Shiloh Farm Homestead

06/16/2026

Great tip! And this will also work if you purchase a cantaloupe, but it doesn’t smell sweet yet at the blossom end. Give it a try!

06/11/2026

Turn up the volume, it's Spa day at the nursery coop today. 😊😉

06/11/2026

Excellent tip, never thought of this when assembling and perfectly explains why some pockets were remaining dry. 🤦🏼‍♀️

06/07/2026

I subscribed to Homestead Kitchen last year and so glad I did! Each month. The magazine focuses on a specific ingredient. Last August it was tomatoes.
We are having a bumper crop from the garden this year and after making salsa, tomato sauces, juice, sandwiches, marinated salads, I was wondering what else I might use the excess tomatoes for.
Flipped through the magazine and today we enjoyed tomato pie (so cheesy, herby, perfect side dish) and tomato jam (sweet, spicy, a pinch of salt). I'm making biscuits with bacon for supper tonight and we will be smothering those biscuits with this savory jam. 😋

06/05/2026

We received an inch of rain yesterday and I knew I better get in the garden early to gather the last two days produce. I picked every tomato that was showing some color because with that much rain and continued forecast showers through the weekend, tomatoes are likely to start splitting open from growing too rapidly.
Cucumbers had doubled in size in just a couple days also.
I love our Dragon Tongue bush beans. They have the best flavor and they are so easy to see on the bush.
The final photo is of tomatoes that possible a rodent nibbled, they will go to the compost pile in the poultry yard.
(If you’re wondering what’s in the jar, it’s plastic clips I use on our indeterminate tomato plants to secure the heavy vines to our fence and keep the fruit off the ground. Found them on Amazon)

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.
,

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...