Veggie Chompers

  I had a lot of fun filming this little 2 minute capsule.  I think it represents well how gardeners are always so eager to spring!  Enjoy watching! Mel Watch on Youtube

  Come join me for my first seed swap UNBOXING : Watch my YouTube video  to see all the beautiful varieties I got! SPECIAL THANKS to Jill from Whispering Willow Farm on Youtube and Instagram. This was my first seed swap.  If you are curious to see what seeds I sent for this seed swap, you can read my preparation post right here .   -Mel-

  Stroganoff is typically a beef dish with a mushroom and sour cream sauce served with egg noodles.  Except the mushrooms, nothing is really plant-based in the traditional recipe, right?!   Today, I'm sharing with you my own vegan version of a stroganoff, using fresh mushrooms, zesty Lightlife ground and a delicious homemade cashew cream sauce.  Perfect for a weekday, this recipe is quick, easy and REALLY tasty.   Start by bringing a pot of water to boil and cook your pasta according to the instructions on the package.  You can use any pasta you like.  We really like farfalles so this is what I'm using today. While the water is heating up, chop the onion and slice the mushrooms.  I'm using white mushrooms today, but you could use any type of mushroom.  Cremini mushrooms are a good choice for this recipe. Then, put all the ingredients a high speed blender and mix the cashew cream sauce for 1 minute.  The sauce might seems liquid...

I know many of you are thinking about starting a garden this year.  That was me last year!  I learned a lot during my first year gardening, but there are some things that I wish I knew before I started my first garden.  Not that those things would have discouraged me from gardening, but I certainly would have been more prepared. Since the sun exposure isn't the best in our backyard, we opted to grow many vegetables in containers and built raised beds in my mother's backyard.  Of course, we had to fill those raised beds and containers with soil.  A LOT of soil!! I learned that black earth is not nutritious enough for your plants to thrive.  You want the soil in your garden to be rich and nutritious in mineral.  Therefore, you want to fill your garden beds with soil made for gardening.   Filling your garden beds with good quality soil can be expensive.  I suggest checking with your local nurseries to know the prices of soil per yard and th...

  I haven't received my seeds from Whispering Willow Farm seed swap yet, but I did receive my 2021 seed order.   My seed collection is growing and I actually can't believe how many different variety of seeds I have.  I can only dream about the different colorful vegetables that are going to grow in my garden this year.   Since I really value the act of sharing and I also want to meet new people in the gardening community, I was very happy to accept Nikky's invitation to her seed swap.  Nikky's YouTube channel is Our Simple Life, where she shares simple projects related to gardening and homesteading.  -This is an online swap (you send your seeds and you wait for your swaps to arrive by mail) -It was 10$ USD to participate -You have to send 25 packets, they can be same or different varieties -Each packet must contain between 5 and 10 seeds -All seeds must be heirloom varieties -It can be seeds you saved from your garden or seeds you bought -Make sure yo...

  As the end of 2020 is approaching, I'm taking a moment to reflect on my year.  Thinking about my accomplishments, my failures, the lessons I've learned in the past 12 months, the status of the goals we had set for 2020 as well as a list of new goals for 2021. At the end of 2019, my husband an I had agreed that we would put our house up for sale in the spring of 2020 and find a large land to build a homestead.  Unfortunately, we had to face two speed bumps at the very beginning of the year.  First, our house got hit by a snowplow during the night of February 14th to 15th, which led us into a dispute with our insurance company.  It was finally resolved right before Christmas.  And then, the worldwide pandemic situation...you know...2020! But as disheartening as it started, 2020 actually turned out to be a good year for me!  I realised very quickly that we had been blessed with the gift of time and that I had to make the best out of it.  Keeping ou...

  Last month, I took inventory of my all my seeds and came to the conclusion that I had plenty!  Then, a couple days later, I ordered 10 000 seeds.  Anyone else?! I see it like an investment because once you buy a variety of something, you can grow it and save the seeds again.  It's an ongoing cycle.  So I bought the COOLEST plants! 1. Baby Milk Bok Choy 2. Purple Lady Bok Choy 3. Drakibor Kale 4. Redbor Purple Kale 5. Feng Qing Choy 6. Emiko Chinese Cabbage 7. Katsuona Mustard 8. Petrowski Turnip 9. Purple Kohlrabi 1. Japanese Minowase Daikon Radishes   2. Pusa Gulabi Radishes 3. Pusa Jamuni Radishes 4. Mixed Radishes 5. Malaga Radishes  6. French Breakfast Radishes 7. Rouge Sang Carrots  1. Kajari Melons 2. Carminat Beans 3. Diamond Aubergines  4. Principe Borghese Tomatoes   5. Blue Beaury Tomatoes 6. Roma VF Tomatoes 1. Sweet Mace Tarragon 2. Lime Basil 3. Lavender 4. Borage 5. Simplyherb Sage 6. Lemon Basil 7. German Chamomile 8. Ca...