Shop My Favorite Things - The Seasonal Homestead

by Becky March 7, 2024

These are affiliate links and help support this blog. I earn a small commission on items purchased and at no additional cost to you. I’m only linking to things I absolutely love and use all the time. I hope they help you too!

Garden Favorites

Soil Testing Kit

Use code WEEKLYDIGS for 10% off your order! This kit is easy to do and read, and results come quickly. I've done 8 tests all over the garden, orchard, fruits, and then repeat tests for some areas in the last couple years. There is a record so you can compare previous tests to new ones.

Japanese Weeding Sickle

These are great for weeding small patches. I mostly prefer the tools with a long handle so I can stand while weeding but my kids definitely prefer this little tool!

My Sister Amy’s Homestead Planner – Universal Version PDF Printable

A printable version of Amy's Planner for less cost.

My Sister Amy’s Homestead Planner – Universal Version BOOK

The most in depth garden planner out there. Amy is amazing at these! This is the universal and undated version. She also has one with 2024 dates if that's your preference (just click author and it will take you to all her titles).

Broadfork, Stirrup Hoe, Jang Seeder, Earthway Seeder

I've described in detail why I use each of these and have links to them on this blog post.

Soil Knife

I've bought 6 of these over the last couple years. Only one has broken so far. The rest are in great shape. Great multi-use tool.

Irrigation, Shade Cloth, Ground Cover, and More

Link over to all my favorite products at Farmer's Friend. Everything I buy from there is high quality and very useful in the garden.

1-Zone Timer

I recently purchased this little timer and it works great!

Silage Tarps

I utilize tarps often. They help prevent weeds from sprouting and help to "pause" large areas of the garden when we aren't quite ready to plant yet. I use them to terminate cover crops with the black side up and with the white side up they can help seeds like carrots germinate.

Haven High Tunnel (Gothic)

One of my favorite garden improvements. I have a seed starting area in the tunnel and can extend my harvest season through the winter.

Gorilla Large Tub for Harvesting

I have these harvest tubs in all sizes. They are a great harvest container for just about everything but I especially like them for leafy greens because I can pick and wash all in the same place.

High Mowing Organic Seeds

High Mowing is my favorite place to get high quality seeds that are tested for success. They usually only are offering seeds that perform well and taste good which is quite different than most seed companies. My one small bit of advice though is with the small seeds like lettuce and carrots, buy a size bigger than basic. They pack very small amounts of seeds in these and you get way more bang for your buck if you go one size up!

Soil Block Maker (2 inch)

One of my most used garden tools.

Bogs Footwear

These are my favorite garden boots of all time. I wear the women's winter boot even in the summer sometimes with wool socks because I like the tread and they are super comfortable and waterproof. They last about 20 times longer than other boots I've used in the past.

Kitchen Favorites

Outdoor Burner I use for Pressure Canning

I love this outdoor burner. It uses propane and can get really hot. I used it for years outdoors for pressure canning until I realized my stovetop could handle the weight of my canner. I now use the stovetop inside because it's more convenient. However, the outdoor burner is great to use if your stovetop doesn't get hot enough or won't handle the weight of a 50lb pressure canner.

Nut Cracker

Works great for black walnuts. It's expensive but saves a lot of time.

Large Stock Pot

I recently purchased a huge 30 quart stock pot and wondered why in the world I waited so long to do so! It’s amazing to batch cook meals. Or to make broth in. It dwarfs all my other pots!

Kitchen Scale

I’ve had a couple different types. I like the flat design of this one, it makes it easy to wipe down after use.

Apple Sauce Pouches (Reuseable)

Use this for applesauce or any other pureed food. We have plenty of canned applesauce and when we are in need of a transportable snack we put the applesauce in these pouches. Super handy and LOVE that they are reuseable!

Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer

I know some have a love-hate relationship with these but for me, it’s 100% LOVE. This tool saves so much time.

Vacuum Sealer

My version is no longer made but the one above is very similar. I use this with the canning jar sealer for dried foods.

Grain Mill

Mine is 15 years old! Cam’s Mom got it for us as a wedding gift. This machine is incredible and has been working flawlessly for the entire time. We cook bread often (4 loaves a week) so it gets a ton of use!

Pasta Maker

This is an extrusion one. It is ridiculously easy to use. I also have a hand crank pasta maker but we don’t use it as much because of the time involved. I love that I can have homemade pasta in just 10 minutes with this machine!

Freeze Dryer

I love my freeze dryer. This is a new tool (to me) but a valuable investment that will pay itself off in the long run. Foods that are freeze dried have up to a 25 YEAR shelf life. It preserves so much more nutrition than canning and saves space.

Waterbath Canner

My favorite water bath canner. There are cheaper canners available but they are awful. I when through two of the cheap ones before I got this and I’ll never go back. The quality is worth it!

Kitchen Mixer

A time and muscle saver I couldn’t live without.

Food Processor

Food processor. I make salsa, butter, peanut butter, pesto, and many other things with my food processor. I’ve had to replace a few of the plastic parts over the years because I use it so much.

Pressure Canner

I have a 30 year old version of this canner that was passed down to me from my Mom. This brand is the one I trust. I bought a second one recently so I could use two at a time.

Dehydrator

I don't use this as much as I used to now that I have a freeze dryer, but it's a more budget friendly way to dry foods. I still use it for fruit leather.

Sauce Maker Accessories

These go with the Food Mill/Sauce Maker. It is the grape spiral, pumpkin screen, berry screen, and salsa screen.

Sauce Maker

Food mill/ Sauce Maker. I use this for applesauce, tomato sauce, grape jam, making raw grape fruit leather, and blackberry jam.

Blender

I’ve never regretted spending the extra money for a quality blender. This thing is awesome! I use it for a super smooth homemade ketchup or apple butter for canning. It’s great for homemade dressings and about a hundred other things.

Pressure Cooker

Whole frozen chicken or dried beans that would take all day to cook are done in a flash with this magical machine.

Awesome Garden, Preserving, and Cook BOOKS!

Here’s a review video. Below are links.

Plant Grow Harvest Repeat

If you need some help figuring out succession planting this one is for you! Meg Cowden is a master at this. It’s a great book for maximizing how much you can grow in a small space.

The Winter Harvest Handbook

If you are looking to season extend the garden, this is a great resource. Eliot Coleman lives in Maine and is able to grow vegetables year round using his tried and true methods.

The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook

This has one of my favorite informational sections about gardening. It is so well illustrated and written. The recipe section is good too, but I don’t utilize it as much as the gardening section.

The Apple Grower

Growing apples organically can be tricky. This is a great resource from someone who is actually doing it.

The Living Soil Handbook

Another great resource from a market gardener. I learned a lot from this one.

Gaining Ground

This is a memoir that is both hilarious and inspiring. The audible version is read perfectly. I was laughing out loud at so many parts.

The Holistic Orchard

Michael knows his fruits! I absolutely love this book.

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition

The best seed saving resource there is available, in my opinion.

Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden

Science based companion planting. There are some very unique ideas in this book.

Dirt to Soil

I read this (2020). Gabe is a a large scale farmer that is healing the earth with regenerative agriculture. It was fascinating! It also had many pieces of information on gardening that could be scaled to a smaller homestead.

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition

My favorite book on permaculture gardening.

The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition by Eliot Coleman

A classic that every gardener should own. Soil Blocking soil recipe can be found in this book.

Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening

A hidden gem. I love this book so much because being radically self-reliant in the garden is my ultimate goal.

Epic Tomatoes

If you love tomatoes, you’ll love this book.

Handbook of Natural Disease and Pest Control

The bible for all things pest control. It helps you identify pests and my favorite part is all the organic solutions it has.

No-till Organic Vegetable Farm

I LOVE this book! This is also geared towards market gardeners. As a home gardener some information isn’t relevant. However, if you’re looking for information on cover cropping this is a great resource. I’m a huge believer in no-till and Daniel Mays explains the reasoning behind it so well.

Great Garden Companions

An easy to read and apply favorite of mine. It has lots of images and ideas for companion planting. Great for a beginning gardener.

The Market Gardener

I’m not a market gardener but so many good tips can be gleaned from this book for home gardeners too.

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

I’ve looked long and hard for a great book for beginners. My friend Jill finally filled that void. I highly recommend this book! I wish I had it when was I was first starting out.

The Garden Primer

This book is excellent for beginning gardeners and beyond. One of my all time favorite reference books as a gardener.

Equipment I use for Youtube and Blog

We have an increasing number of people asking us about the equipment we use. Here it is all in one spot!

Camera Card

This type of card is what I use with the Canon R5 and R7

Drone

One of the best drones on the market for the price in my opinion. I got it as a combo with the batteries, ND filters, and a case. It's been great for video use.

Dead Cat for Rode Microphone

This is essential if you do any filming outdoors.

Rode VideoMic Pro+

A good shotgun microphone. I use it on both R5 and R7.

Canon Rf 15-35mm F2.8 L is USM

This is the lens I use with the R5 when vlogging indoors.

Canon R7

Camera I use outdoors for video. The R5 is a superior camera, but the R7 is better for use outside. Equipment outdoors sometimes topples in the wind and this camera and lens have a cheaper replacement cost.

Canon R5

I use this camera for indoor vlogs, low light video, and photos. Its amazing.