A windbreak can be used to conserve soil moisture in your Open Pollinated / Heirloom vegetable garden or to keep the wind from blowing the vine plants around. Use a material that casts low shade while filtering wind is ideal. This simple version uses wood snow fencing, which is inexpensive, easy to install and remove, and may be attractive enough to leave up year-round.
Continue reading Build a Snow Fence Windbreak: Protect Your Heirloom Vegetable Garden from Harsh WindsCategory: Gardening Crafts
Crafting a Broom Corn Broom: A Step-by-Step Guide
Making a Broom Corn broom is a time-honored craft that requires patience and a little practice, but it’s a skill anyone can learn with some guidance. Broom corn, which isn’t actually a type of corn, is a species of sorghum whose long, durable seed heads make ideal bristles for brooms. By following these steps and tips, you can create your own sturdy, eco-friendly broom that works well for cleaning both indoors and outdoors.
Continue reading Crafting a Broom Corn Broom: A Step-by-Step GuideDIY Scarecrow: Protect Your Heirloom Garden with This Fun Project
Scarecrows have been standing guard in gardens and fields for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptian farmers used wooden frames draped in nets to protect wheat fields along the Nile, while Japanese rice growers crafted kakashi—humanoid figures sometimes armed with fake bows—to frighten birds away from their crops. In Europe, early tribal farmers stationed children in fields to clap sticks together before eventually crafting human-like figures from straw and old garments. Native American communities also used scarecrow-like methods, including placing fish or animal skulls on poles to ward off crows. These rustic sentinels, built from whatever materials were on hand, have remained part of farming life through the centuries.
Today, the DIY scarecrow carries on that timeworn tradition, offering home gardeners a simple, creative, and family-friendly way to protect their open-pollinated and heirloom vegetables—part guardian, part expression of personality, and always a charming presence in the garden.
Continue reading DIY Scarecrow: Protect Your Heirloom Garden with This Fun Project
