Stephanie Rose

This homemade herbal dog shampoo not only leaves your puppy with a herb-fresh scent, but those herbs also work to deter fleas. I feed our pets a raw diet that is closest to what they would get in the wild, and allow them to build up the natural oils in their fur which helps to protect skin and keep them feeling good. I used to add a few drops of essential oils to this recipe, but the more I studied essential oils and pets, the more I feel it’s not necessary. It’s best to research which essential oils are safe for pets and which are not (I wrote a bit more about that in this post).

Please welcome guest blogger for the day and author of the book The Mini Farming Guide to Composting: Self-Sufficiency from Your Kitchen to Your Backyard, Brett L. Markham. Self-Sufficiency on ¼ Acre, Maximizing Your Mini Farm, and the handbooks The Mini Farming Guide to Vegetable Gardening and The Mini Farming Guide to Fermenting. Before writing The Mini Farming Guide to Composting, Brett asked his readers which topic he should focus on next, and composting topped their wish list. Check out great projects like this and more in Brett’s new book, The Mini Farming Guide to Composting:

I made a huge batch of this strawberry freezer jam which is mostly just macerated strawberries, a little sugar, and some lemon juice. This jam really retains the fresh strawberry flavor, but it needs to be stored in the freezer as there isn’t enough sugar to preserve it in a boiling water canner. It’s not as thick as a long boil jam like my organic strawberry jam or black pepper and balsamic strawberry jam Add sugar and lemon juice to the mash and stir over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil.

This Weekend Project is a decorative way to preserve the garden by capturing the beauty of leaves all year round as stepping stones. You don’t have to work hard for a whole weekend to do it, though! It’s a simple project that is quick and fun to do, but the concrete needs some time to cure after the stones are poured