Pointers and Products for
Part-Time Homesteaders
Since we started this adventure, we've had opportunities to try out many different tools, products, machinery, and processes for making this part-time homestead work for us. We have put in a lot of time and effort researching options for everything from gardening to tree work, building, critter control, and caring for our bees and worms. We appreciate when other homesteaders share what works for them and we love to borrow good ideas, but because our homestead journey looks different than the quit-the-full-time-job-sell-everything-and-buy-a-farm-version, we are interested in products and processes that work well for part-time homesteading.
We thought it would be helpful to share these ideas and products here along with some feedback about why a product does or doesn't work. With that in mind, we developed a rating system.
1 Gerard = Hasn't been a great option for us🪱
2 Gerards = Working well 🪱🪱
3 Gerards = This is great, a favorite at the homestead! 🪱🪱🪱
*Most products are linked either to the original store or to Amazon.
Gardening Stores & Products
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds - Non-GMO, heirloom seeds for your gardens. 🪱🪱🪱
Trees of Antiquity - Heirloom fruit trees, lots of unique varieties. 🪱🪱🪱
Brecks - Flower bulbs from Holland, their tulips are gorgeous! 🪱🪱🪱
American Meadows - Seeds and bulbs, specializing in regional seed mixes.🪱🪱
Stark Brothers - Trees and plant starts, helpful filters to find the right product for you.🪱🪱
Eden Brothers - Seeds and bulbs for your gardens.🪱🪱
Johnny's Selected Seeds - This store has a lot, but it is our favorite for purchasing garlic and seed potatoes. 🪱🪱🪱
Garden Tools
Tomato Towers (Amazon) - The watering reservoir and built in trellis is helpful.🪱🪱🪱
Bamboo Stakes (Amazon) - A must have for sunflowers!🪱🪱
Trellis Clips (Amazon) - These are actually stainless steel laundry clips! They are helpful for holding down nettings and holding up tomatoes, peas, beans, sunflowers, etc.🪱🪱
Garden Netting Kit (Amazon) - Keeps our strawberries covered and protected from the heat and hungry critters. 🪱🪱🪱
A-shaped Trellis for Peas/Climbing Plants (Amazon) - These are helpful, but we use them in our largest raised bed and it is challenging to reach to center when they are covered in vines. 🪱🪱
Truper 30162 Bars 69-Inch Post Hole Digger / Tamping Bar,16-Pound (Amazon) - Best tool for getting the rocks out of our dirt. Also works well as a pry bar. 🪱🪱
Fertilizers for feeding the gardens and orchard
Down to Earth Organic Bone Meal (Amazon) - For our Daffodils and Alliums. 🪱🪱🪱
Down to Earth Island Phosphate (Amazon) - Lavender, Dahlia, Bearded Pink Tongue, Peonies, Woodland Sage, Lupine, Wild Bergamot, Phlox, Tayberry, Zinnias, Rananculus, and Phlox! Lots of flowers to feed. 🪱🪱🪱
Espoma 5-10-5 Garden Fertilizer (Amazon) - Petunias, Pansies, Cornflowers, Marigolds, Poppies, and Nasturtium. 🪱🪱
Ammonium Sulfate Fertilizer 21-0-0 + 24% Sulfur (Amazon) - Asian Pear. 🪱🪱
Grow More Cactus Juice (Amazon) - Food for Orpines.🪱🪱
Muriate of Potash 0-0-60 Fertilizer (Amazon) - Not sure why I need this one yet.
Neptune's Harvest Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer 2-3-1 (Amazon) - Tulips. 🪱🪱
Espoma Organic Blood Meal Fertilizer (Amazon) - Sunflowers, Astilbe, Apple, Peach, Nectarine. 🪱🪱🪱
Triple 10 All Purpose Liquid Fertilizer 10-10-10 with Amino Acids (5.5%) & Seaweed Extract (Amazon) - Hydrangea, Lenten Rose, Lemon Balm, Hibiscus, Virginia Bluebells, Butterfly Bush, Lilacs, Sweet Woodruff, Black-eyed Susans, Russian Sage, Elderberry, Irises, Hyacinths. More flowers! 🪱🪱🪱
WilderWorm Vermicompost (Our STORE!) - Orchard trees and all of our gardens love this stuff! 🪱🪱🪱
Black Kow (Brand website) brand manure and soil - Available at Home Depot. 🪱🪱🪱
Watering Tools
Raindrip R675CT Analog 3-dial Water Timer (Amazon) - This is what allows us to drive away and not worry about our gardens getting watered! 🪱🪱
Hose Splitters (Amazon) - Efficient way to manage the numerous hose set-ups we have. 🪱🪱
Flexzilla Garden Hose (Amazon) - Love the bright green color. You can't miss it when you are mowing! 🪱🪱
Outvita Garden Hose Reel Cart (Amazon) - Great for managing long hose lengths. 🪱🪱
Drip Irrigation System, 98ft, Quick Connect (Amazon) - This is the BEST drip irrigation system we have found to date. Peter loves how easy it was to connect and put together. It is very effective! 🪱🪱🪱
Rain barrel, 50 gallon (Amazon) - We hooked this up to our gutter in close proximity to our raised beds and one of our flower gardens. 🪱🪱🪱
Starting Seedlings
Burpee Self-Watering Seed Starter Trays, 72 cell (Amazon) - The self-watering system made this a perfect choice for our baby plants. 🪱🪱
Grow Lights for Indoor Plants (Amazon) - Our townhouse doesn't have any areas that get great light consistently, so this was a must have. 🪱🪱
Vermiculture Stores & Products
Uncle Jim's Worm Farm - Supplier for Red Wigglers and Worm Food 🪱🪱🪱
Worm Farming Revolution by Pauli Piccirillo (Amazon) 🪱🪱
Vermicomposting Ingredients & Tools
35 gallon totes
Peat moss - Available at garden centers. 🪱🪱
Coco Coir (Amazon) - Coconut fiber to use as the base material in the bins. 🪱🪱🪱
Vermiculite (Amazon) - Grit for the Gerards to gobble up. 🪱🪱
Azomite (trace minerals) (Amazon) - Extra vitamins for the Gerards! 🪱🪱
Soil/compost sifters (Amazon) - Used for separating the vermicompost from the base material. 🪱🪱
Temperature Sensor (Amazon) - A must have to monitor the temperature in the worm shed. 🪱🪱🪱
Spent coffee grounds or egg shells (baked and crushed) - More grit
Bananas and oats - Gerards love these things! Worms will munch away on most veggie and fruit leftovers.
Worm Shed Heating and Cooling Solutions
Heating mats (iPower GLHTMTL-A 48" x 20" Waterproof Durable Seedling Heat Mat Warm Hydroponic Plant for Indoor Gardening Germination Starting) (Amazon) - We used these mats for starting our seedlings, but we found these to be more useful as Gerard warming mats! 🪱🪱🪱
Shed fan (Kiroto 12 Inch Shutter Exhaust Fan, 1600 CFM High-Speed Vent Fan with Temperature and Timer Control, Wall-mounted Window Attic fan, Gable Fan with APP WIFI Remote Control, 12" Garage Exhaust Fan) (Amazon) - We love the ability to set-it and forget it! Peter can enable the fan to turn on and off depending on the temperature in the worm shed. It really keeps the air moving and comfortable.🪱🪱🪱
Apiary Products
Bee Kept by Adam Martin. Natural and sustainable beekeeping. 🪱🪱🪱
Beekeeping Tools
Flow Hive - A hive that has an extraction system built in. We have not had our hives long enough to have an opinion about what works and what doesn't. We ordered the starter tool kit to go along with the hive.
Bee Castle - Wax dipped hive kits
Honey Lake Beehive Starter Kit (Amazon) - Another hive
Pollibee Hive Frames (Amazon) - Medium or Deep frames
Sun Shade for the Apiary (Amazon - 12'x12' Sun Shade Sail, UV Protection Outdoor Shade, Curved Tear Resistant Heavy Duty Sun Shade for Patio Garden, Backyard) - Helping the bees stay cool in the Virginia heat! 🪱🪱🪱
Beehive Mesh Transport Bags (Amazon) - We ended up not needing these for transport.🪱
Bee Suits (Amazon) - Keeps the bees out! Peter sticks with a minimalist approach (unless dealing with the hives after a bear attacks. For me, this is must have!🪱🪱🪱
Smoker (Amazon) - Helps keep the bees chill! Peter has the best luck with using cedar chips and burlap. 🪱🪱
Watering Stations (Amazon) - While these look pretty in the bee garden, the 5 gallon bucks with a floating island works best! 🪱
Critter Control Products
Bears
Simplisafe Security System with Cameras 🪱🪱🪱
Electric Fencing - Details coming soon! 🪱🪱🪱
Noise Maker (Amazon) - Annoying, but effective. 🪱🪱
Deer
Deer Off Weatherproof Deer Repellent, 6-Pack (Amazon) - I watched a deer walk right past this. 🪱
Chicken Wire Fencing - Available at farm stores 🪱🪱
Squirrels & Birds
Cayenne Pepper - Just shake it in the garden. I think our local squirrels prefer things spicy! 🪱
Bird Spikes (Amazon) - These are working well in my tulip bed to keep the squirrels out! 🪱🪱
Garden Netting (Amazon) - We keep most critters out of the raised beds with these, but successfully caught baby birds in the nets. 🪱🪱
Rubber Snakes (Amazon) - I think the birds and squirrels laugh at these, but I consistently scare myself with these. 🪱
Pinwheels (Amazon) - Works! 🪱🪱
Fake Dog (Amazon) - Our friend is named Ragnar. He's not very useful. 🪱
Squirrel Repellent Bags (Amazon) - Squirrels use these as pillows I believe. 🪱
Peppermint Mouse Repellent (Amazon) - Jury is out on these. We have never had a big issue with mice, but the intent was to assist with keeping the squirrels away. 🪱
Bugs
Neem Oil - Bonide Captain Jacks (Amazon) - Mixed effectiveness 🪱🪱
Spectracide - Bag-a-bug Japanese Beetle Trap (Amazon) - These are fantastic at catching the unwanted beetles. There is a lot of debate with gardeners about the use of these. Perhaps they draw more to the yard?
We are happy with the outcome! 🪱🪱🪱
Nemotodes (Amazon) - 20 Million Beneficial Nematodes (H.bacteriophora) - Nema Globe Grub Buster for Pest Control - New "No Refrigeration Required" Formula - These are rumored to destroy the eggs laid from the Japanese beetles. We will let you know how it works!
Coming Soon
Black Soldier Fly Larvae
Chickens!