We are growing sweet potato slips on our windowsill. My daughter added faces to sweet potato tubers and we’re watching their roots, shoots and character grow. It’s an activity that combines creativity, nature study and growing your own food. Win-win. Here's how to grow your own sweet potato heads... Read more →

An easy and frugal way to improve your garden soil is to grow green manure. Green manures are plants grown specifically to be composted back into the soil. They build organic matter and increase the availability of nitrogen and other nutrients. For me, their main appeal is they suit my lazy gardening style. Sowing a handful of seed, and turning the crop into the soil a month later, is far easier than bringing in barrow-loads of compost Read more →

There's a seemingly endless array of sourdough bread recipes and techniques. I found the diversity overwhelming when I first started. Sourdough baking seemed complicated and regimented. But it doesn't have to be. Baking a loaf of sourdough can be simple and flexible. I'm sharing the basic steps in making sourdough bread from scratch. Read more →

I've fallen in love with sourdough baking. I resisted regularly baking bread because I thought it would be a time-consuming hassle. But instead of complicating my life, sourdough baking has nourished and improved it. Sourdough baking is similar to simple living in many ways. Here's six lessons from sourdough that can be applied to simple living. Read more →