Home gardens & backyard flocks

Grow your life, cultivate your garden.

Plain-spoken guides for home gardeners and backyard chicken keepers: what to plant, what to build, and what it really costs.

Two things we write about

Gardening

Getting started, herbs, tools and methods for beds, containers and small spaces.

Backyard Chickens

Coop sizing, runs, predator-proofing, bedding and the real first-year cost.

Frost cloth is a light, breathable fabric (also sold as a frost blanket or floating row cover) that you lay over plants ...

Plant garlic in fall, about one to two weeks after your first killing frost and a few weeks before the ground freezes, s...

Benefits of Gardening for Seniors: Improving Health and Well-being in Later Life Gardening is a fulfilling and rewarding...

If you’re looking for a way to improve your gardening techniques and increase your yields, you may want to conside...

Backyard Chickens

Sizing, materials, predator-proofing and budgets, worked out with actual numbers.

Starting Your Own Garden for Beginners walks through picking a spot, preparing soil and choosing first crops for a successful harvest.