’s a biennial like parsley, dill loves to self-seed and will come back year after year once it is established. Dill dries well if you wish to save it for later in the year and is an important addition to Herbed Potato Salad and Garlic Dill Icebox Pickles. |
| CHIVES | LAVENDER |
| I have a soft spot for chives, so it makes me happy that they seem to love our harsh climate. They stay green well into the fall, happily come back each spring without any attention from me, and have the prettiest purple flower puffs. I sprinkle fresh-cut chives over any egg dish (try them in Baked Eggs with Cream & Chives, as well as on baked potatoes or in Beet & Potato Mash. Mature chive plants can be dug up in the fall and brought inside to overwinter, or they’ll happily grow in a sunny window all year long. They don’t keep as well as some other herbs, so enjoy them fresh as long as you can. | Most people think of lavender as purely a medicinal herb, but its gentle floral flavor makes it a delicious addition to kitchen concoctions too. I like to grow lavender in my front yard flowerbeds—it’s gorgeous when it blooms, returns year after year, and will gladly star in the delicately sweet Lavender Honey Custards. |
| MINT | ROSEMARY |
| One day in a fit of rebellion, I planted my new mint plants directly in the herb garden, even though all the experts say to only ever plant mint in containers. And sure enough, the two tiny plants have multiplied like rabbits and are currently threatening to take over, just like the experts promised. Once mint is established, it grows like wildfire, so yes, it is indeed advisable to follow the rules and grow it in pots or beds with a clear boundary. (Unless you like to learn things the hard way like me.) You should only have to plant it once, as it comes back each year with a passion. Mint varieties go far beyond basic peppermint, so check your local nurseries to see what interesting variations you can find. (Chocolate Mint is my favorite. Yes, it’s a real thing!) Use an abundance of mint to make Homemade Mint Syrup, and you can also brew peppermint leaves into a tea to soothe tummy troubles. | In warmer climates, rosemary is a perennial so prolific it is sometimes used as a hedge. But alas, here in Wyoming I’m just excited if my tiny rosemary plant doubles in size over the summer. Rosemary doesn’t love cold locations, so if you live in a place like I do, you’ll have to replant it each year, or at least dig it up and bring it inside over the winter (rosemary likes being a houseplant too). I use rosemary both dried and fresh in soups, stews, stock, and especially for Homemade Bacon. |
| OREGANO & MARJORAM | SAGE |
| These two gems are related, which explains why I always have to look twice when I’m searching for one or the other in the garden. Both will overwinter in warm climates, but like rosemary, they don’t love our hard-core winters, so I do replant them each year. Oregano regularly makes appearances in tomato dishes around our homestead, while marjoram is fabulous in soups and paired with meats. | I can’t get enough of sage. It comes back every year, withstands hard frosts, and pairs beautifully with countless dishes. Interestingly, it isn’t as hardy in humid environments, which makes it a perfect fit for our super-dry location. Dried or fresh sage goes into my homemade stocks, as well as into Butternut Pasta Sauce. It also makes an excellent addition to your indoor herb garden. |
| PARSLEY | THYME |
| Parsley is a biennial, which means it takes two years to complete its life cycle. I grow both flat-leaf and curly parsley and my motto is, “When in doubt, throw some parsley on top.” It dries well and can be saved for use throughout the winter, or keep the plant inside year-round in your windowsill garden. | While I use plenty of dried thyme in my recipes during the colder months, I make a point to add the fresh leaves to every recipe I can in the summer—nothing quite compares to thyme picked right outside the front door. Thyme is another perennial that will happily come back year after year in most locations. It pairs perfectly with soups, roasted chicken, potatoes of all kinds, and countless other dishes. |