Shiloh Farm Homestead

06/03/2026

It’s that luscious time of the year, when harvests are happening from plants that were started by seed in February. My seed investment for 32 tomato plants was less than $5. So far, I’ve canned 6 pints of salsa and 4 1/2 pints of salsa verde. We’ve enjoyed numerous fresh tomato salads and sautéed already.

06/02/2026

It’s been exhaustingly 🥵 these last 3 days in NE TX. But, don’t let that stop your garden planting, just follow these dates if you’re within 50 miles of the Louisiana state line, or just sow some zinnia, sunflower and cosmos to keep the bees, pollinators, hummingbirds and butterflies fed all summer.

Here's a list of the vegetables/fruit you can plant in June in Louisiana!

Watermelons (direct-seed or plants):
S. LA 3/15-7/15
N. LA 3/15-6/30

Okra (direct-seed or plants):
S. LA 3/15-6/30
N. LA 4/1-6/30

Cantaloupes (direct-seed or plants):
S. LA 3/15-6/30
N. LA 4/1-6/30

Squash, summer (direct-seed or plants):
S. LA 3/15-6/30
N. LA 4/1-6/30

Peanuts (direct-seed):
S. LA 4/1-6/15
N. LA 4/1-6/15

Peas, Southern (direct-seed):
S. LA 4/1-6/30
N. LA 4/15-7/31

Peppers (hot plants):
S. LA 3/15-6/30
N. LA 4/1-6/15

Potatoes, sweet (sets):
S. LA 4/15-6/30
N. LA 5/1-6/30

Pumpkins (for a Halloween harvest):
S. LA 6/15-7/10
N. LA 6/15-7/10

View the Louisiana Vegetable Growing Guide for more: https://tinyurl.com/VegetablePlantingGuide

06/01/2026

Hoss Garden Club selection in January was potatoes, we received 2.5 # of each variety. I shared half with a friend. Today, I dug the crop. The German Butterball remained very small even though they heavily multiplied. The Viking Red were hands down winners of large to small spuds and heavily multiplied. Irish Cobbler also grew a nice size, but were the smallest crop to multiply.
All were grown in raised beds with compost and Hoss 5-4-3 added a week prior to planting. They all received compost and rabbit manure at the halfway point of growing time.
All potatoes germinated well, but we had 3 heavy freezes February to April which killed the foliage back each time even under cover. Zone 8 NE TX.
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06/01/2026

Need some inspiration for all those veggies coming out of the garden now, just watch some of her videos, your family is going to go “oh, yeah!”

Chicken and Potatoes I Crave Every Week! Easy and so Delicious Recipe!If you are looking for an easy and incredibly delicious weeknight dinner, this is the e...

05/31/2026

I’m genuinely staggered by the results thus far with choosing to broadcast sow American Meadows Dutch clover seed this fall over the top of my arborist mulched paths. What started off as a slow germination thru winter, has developed rapidly this Spring into the thickest, lushest, nitrogen rich 6-8” tall crop of blooming clover. I mowed it today for the second time, catching the clippings and using them to mulch around the asparagus along with a couple bags added to the chicken compost pile. As you walk thru the garden each day, everywhere you look pollinators, toads, frogs, lizards, earthworms, garter snake and indigo snake have taken up residence. The orb spiders are now joining and the wasp are busy capturing nasty bugs for their nests. I’d estimate I’m seeing 50-75% less damage on the vegetables from pests and that much higher production. The soil is definitely holding moisture much, much longer.
I’d been researching this method for a few years and last summer at a home in town I never watered the yard. The yard was St Augustine and Dutch clover. Even during the extreme brutal days of July-September, the clover carried on as the St Augustine barely held on. Once autumn rains returned, the grass bounded back due to the natural nitrogen the clover was releasing.
Zone 8 NE TX

05/29/2026

Hubby is stretched out in the recliner, snoozing zzz’s, the dogs are stretched out also and I’m enjoying some quiet morning time reading an actual paper magazine (still my favorite way to read, in hand - not on screen) and I come across a “new” terminology I hadn’t heard before…analog hobbies.

So, what’s the next thing I do???
Bet, you do it too 🤪 I reach for my iPad, and do a Google search.
https://unplugged.rest/blog/20-analogue-activity-ideas

Turns out I’ve been a lifelong “analog hobbiest”.😆

The older I get, the more I treasure those unplugged analog moments in my life. If you’re trying to get in touch with me - you best leave a message - more and more often, I’m intentionally either leaving my “sixth sense” on silent or in the house when I’m “analoging” (I just invented that word by the way)
In the garden, with the bees, on the tractor, in the hot tub - I’m unplugged!

How about you? Are you an analog hobbiest also?

05/19/2026

Fruits of my labor today, strawberries, beets, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, patty pan squash, pineapple tomatillo and cucumbers

05/15/2026

This magazine along with Homestead Kitchen are two of the very best publications you can subscribe to. You will always glean new knowledge, inspiration or peace after reading either.

05/12/2026

I’m always so inspired by this Victory Garden located in the Ukraine - reminds me of my grandparents backyard garden

05/07/2026

Last time I saw one on our farm was several years ago, she surprised me yesterday when I turned around and there she proudly stood watching me pulling weeds. Just love tarantulas! 🥰