Author Archives: myurbanhomesteadstl

1. Start Composting I have an old bowl that sits on my countertop that I put all my cooking scraps. Once the bowl fills up (or gets too gross), I take it out back and dump it into my compost piles. I am blessed to have enough space that I can have compost piles. IContinue reading “Top 5 Ways to Start Living a More Sustainable Lifestyle”

I love having all natural laundry pods that save money and clean clothes just as well as store bought pods. Recipe: 1 cup washing soda 1 cup baking soda 1 cup Castile soap 1/2 cup white vinegar 15-20 drops essential oils Directions: 1. Add the Castile soap, washing soda, and baking soda to a largeContinue reading “Laundry Pods”

I can’t believe it but it’s already time to start seeds! Even in January, we need to start growing seedlings indoors that will later be transplanted outside. In order to start seeds indoors, you 1) need a seed starting grow set up and 2) you need a seed starting mix. Your seed starting mix hasContinue reading “Seed Starting Mix”

We had a very late start to the cold times here in St. Louis, MO, so I didn’t do the full winterizing until this past week. I’ll explain what I mean by full and partial later in this post. I tend to not do full winterizing until the temps are below 40 degrees on aContinue reading “Winterizing the Coop”

Dry Shampoo is a wonder for those days you don’t want to wash your hair and it may be getting a little oily. I love using this so that I limit the amount I am washing my hair, which not only protects my hair but saves water from less showers. Ingredients: 4 tablespoons arrowroot powderContinue reading “Dry Shampoo”

We finally got to the end of our disposable hand soaps. I hated all the plastic that was being thrown away, but I also didn’t want to waste them by starting something new. So many months later, we are finally done with them! Huzzah! I decided that I wanted to start making my own handContinue reading “Foaming Hand Soap”

With my garden always expanding and with plans to more than triple the current size, I needed to find a more sustainable and more inexpensive way to get seedlings. I have never started seeds indoors before, but I figured I’d give it a try! I did a lot of research on how others set upContinue reading “Setting Up the Indoor “Greenhouse””

We had a boatload of basil come in from our 12 plants and between drying it and using fresh, we still had lots leftover. So Pesto it is! I’ve never been much of a pine nut fan, so for Pesto, I much prefer to use walnuts. However, the lovely thing about Pesto is you canContinue reading “Walnut Pesto”

Pico is such a delicious, fresh summer item. It’s especially wonderful if you can use produce that is right from your garden, but story bought is great as well! It is great with just chips or as a topping on burgers, nachos, or whatever else you’d like. Ingredients: 1 medium onion 2 jalapenos 3 mediumContinue reading “Pico de Gallo”

I don’t normally think of eating soup on a 90 degree day, but it just sounded so good! It’s both light and hardy. Yum! It can be a little labor intensive, but you can prep portions in advance to make the actual cooking much simpler. Start by making the meatballs. The meatballs can be madeContinue reading “Italian Wedding Soup”