Skip to content

Merchant Homestead

Home
Shop
Garden
Kitchen
About Us
Cart
Checkout
My account
Search

Merchant Homestead

Tag: Soil

compost dirt

How to start a Compost Pile

Debbie,

May 25, 2023May 12, 2023

Composting is an awesome way to turn your kitchen and garden waste into wonderful nutritious…

Continue Reading

Welcome to Merchant Homestead

This is me, Debbie, in my natural habitat. Messy hair, natural face, wearing Dan’s borrowed jersey. This is the happy face of a girl in the sunshine, snacking on peas and picking spinach. It’s a good time and I’m glad you can enjoy it too. Thanks for following along my garden journey.

Tabouleh is my current fav salad, and there is not

Tabouleh is my current fav salad, and there is nothing better in a tabouleh than fistfuls of fresh mint! I recklessly planted mint in my garden against all advice and sensibility, and I'm nowhere near regretting it yet! 😅🌱

If your chickens are running to the same schedule

If your chickens are running to the same schedule as mine, it's time to settle in for a winters rest and hit pause on the frittata. We still have the odd egg laid here and there, enough for a weekend brunch, but the girls are due a rest, and they are taking it. Good on you ladies, thanks for your service ❤️🐔

A few sunny autumn days and the capsicum are flowe

A few sunny autumn days and the capsicum are flowering again.... get outside and bloom y'all! ☀️🫑

I forgot I planted peas

my brain has been dec

I forgot I planted peas 🤣 my brain has been decidedly custard these last few weeks and so imagine my delight stumbling across a pea blossom! Hopefully this weekend we'll get a gap in the rain and I can give this lil lady the support she deserves!

The last loaf of bread baked in our old faithful s

The last loaf of bread baked in our old faithful shacklock oven. Only baked one because all our bread tins are already in storage. This beauty shall help to feed us while our kitchen is ripped out and replaced! 🍞

#merchanthomestead #urbanhomestead #fromscratch #homemadefood #sourdough #bakingbread #sourdoughbread

The luffa grows! In amongst all the wintering and

The luffa grows! In amongst all the wintering and waning, the luffa still grows. Will this one day be big enough to harvest? Only time will tell.

Mixing up a little sourdough for my Saturday, and

Mixing up a little sourdough for my Saturday, and filling the house with fresh bread smells. What a joy ❤️🍞😊

#merchanthomestead #thegoodlife #urbanhomestead #fromscratch #homemadefood #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bakingbread #dough #mindfulness

A fistful of spice coming in from the greenhouse t

A fistful of spice coming in from the greenhouse today 🤩🌶

We spent the weekend with friends away on Waiheke,

We spent the weekend with friends away on Waiheke, lounging at the beach, baking bread, hunting Easter eggs and having a jolly old time. Meanwhile storm clouds had skirted around our edges and dumped a tropical cyclone on our little homestead. High winds, big rain, my little garden was left to fend for itself.

I got out this morning to see how she fared and I will say, better than expected! A few pots blown over and vertical plants now sideways. The chicken fence barely standing but chickens still happily contained. And my beautiful bunch of bananas still happily dangling in the tree 😍🍌

Good job little homestead ❤️

Baking bread and sharing skills with beautiful fri

Baking bread and sharing skills with beautiful friends... what better way to spend a long weekend! 🥰🍞

#thegoodlife #fromscratch #homemadefood #sourdough #focaccia #homesteading #qualitytime

It's that time of year where rain drops hang heavy

It's that time of year where rain drops hang heavy in the asparagus ferns. We are braced for a storm this evening and while I wish all of you a safe and secure night, I'd also like to admire the beauty of our changing seasons, and the untamed world in which we still somehow live so comfortably. ❤️

Well, even though my luffa plant is very late to t

Well, even though my luffa plant is very late to the party, it seems to be giving this fruiting thing a crack! I don't have high hopes but nothing's impossible 😆🥒

Shout out to the serrano! This plant has received

Shout out to the serrano! This plant has received a number of shout outs this summer, I think, due to its ongoing tolerance, resilience, and understanding. I've been less than attentive, and by consequence, this plant, tucked in the shelter of the greenhouse, has been living in significant manmade drought conditions. Regardless, she continues to support my harvesting needs with these beautiful, spicy, sweet red numbers. Thank you for your commitment to the cause! 😍🌶🌶🌶

You know how some plants love to climb? They wrap

You know how some plants love to climb? They wrap their little tendrils around and grip on as they work their way up. You wonder how they know to grab on. It is because of these teeny tiny little hairs, often hard to see, but in this moment, catching the light just perfectly. 🌱

Hello sweet friends! Some of you know with baby on

Hello sweet friends! Some of you know with baby on the way, we're heading into renovations at our place, and so the time has come to sell our gorgeous antique stove. We've thrown it up on trademe and would love it to go to a loving home.

If you know someone who loves antiques, European vintage, or just the most charming offgrid appliance you've ever seen - please pass this on to them. ❤️

Find it here https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/antiques-collectables/appliances/listing/5253962517
or search 1920s Belgian Leuven oven stove

#antique #offgrid #homesteading #vintage #Belgian

The rain has come! Hope you're snugged up cosy ins

The rain has come! Hope you're snugged up cosy inside while your garden gets a nice watering 😊🌱🌧

Anyone else been fossicking around their feijoa tr

Anyone else been fossicking around their feijoa trees today?! These beauts smell divine 😍

My bananas are looking so plump. My last bunch nev

My bananas are looking so plump. My last bunch never made it this long and I am EXCITED 😍🍌

The broccoli are settling into their new outdoor h

The broccoli are settling into their new outdoor home in fine form. They've already started decorating with their little dew drops every morning 🥰

The lawns are getting done today, possibly for the

The lawns are getting done today, possibly for the first time all summer (actually, it's not even summer anymore). We've been otherwise occupied and things have just grown, as they do. So tonight was the beginning of the lawn wrangling, but before that could be done, just a moment to appreciate one of the cute little sprouts who have found their home here amongst the wild. 🌱

Somehow, I don't think these stripey bois are goin

Somehow, I don't think these stripey bois are going to ripen up, but I don't have the heart to tear them out today 😅🍅

Autumn colours have arrived on the homestead, beau

Autumn colours have arrived on the homestead, beautiful reds and oranges amongst the last of the greens. 🧡🍁

First harvest off the backyard feijoa trees today,

First harvest off the backyard feijoa trees today, and they're teeny charming delicious balls of joy 🤩🥰

Forgot I planted a luffa quite some time ago. It'd

Forgot I planted a luffa quite some time ago. It'd been buried under pickles n tomatoes for the summer, but now that those have come out.. we have surprise luffa flowers! 🤣 Most likely too late to grow anything harvestable but they look pretty cool none the less.

It's been a rainy old autumn week in the big smoke

It's been a rainy old autumn week in the big smoke, and I haven't had very much time outside, but tonight there was a little break. I ventured out into the cool evening air and spent just a while amongst the long grass and gardens. There's still little sniffs of summer holding on, like this little tomato blossom, heavy from the rain. 😊

Mix up a couple of sourdough loaves with me

Mix up a couple of sourdough loaves with me 😊

#merchanthomestead #thegoodlife #fromscratch #homemadefood #sourdough #bakingbread #sourdoughbread #homebaking

My little welcome home from the feijoa tree

My little welcome home from the feijoa tree 🥰

Getting some pep in my step and giving the chicken

Getting some pep in my step and giving the chicken house a good clean. It's super easy with our new style coop, dump the bedding trays, hose off and water blast any grubby bits, leave to dry (and let a chicken perch a while) and then fresh bedding and back together.

Happy nesting, my flock! 😊🐔🐓

#merchanthomestead #thegoodlife #urbanhomestead #mybackyard #chickensofinstagram #backyardchickens #cleaning #yardwork #homesteading

Follow on Instagram

Post Archive by Month

August 2024
May 2024
March 2024
October 2023
September 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022

Post Archive by Tag

Autumn Baking Berries Bread Cake Chickens Cocktail Community Companion Dinner Drink Easy Eggs Flowers Fruit Fruit trees Gardening Healthy Herbs Kumara Lemon Low sugar Low waste Mandarin Onion Pest Control Pickling Planning Potato Potatoes Preserving Pruning Recipe Salad Seeds Slice Snack Soil Soup Sourdough Spring Summer Tomatoes Trees winter

Subscribe

Thank you for subscribing!

Subscribe

Sign up for our newsletter and stay up to date

First name

Last name

Email*

Can we send you an email from time to time?

Facebook
Instagram

©2025 Merchant Homestead | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes

Home
Shop
Garden
Kitchen
About Us
Cart
Checkout
My account
Search

Search for: