Welcome to The Backyard at Rootsy—your go-to hub for organic gardening wisdom, DIY know-how, and simple-living inspiration. Whether you’re seeking guidance on compost and seed-saving, planning cooler-season tasks, or looking to nourish your garden through natural soil-building ideas, our gardening archives offer time-tested tips and creative strategies.
Explore thoughtful articles on everything from germinating seeds on paper towels to ripening green pumpkins, all tailored to help you cultivate a thriving, eco-conscious garden. By blending practical techniques with frugal, sustainable living principles, we empower homesteaders and backyard gardeners to grow with confidence and joy.
The right gardening tools can be the difference between really enjoying being in the garden or being frustrated in the garden. There are tons of tools touted as the “best” gardening tools but honestly, not all of them are really necessary. We’re going to chat about the different types of gardening tools, what they’re used …
Growing rhubarb can be one of the easiest things to grow in the home garden. Because it grows in a wide range of garden zones, this low maintenance plant can give you many, many years of harvests. Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that does well in garden zones 3 to 8. It is even considered …
For the most part, seeds will germinate when they are ready if they are given the right conditions. However, you can speed up the process by germinating seeds on a paper towel, this is called pre-sprouting, or pre-germinating, seeds. All you need is a paper towel or coffee filter, a container that seals, seeds, and …
It happens to every gardener, the weather doesn’t exactly cooperate and we’re left with immature pumpkins on the vine. Thankfully, there are other ways to ripen green pumpkins. A little time, space and sunlight is all you need to turn that weather mishap into good eating fortune. When to Harvest Pumpkins Ideally, pumpkins and other …
Proper end of season garden maintenance will help you grow more fruits and vegetables next spring. It can also help reduce weeds and pest pressure and make spring gardening more enjoyable. And it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, just focus on these few garden tasks. The end of the summer garden is usually full of …
Choosing the best chicken breeds for your climate can be a big decision. Most people are concerned about their egg layers in cold weather, but many chickens actually adapt to cold weather far easier than to hot weather. Just as there are things to do to ensure your flock stays warm in the cold, there …
If you’re a gardener, you need a way to organize and store leftover garden seeds for the next season. Stored properly, most seeds will remain viable for at least a year, some up to four or five years. Here are some simple seed storage solutions and answers to the most common seed storage questions. My …
The summer heat can be just what our gardens need to grow amazing vegetables and herbs. Or it can completely burn up the garden. Here are some tried and true tips for keeping your vegetable and herb garden healthy and growing through the summer heat. Water Deeply Most vegetable plants need an inch of water …
There’s no doubt about it, plants need food. These 11 free natural fertilizers can be found in most homes. Let’s stop throwing them away and instead use them to feed the vegetable garden. We all want to get the best harvest we can from our vegetable garden and it seems logical that the more fertilizer …
When people think of fermenting vegetables they usually think of sauerkraut which is fermented cabbage. But there are many other vegetables that make great ferments. Here’s what to grow in a fermenter’s garden. Two main way of fermenting vegetables There are two main ways to ferment vegetables, I like to call them the sauerkraut way …