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10 steps to start homesteading, on the cheap

It always confuses me when people talk about homesteading being an expensive hobby. First off, one of the reasons Farmer and I started homesteading was to SAVE money. And second, it’s hard for me to think of homesteading as a hobby. Does anyone just homestead in their free time? I don’t know anyone that does. Everyone I know homesteads as a lifestyle, not as a game to play on the side.

Now on the other hand, yes I can see how certain homesteading practices can be expensive to get started. In some instances solar is very expensive. Buying land for animals is very expensive. Gardening tools and materials can be spendy. But what some people don’t see, is that many ways to homestead cost little or no money at all.

So I was thinking of some of the things Farmer and I did, to start homesteading, when we had $187 to our name. Yes, that is an exact number! I remember it so well, because I was pregnant … and I freak out about a lot more things when I am pregnant. Like that time Farmer came home from work and told me I was doing the laundry wrong …… oh man, I can’t even tell you that story because I am so embarrassed about how I reacted. Anyways ….

1. Simplify your life. This would be the first thing to do when you want to start homesteading. Sometimes we get caught up thinking we always need to be doing more, when in fact doing less but doing it really well, is a much better (and cheaper) way to go. Is there anything in your life that is draining your time, energy, and money that you could eliminate or cut back? Maybe your kids are signed up for a few too many activities. Maybe you are a member of a book club, have a side hustle, go to the gym every day, and volunteer at the library. Those are all good things, but you can’t always add more and add more, sometimes you need to cut a few things. So if you are really serious about homesteading, realize that it is a time commitment. You will end up frustrated and disappointed if you try to ADD homesteading without taking anything else out.

2. Make homesteading friends. Homesteading is significantly easier if you have some buddies for a lot of reasons. One is that it’s nice to have some support when you need it. If all you ever hear from people is how crazy you are for homesteading, and you don’t have anyone to talk to that agrees with your craziness, you’re going to get burnt out.

Another reason is that it’s nice to partner up sometimes. Let’s say you are really good at growing tomatoes, and you have a neighbor with too many laying chickens. This is a no brainer right? Trading is something that homesteaders love!

Number three would be that you are going to have homesteading questions. The best people to ask those questions are experienced homesteaders in your area. Weather, climate, laws, etc are things best answered by someone who lives right where you do.

And fourth, to save the most money possible, you must borrow things. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just a smart thing to do. If you don’t have the money to buy something, ask a friend if you can borrow theirs when they aren’t using it. Every year I borrow a canner from my mother in law, a juicer from my aunt, and a dehydrator from my friend. I also had another friend give me her old canning supplies because she didn’t need them after all her kids were moved out. Make friends! Just do it.

3. Start gardening. This is the first homesteading thing I did in my adult life. That might have something to do with the fact that I studied permaculture as a teenager, but still. Dirt is one of my favorite things in the world, that might have something to do with it too.

You can start gardening for about $5 really. All you need is some dirt, sun, water, and a packet of seeds. It DOES NOT have to be special dirt. Contrary to what some people believe, seeds do grow in almost any old soil. You might not have the same size tomato plants as your neighbor who uses miracle grow, but your seeds will still grow. A shovel is handy, but if you don’t already have one you can borrow a friends, or grow a “no-till” garden. If you have literally no piece of dirt/land to grow some seeds in, get creative. Use pots, sign up for a spot in the community garden, or better yet, BORROW a few feet in your friends yard. Seriously, I can’t think of a single homesteader that wouldn’t let you share a tiny piece of their garden if you are willing to take care of it.

If your excuse to not start a garden is money, consider it crossed out. Then check out How we save over $2,400 every year with our garden.

4. Preserve what you grow and what you gather. Preserving food is a dying art. There are a million ways to preserve fruits, veggies, meat, nuts, and everything else. The whole point of it is to save the food you have from going bad and wasting. What better way is there to save money than figuring out ways to use everything that you already have?

The 4 biggest ways that I preserve food are canning, freezing, dehydrating, and cold storage. You can borrow canning supplies, but you will need to purchase canning jars unless you know someone who has extra. You can borrow a dehydrator, though I feel like dehydrators pay for themselves in the first one or two uses honestly. If you don’t have a freezer then you may want to wait on that one since they are hard to find for less than a few hundred dollars. As for cold storage, if you don’t have space in a basement or under your house, you can literally dig a hole in the ground.

Don’t think that you can’t preserve food if you don’t grow a large garden. More than half the food that I preserve comes from somewhere other than my own yard. Check out this post on How to get free produce to learn how I get food to fill my freezer and my canning jars every year for free.

If you aren’t preserving, you are probably wasting. Which can be the same thing as tossing dollar bills in the garbage can.

5. Learn to sew. Sewing is not an all or nothing activity. You do not have to sew all of your kids clothes to save money. Every little bit counts. If you don’t own a sewing machine, that’s okay. Although it is easier and faster with a sewing machine, you can start out with small things that only require a needle and thread. Take for example mending your husbands pants instead of buying new ones. How about letting out the hem to your growing sons pants so they fit for a few more months.

To me, sewing and mending is one of the best examples of “making it work”. It is an incredibly valuable homesteading skill that saves you money. Make it a goal to learn at least basic sewing skills.

6. Get starts from other people. Growing things is a big part of homesteading, whether that is plants, animals, or a family. Plants and animals cost money. But almost everything that grows, is multiplying and growing more. Plants send up shoots, drop seeds, or re-root themselves. Animals have babies. Instead of buying everything you need to grow plants or raise animals, get your “starts” from your friends and neighbors.

Ask your friends what things they have extra of, or what things are always producing more then they need. Here are a few examples of things that are all over the place where I live:

Raspberries- they send up new shoots every year, and gardeners just rip the new ones out.
Strawberries- they re-root themselves wherever the vines touch the ground, creating a new plant.
Willow trees– easiest tree to root, just cut off a baby branch and stick it in water
Sunflowers- produce about a million seeds on each flower, grab a dead one at the end of the season from your friend and sprinkle the seeds in your yard.
Quaking Aspen trees- send up tons of baby trees all around it. That is why they are usually “groves” of aspen trees.
Ground covers- They spread everywhere guys. Just hack off a corner plant and drop it in the dirt at your house.
Potatoes- You know when you forget you had a bag of potatoes downstairs and it starts growing? Stick them in the dirt, they are alive!
Grapes- fill a bucket with dirt, and pop the tip of a grape vine (still attached to the mother plant) down in it a few inches. Water it for a few weeks and it will root.
Herbs- some herbs bunch up and fill in really well like thyme. Taking starts is as easy as digging up part of the plant.
Chickens- I have had many friends try and drop off their chickens and roosters at my house. That’s free meat and eggs guys!

7. Plan ahead. I am a procrastinator to the extreme. I know I am, and I try to fix it, but the fact is that I will probably struggle with it forever. When it comes to homesteading, procrastinating costs you money, time, and problems. Make lists, have a calendar, plan meals, draw out your garden. The more you plan, the better you can manage your time, and the more money you will save.

Let’s look at an extreme example: think about what a difference it would make if you were to plan out an entire year of meals. I have never heard of anyone doing this, but humor me for a minute. You could plan out your garden for exactly what food you would need to grow. You would know how much of each thing you needed to preserve. And you could save a ton of time always having things ready for your meals. Now I know that was an extreme example, but if you fall anywhere in the middle, you are still on your way to some pretty great homesteading, planning ahead, and saving money. And that goes for anything, not just food. Plan ahead what tools and supplies you will need for the whole year. You could be asking friends early on, or keeping your eyes out for those things at the thrift store. Think about it.

8. Cheap chickens. I call them that because they are. Farmer and I started our chicken adventure with $26. We built a little house out of scrap wood, and we kept them in a box in the laundry room before they were big enough to live outside. The baby chicks cost us $16 for 8, and a bag of starter feed cost $10. We let them free range after that. Cheap, cheap, cheap. And they are an easy animal to start out with if you don’t have any experience.

9. Compost. Starting a compost pile doesn’t cost a dime. Just start throwing everything compostable into a pile, and water and churn it every once in awhile. Composting is not a complicated thing and it’s really hard to get it wrong. But the benefits of having your own compost is a more productive and healthy garden, and free fertilizer. Add some of the chicken poop from your new chickens to your pile and you will really have some black gold.

10. Quit buying things you can’t afford. Part of homesteading is being frugal. The easiest way to blow through money is to buy things you can’t afford. I say that because when you put things on payments, you end up spending way more money on something just because you couldn’t wait a few months. Make a rule for yourself that you won’t buy anything unless you have the cash for it. Sometimes that means waiting awhile yes. But there are more benefits to that habit than just saving money. Peace of mind, better relationships with your family, and more trust from the people you have money dealings with are some of the ones Farmer and I have noticed.

Homesteading is a big commitment, but absolutely worth it in my opinion. It’s empowering to become more self-sufficient. It’s stress-relieving, (scientifically proven) to grow a garden. Homesteading also saves a lot of money, if you do it the right way. For example, check out How we save over $2,400 every year with our garden.

Follow my 10 steps and you will be homesteading like a champ, and all for just a few bucks out of your pocket. Farmer and I did it, and so can you!

~Farmer’s Wife

Farmhouse Garden Preserving The Harvest Recipes, Let's Eat!

How to make your own organic grape juice

Organic is one of those things that I can’t decide how I feel about it. Maybe it is because I have known people who cheat the system and sell things as “organic” when it’s not really true. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to have to commit to all organic and sometimes I feel like it is all or nothing. Or maybe it’s because I have a few friends and family who are openly against it. But when it comes right down to it, I almost always go with the organic option when I have a choice in front of me.

Currently my garden is 100% organic. I make my own compost, I never spray for weeds or bugs, and I fertilize with my free range chicken manure. I want to spray for bugs, I really do because it would make things sooooo much easier … don’t hate me for saying that … but I just can’t bring myself to do it when my kids all eat straight out of the garden every day. There is no way that would be good for them, right?

Lucky me, we moved into a house a few years ago that had 2 established grape vines. One is a delicious little seedless table grape, and the other is an amazing smelling fat and juicy concord. All growing up, my dad told me that concords were the best for grape juice.

So because my parents taught me how to do it right, today I am going to pay it forward and teach you how to make your own organic grape juice.

You are going to need:

organic grapes– if you don’t have any vines of your own, ask around. Grape vines produce a lot, and chances are, if you can find someone that has a few vines they have plenty of extra grapes. I have one concord grape vine and it gives me at least 10 jars of juice, even on a bad year.
large bowl or tote– for picking your grapes
a steam juicer– these things are so handy and they are quite possibly the easiest food preservation method I use all year. I have done grape juice, apple juice, and peach juice so far. Next year there will be at least three more added to that list because of how simple it is.
canning jars, lids, and flats– you don’t actually have to can the juice, but seriously it’s easier to can it than it is to stick it in another container because it seals itself.
hot pads
a stool
towels
small saucepan
a fork (or one of those handy dandy canning lid magnets so you don’t burn your fingers off)

And here we go …

Fill the bottom portion of your steam juicer 3/4 full of water. DO NOT LET THIS BOIL DRY. Got that? It ruins your steam juicer ….. ask me how I know that. You have to refill the water in between each batch of juice. Set it on the stove, and set the middle portion of your steam juicer on top. This is the part that will hold your juice after it drips out of your grapes.
If you haven’t already picked them, go get your grapes. Now here is the cool part about steaming grapes into juice … you don’t have to pick them off the stems! Unless you want to of course. Use scissors (definitely the fastest and easiest way to pick them) to clip off the bunches, and drop them into your bowl/tote. I use a big popcorn bowl and fill it heaped as high as I can, and it does about one batch of juice. If you pick the grapes off the stems, you will fit more into the juicer. That means you will end up with more juice out of each batch. However, it doesn’t hurt anything to leave them on the stems while you juice them. You won’t fill as many jars from each batch, but you will also save a ton of time and headache from picking off all the grapes. It’s up to you which one you choose.
Put your grapes in the sink and fill it up with water. They are organic so they won’t need vigorous scrubbing, but they will probably have bugs in them. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, right? If you let them soak for about 15 minutes, all the spiders will die and float to the top. Swish the grapes around a few times so they are all submerged and you have suffocated all the little buggers. There is certainly the possibility that a dead spider might make it into the juicer in your grapes … but look on the bright side! Maybe it will add a little protein to your juice. At least that is what my dad always says. What I do know, is that it’s not going to hurt you if a bug or two makes it in there. If you are really worried about it, pick the grapes off the stems and wash them all again.
Fill the top section of the steam juicer with grapes. They are going to shrink A LOT during the cooking process, so feel free to heap them as high as you can and just set the lid on top.
Once you have all of your juicer sections on, turn your stove on high heat. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down to medium high. It needs to boil for about 1 hour.
Place a stool right in front of the stove with a canning jar on it. Put the end of the juicer hose inside the jar. This will catch any leaks that trickle out while the grapes cook. Make sure your clamp is pinching the hose closed or else ALL the juice will leak out.
Prepare your canning jars. Wash them and put them in a 200 degree oven to warm. Gather your lids. Put a small saucepan of water on the stove to boil, and put your flats in it to sterilize and soften them up. Place a towel on your counter both next to the stove (where you will be working with purple juice), and on the counter (where you will put the finished jars to cool). This stuff stains big time! Protect your surfaces, and use towels that can be stained.
When your grapes have steamed for about 1 hour, you can start to fill your jars. Using hot pads, take two jars out of the oven and set them on the stool. Sometimes I place a 9 x 13 pan or a towel underneath the hot jars so they don’t damage my stool. Carefully squeeze the clamp on your juicer hose to open it and let the juice flow out into your hot jar. This juice is boiling, be very careful! Fill the jar to 1 inch from the top, and place the clamped hose into the next hot jar. Remove a flat from the boiling water with a fork or a canning lid magnet, and set it on top of the filled jar. Use a hot pad to hold on to the jar while you screw on a lid. Set the jar out on the towel out of the way.
Grab another jar out of the oven, set it on the pan, and fill up the second jar. Continue step 8 until the juice quits flowing. Usually this is between 4 and 6 quart size jars.

If you do a second batch, be sure to fill the water back up on the bottom section. Dump the grape leftovers in your compost pile, and fill it up again with fresh ones. If ending with a partial jar is a problem to you, dump it back in the juicer a few minutes before the second batch is done cooking. It will heat back up to boiling and be part of your second batch.

It doesn’t hurt to let it cook a little longer than an hour. You may get a few more drops of juice if you are lucky.

After your jars have cooled for 12-24 hours, check them to see if they sealed, and then you can move them to storage. They will last for over a year, but mine never make it more than a few months because we love it so much we drink it all.

When we drink it, we usually dump it in to a pitcher and add about a half a jar of water and a spoonful or two of sweetener. Stir it up and enjoy. But I have a few friends that love it straight from the jar and undiluted. I also love to use it when I am cooking oatmeal. Pour some grape juice in and it changes the whole oatmeal experience!

My family takes their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches very seriously. Using homemade organic grape juice to make your own grape jelly is incredible. Just one more reason to fill your pantry with jars of organic grape juice!

~Farmer’s Wife

Family Life Farmhouse Life

Totally awesome and hilarious gifts for the true homesteader

Alright, with Christmas right around the corner I had to start shopping sometime! I do tend to push shopping back for as long as I can, but one year it actually got to within 3 days of Christmas before I had anything purchased. Needless to say, that was a pretty stressful one. I won’t do that again, I swear!

So I went looking around on Amazon and started searching for awesome homesteading gifts, because yes, that is what I love. And holy cow, you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff they have on there!

So I couldn’t help it. I HAD to compile a list of some of the best ones that I found. I am grateful that there are people out there, way more creative than I am, to come up with this stuff.

Love it!!

Honey Badger garden gloves

Who doesn’t wish they had badger claws sometimes when they are trying to dig through the dirt with their hands. This is brilliant if you ask me. Gloves with claws! $22.26

Berry picker

Where has this garden gadget been all my life? A way to pick berries without taking 6 hours out of your day? Picking berries made easier for sure …. that is if it actually works without squishing your berries! $16.99

Sprout Pencil

Sprout is a pencil that grows. When you are done using it, plant it of course! 8 pencils, 8 herbs. Cool! $18.99

Adorable compost bin

An indoor compost bin for all your kitchen scraps is a must have for every homesteader. But seriously, this one is adorable! If you have to have a bucket full of old kitchen scraps on your counter, at least make it a cute one. This one is attractive and affordable at $15.99

Totally awesome hammock with mosquito net

Wanna lounge in the garden at sundown? Not a chance because of those pesky mosquitos. But what if you got them a freaking awesome hammock with a mosquito net? Yep, that would be the favorite gift! This one is even a double so you don’t have to hang out by yourself …. unless you want to of course. $21.99

Garden hose storage bag

Know anyone who likes to take their garden hose everywhere with them? Ya me neither …. so maybe this one is for the OCD homesteader that wants to keep their hoses is tip top shape. Hey, there is nothing wrong with keeping your hoses extra nice! Get them this expandable garden hose storage bag with extra pockets. $15.99

Wall mounted flower pot with rain cloud

I couldn’t resist adding this one. It actually made me laugh out loud! A wall mounted flower pot with a sweet little rain cloud over the top. You pour the water into the rain cloud and then get to watch it rain on your potted plant. I want one now. And …. it comes with two, so you can give one away and keep one for yourself. Shhhhh I won’t tell anyone. $15.99

36″ elastic umbrella hat

We all know that homesteader that lives outside. Even when it’s raining or snowing, they are out there working on projects or taking care of the animals. This 36″ elastic umbrella hat will allow them to do what they love in the not so pleasant weather, and still have two hands to do it. You and I can both see how perfect this one is! $14.99

Chicken Poop lip balm

Alright, where this idea came from? I don’t want to know! But at least is specifies that there is actually no poop in the lip balm itself. Can someone please explain to me why anyone would want to feel like they are smearing chicken poop on their lips??? $12.85 for a pack of 6

Hand butter churner

This one is for the true homesteader. Hand churned butter … it is better yes. But not very fun to make in my opinion. Unless of course you had this little gadget. $16.50 and cute enough to leave on the counter!

Now if you can’t find a gift for your true homesteading friend in this gift guide then I don’t know what to tell you. As for me, every single one of these made it onto my Christmas wish list!

Merry Christmas homesteaders!

~Farmer’s Wife

Farmhouse Garden Preserving The Harvest

How to get rid of fruit flies naturally

Every fall, as we near the end of canning season, my house seems to fill itself with fruit flies. Yes, it is entirely my own fault because I always leave the apples, and the onions, and the potatoes, and the pears, and everything else out on the counter or the table so that we can grab and snack on them whenever we choose. However, it is still a problem when the flies arrive.

Many years ago, my wonderful mommy showed me the simplest trick to getting rid of them naturally. It takes 2 minutes to put together and next thing you know, your flies are all trapped in a jar.

Since I know you all struggle with fruit flies every once in awhile too, I wanted to share my little secret with all of you. Relief from the fruit flies is just a piece of paper, a jar, and a secret recipe away.

You will need a jar, a piece of paper, a piece of tape, fruit, and bread. Any jar will work. A regular sheet of paper and whatever tape you can find will suffice. A piece of fruit that is a little on the riper side, or even got a few bad spots already is ideal. And a soft, fragrant piece of yeasty bread is the best.
Roll your paper into a funnel shape so that the top part is as wide as you can make it. The bottom opening only needs to be about as big as your thumb. Tape it in place.
Put your piece or two of fruit in the jar, and squish it down a little so some juice covers the bottom. The more fragrant the better! Then toss a chunk of bread on top. The bread is your secret weapon. The smell of the fruit will draw them in and the yeast will hook them, they love it! Just don’t fill your jar too full or the flies will crawl right out.
Top your jar with your paper funnel. Make sure the funnel is not sitting on the bread. Then place it near your worst fruit fly problem. That last picture is after only 5 minutes on my counter. They go down the funnel to the delicious fruit fly food and can’t figure out how to get back out.
A short while later, when the jar is filled with flies, carefully take it outside and set the buggers loose. Hold the funnel in place until you are away from the house and your door is closed. Repeat as many times as you need. For me, that means I have a fruit fly trap on my counter for a few weeks, but it sure does work great!

No pesticides, no spraying, just a natural way to remove the fruit flies from your house.

Hope this helps you as much as it helps me!

~Farmer’s Wife

Farmhouse Garden Gardening How To's

How to move your favorite tomato plant indoors for the winter

With the first frost quickly approaching, it’s hard not to worry about how much longer we will have fresh tomatoes in the garden. In just a few short weeks we will be waking up to frost on the grass and dead tomato plants.

But before everything dies, there is one thing you can do to fix that problem. Something that will make it possible for you to enjoy fresh garden tomatoes through the winter too. You can move your favorite tomato plant inside before it freezes.

Now let me tell you, transplanting a full grown tomato plant is next to impossible …. which is why we will NOT be doing that. Besides, who can fit an 8 foot tall tomato plant in their living room? Not me that’s for sure! Actually, now that I think of it, maybe we could use it as our Christmas tree …… hmmmm.

But no, transplanting a full grown tomato plant is not a good idea. It’s chances of survival are very small. So rather than transplanting your favorite tomato, we will be taking a cutting from it. Cuttings have a very good chance of survival, they will produce tomatoes quicker, and starting with a small plant allows you to keep it compact enough to be inside.

First, you will want to pick the tomato plant that you want to move indoors.

There are some rules … or at least things to consider, before choosing which one. Although I would LOVE to grow my black krim cherry tomato inside all winter, it’s not a good idea. That particular tomato is by far the largest plant that I grow. It towers over 8 feet tall easily and sprawls out all over the place. Now imagine keeping that plant compact and happy at the same time …. not going to happen. Choose one of your smaller plants to move indoors. Although determinate varieties stay smaller, you may still want an indeterminate variety. Determinate tomatoes will produce all of their tomatoes at once. If you want your plant to produce throughout the winter instead of all at once, you will want to choose an indeterminate variety.

Once you have your tomato plant chosen, you are going to take your cutting. Find a sucker (the shoots that grow in between two other branches) 6 inches to 1 foot tall. Inspect it to make sure it has no disease on it. Then hold it gently and simply snip it off near the base. I suggest taking three or four cuttings in case they don’t all root.

Place them all in a glass of water. You will want the water to go up several inches, almost to the base of the leaves.

Leave it in a place you won’t forget about it. I don’t even put mine in the sun during this time and they do just fine. After a week or two you will see white roots coming out of the stem. Once they start, they grow quickly. Some tomato plants root slower than others. One of mine took nearly four weeks to root, so don’t give up on them for awhile. I can’t find my picture of the roots, when I do I will put it on here.

When your tomato plant has roots, it’s ready to be planted into your container of choice. Make sure your container has good drainage or your tomatoes will not do well. You will probably have to put it on a pan or something to catch the drainage water. Choose a larger container because tomato roots grow big and like plenty of room. Fill your pot with potting soil and plant your new little tomato being sure to bury all of the roots. Give it a nice big drink, and find it a sunny window to sit in front of. It needs sunlight, but it will also get pretty big, so finding a suitable spot for it might be a little difficult. Mine will probably have to go in the middle of my bathroom floor this year. I suppose it might be fun to get out of the shower and grab a tomato for breakfast on my way out!

The last thing you need to do is stick one of those pathetic wimpy store bought cages around it. Yes, they do have a use after all. You need something to hold your tomato plant up, but you also need a reference for where to prune it. You can prune tomato plants and keep them a reasonable size to be inside. Try to keep the pruning to a minimum, which is why you chose a smaller plant remember? But whenever a branch starts to grow way out of your support cage, you can prune it off a little bit to keep it in check. Don’t cut it off at the base, just cut the branch back a few inches to get it to stop growing in that direction. The plant will put its energy into a different branch and, more importantly, growing tomatoes. While I don’t prune my outdoor tomatoes because I prefer to let the plant get as large as it can, I do prune mine when they are being grown indoors. Different situations call for different methods. Maybe you prune yours outside, or maybe you choose not to prune yours indoors. It’s perfectly fine to do any of those options, just know that pruning tomatoes or not pruning tomatoes will not kill your plant.

Now you can happily pick tomatoes through the winter as well as the summer. In fact, in the spring you could simply take another cutting from your indoor tomato plant to move it back outside.

If you are a tomato lover like I am, be sure to check out my other posts about this wonderful garden treasure!

3 things you need to know about growing tomatoes that nobody ever tells you

How to guarantee you will have the first ripe tomatoes on the block

2 things everyone says to do to your tomatoes that you need to stop doing right now

Or watch this video to learn how to plant a low maintenance weed free tomato patch.

Subscribe now to The Real Farmhouse and get my free Tomato Freaks Guide to Choosing, Growing, and Selling High End Tomatoes. 8 days full of tomato growing information that will turn you into a tomato growing expert!

Now one last thing… If you are serious about your tomatoes, you need to know this. Tomatofest.com has the largest and most impressive selection of organic and heirloom tomatoes I have ever seen. They have over 600 beautiful, unique, and rare varieties of all different colors, sizes, shapes, and flavors. In fact, this year I am trying out a blue tomato for the first time. Yes, blue! You can’t believe some of the stuff they have until you see it with your own eyes. CLICK HERE to visit this incredible organic and heirloom tomato seed supplier that is run by a couple who harvest their own seeds. If you aren’t buying your seeds through these guys, you are truly missing out on some great tomatoes.

Enjoy your winter tomatoes!

~Farmer’s Wife