How to Preserve Herbs from Your Garden (Simple Methods That Actually Work)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

If you’ve ever gone out to your herb garden in the middle of summer, snipped a huge handful of basil or rosemary, and then stood in your kitchen wondering what on earth to do with all of it — you’re in good company. That used to be me every single year. I’d grow beautiful herbs, let them bolt in the Florida heat, and then scramble to use them before they went to mush.

Now? I actually look forward to that moment. Because I know exactly what to do with a big harvest, and it doesn’t involve hours of complicated canning or anything that requires me to buy a bunch of fancy equipment.

Whether you’ve got a full raised bed situation going on, a few pots on the back porch, or herbs tucked into the corners of your chicken run (yes, some herbs do great near the flock — more on that in a sec), this is the guide I wish someone had handed me three years ago.

Why Herb Preservation Is Worth Your Time

Here’s the honest truth: fresh herbs from the store are expensive, usually stored in plastic, and taste like a pale imitation of what you can grow yourself. When you preserve your own, you’re saving money, reducing waste, and keeping something genuinely nourishing on your shelf.

For our Charlotte Mason-style homeschool, herb preservation has also become one of those beautiful, living lessons that doesn’t feel like school at all. The kids help harvest, we talk about what the plant does — culinary uses, old folk remedies, what pollinators love it — and then they’re part of the preserving process too. It’s botany, home economics, and practical life skills all wrapped into one afternoon. My kids know what rosemary smells like when it crumbles between their fingers. That’s the kind of learning I’m here for.

If you want to dig into more nature-based learning like this, check out our post on Charlotte Mason Nature Journal Ideas for Kids (What We Actually Do Year-Round in Florida) — herb study fits right in.

When to Harvest Herbs for Best Flavor

Timing matters more than most people realize. The best time to harvest is in the morning, right after the dew has dried but before the heat of the day sets in. That’s when the essential oils — the stuff that actually carries the flavor and fragrance — are most concentrated in the leaves.

Harvest before the plant bolts or flowers if you can, especially for leafy herbs like basil and cilantro. Once they go to flower, the leaves start to taste more bitter. In Florida, this can happen fast — our heat doesn’t mess around.

Method 1: Air Drying (The Old-Fashioned Way)

This is the method your grandmother probably used, and honestly? It still works beautifully for woody herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, and lavender.

How to do it:

• Bundle 5-10 stems together with a rubber band or piece of twine
• Hang them upside down in a warm, dry spot with good airflow — out of direct sunlight
• Let them dry for 1-2 weeks until the leaves crumble easily off the stems

In Florida, humidity is your enemy here. If you’re in the thick of summer and your house stays on the humid side, you might have better luck with the oven method (below) or a dehydrator. I’ve lost more than one batch to mold because I forgot about that.

Once dry, crumble the leaves off the stems and store in airtight containers — canning jars work perfectly for this. Keep them away from heat and light.

Method 2: Oven Drying (Faster and More Reliable in Humid Climates)

Spread clean, dry herb leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet. Set your oven to its lowest temperature — ideally 95–115°F. If yours only goes to 170°F, prop the door open slightly with a wooden spoon.

Check every 30 minutes. Most herbs are done in 1-4 hours. You want them dry and crumbly, not brown or toasted.

This method works especially well for basil, mint, and lemon balm — the softer-leafed herbs that don’t do as well hanging.

Method 3: Freezing Herbs (Best for Basil, Cilantro, and Parsley)

Freezing is my personal favorite for tender herbs because it’s genuinely the easiest thing in the world and the flavor holds up remarkably well.

The ice cube method:

• Chop herbs roughly and pack them into an ice cube tray
• Cover with water or olive oil and freeze solid
• Pop the cubes out and store in a labeled freezer bag

When you’re making soup, sauces, or sautéed vegetables, just drop a cube right in. It’s like having summer in your freezer.

For herbs you use in larger quantities — like basil for pesto — you can also blend a big batch with olive oil and freeze it flat in a zip bag. Break off pieces as needed.

Method 4: Herb-Infused Oils and Salts

Okay, these feel fancy but they are so simple, and they make the most beautiful homemade gifts too.

Herb salt:

Blend fresh or dried herbs with coarse sea salt in a food processor until combined. Spread on a baking sheet to dry for a day or two, then jar it up. Rosemary salt on roasted vegetables is life-changing.

Infused oil:

Use dried herbs only for oil infusions (fresh herbs can introduce moisture and lead to botulism — please don’t skip this step). Pack dried herbs into a clean jar, cover completely with a neutral oil like olive or avocado, and let it infuse for 1-2 weeks in a cool, dark place. Strain and store.

We use our infused oils for cooking and also in homemade salves and skin care. If you’re into making more of your own home products, our post on How to Detox Your Home from Toxins Room by Room is a good next read.

Method 5: Making Herbal Syrups and Tinctures

For medicinal herbs like elderberry, lemon balm, echinacea, or holy basil, you might want to go a step further than just culinary preservation. Simple syrups and honey infusions are a great place to start.

We make elderberry syrup every fall — it’s become a whole family ritual. If you haven’t tried making your own yet, I wrote a full guide on it: How to Make Elderberry Syrup at Home (The Simple Way Our Family Actually Does It). An elderberry syrup kit makes it even simpler if you’re just getting started.

Herbs That Do Well in a Florida Garden (and Preserve Beautifully)

Not all herbs are created equal down here. These are the ones I actually grow and preserve successfully in Northwest Florida:

• Rosemary — thrives in our heat, dries perfectly
• Basil — grows like crazy in summer, freeze it fast before it bolts
• Lemon balm — spreads enthusiastically (fair warning), great dried for tea
• Mint — keep it in a pot or it will take over your yard
• Oregano — tough, heat-tolerant, dries beautifully
• Chives — easy, freeze well
• Thyme — loves the sandy soil, wonderful for air drying

For getting a new herb garden started, an herb garden kit or a seed starting kit gives you a solid foundation without having to figure it all out from scratch.

Getting the Kids Involved

This is honestly one of the best low-key school days we have. My kids each have their own kids’ garden gloves, and they know they’re allowed to harvest anything that’s ready. We smell everything, talk about what each plant is used for, and they help strip leaves off stems and load ice cube trays.

My oldest has started sketching the herb plants in her nature journal — noting what stage of growth they’re in, whether they’ve flowered, what insects are visiting. It’s gentle, natural, 1990s-style learning at its best. No worksheet required.

And as a side note — several herbs like oregano, thyme, and lavender are actually beneficial near your chicken coop. They act as natural pest deterrents and some have mild antimicrobial properties. We tuck dried bundles into nesting boxes sometimes. For more on keeping a healthy flock the natural way, check out Best Chicken Coop Predator-Proof Latches (What Actually Keeps Your Flock Safe at Night) — and we also use diatomaceous earth in the coop for pest control, which is as natural as it gets.

A Few Quick Tips Before You Go

• Label everything. Dried herbs look surprisingly similar in a jar. Date it too — most dried herbs are best within a year.
• Less is more when storing. Don’t crumble your dried herbs until you’re ready to use them — whole leaves hold flavor longer.
• Start small. You don’t need a huge harvest to make this worth it. Even one big bunch of rosemary will give you months of seasoning.
• Grow what you actually cook with. Sounds obvious, but I grew lemon verbena for two years before admitting I had no idea what to do with it.

There is something genuinely satisfying about opening your cabinet in January and reaching for a jar of rosemary you dried yourself back in October. It’s one of those small, quiet wins that makes you feel like you’re actually living intentionally — not just talking about it. If you’ve been growing herbs and letting them go to waste, I hope this gives you the push to start preserving this season. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be started.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to preserve fresh herbs from the garden?

It depends on the herb. Woody herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano preserve best by air drying or oven drying. Tender herbs like basil, cilantro, and parsley hold their flavor better when frozen — either chopped into ice cube trays with water or olive oil, or blended and frozen flat. Both methods are simple and don’t require any special equipment.

How do you dry herbs in a humid climate like Florida?

Humidity is the biggest challenge for drying herbs in Florida. Air drying works best during drier months, but in summer, it’s safer to use your oven on its lowest setting (around 95–115°F) or a food dehydrator. This prevents mold from developing on the herbs before they can fully dry. Always make sure herbs are completely dry and crumbly before storing them in jars.

How long do dried herbs last?

Most dried herbs are best used within 6 to 12 months. After that, they don’t go bad, but they lose potency and flavor. Store them in airtight containers — mason jars work great — away from heat, light, and moisture. Label and date your jars so you know what you’re working with.

Can kids help preserve herbs from the garden?

Absolutely, and it’s a wonderful hands-on activity. Kids can help harvest, strip leaves from stems, load ice cube trays, and label jars. It’s a natural fit for nature study, botany, and practical life skills — especially in a Charlotte Mason or nature-based homeschool. Even young elementary kids can participate meaningfully with simple supervision.

Which herbs are easiest to preserve for beginners?

Rosemary, thyme, and oregano are the most forgiving for beginners because they dry easily and hold their flavor well. Basil is easy to freeze but doesn’t dry as beautifully — it tends to turn black. Mint and lemon balm are also beginner-friendly and make wonderful dried teas. Start with whichever herbs you already cook with most.

Best Composting Toilets for Off-Grid Florida Homesteads (What Actually Works Down Here)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

If you’ve been dreaming about going more off-grid — or you’re already deep in the rabbit hole of backyard chickens, rain barrels, and sourdough starters — composting toilets have probably crossed your mind at least once. Maybe more than once while you were standing in the chicken yard at dusk, watching your flock put themselves to bed, thinking about how differently you want your family to live.

That was me a couple years ago. And honestly, the composting toilet conversation is one of the most practical — and weirdly taboo — topics in the homesteading world. Nobody wants to bring it up at the co-op meeting, but everyone’s quietly Googling it at 10pm.

So let’s just talk about it like adults who also happen to be trying to raise kids with dirt under their fingernails and a genuine respect for where things come from and where they go.

Why a Composting Toilet Makes Sense on a Florida Homestead

Florida has some unique challenges for off-grid living. Our water table is high, our soil is sandy, and traditional septic systems can be expensive to install and maintain — especially if you’re on raw land or in a rural county without sewer hookup. A composting toilet sidesteps a lot of that infrastructure.

Beyond the practical side, there’s something deeply aligned about closing the loop on waste when you’re already composting kitchen scraps, keeping a kitchen compost bin on the counter, and talking to your kids about how nature wastes nothing. It fits the whole philosophy, you know?

We’ve also found that these conversations fold beautifully into our nature study time. The same kids who are sketching birds in their nature journal and learning about decomposers and soil food webs — those kids get genuinely excited about how a composting toilet works. It’s real science happening in real life.

What Makes Florida Different (And Why It Matters for Your Choice)

Before I get into specific units, I want to flag a few Florida-specific things that matter a lot here:

Humidity is your biggest enemy. Unlike dry Western states where composting toilets are practically foolproof, our Gulf Coast humidity (especially here in the Pensacola area) means you need a unit with excellent ventilation and ideally a heating element to keep things drying properly. Without that, you’ll have odor and composition problems fast.

Florida has regulations. This is important — Florida does regulate composting toilets, and they’re not universally approved as a sole sanitation system in all counties. You’ll want to check with your specific county’s health department before installation. Many families use composting toilets as a secondary or supplemental system alongside a small conventional setup, which is often the path of least resistance legally.

Heat actually helps — in the right unit. Florida summers are brutal, but if your composting toilet is indoors or in a climate-controlled space, you can actually use the ambient warmth to your advantage. The composting process thrives with heat.

If you’re also navigating the bigger picture of homestead life here in Florida, my post on how to start a homestead garden in Florida for beginners covers a lot of the mindset and practical groundwork that applies across your whole setup.

The Best Composting Toilet Options for Florida Families

Nature’s Head Self-Contained Composting Toilet

This is the one you’ll see recommended most in the van life and tiny house communities, and for good reason — it’s genuinely well-built. The Nature’s Head uses a urine-diverting system, which is the key to making composting toilets work without odor. Liquids and solids are separated at the source, which dramatically speeds up the composting process and eliminates the smell issue most people worry about.

For Florida families, the urine-diverting design is especially important given our humidity. The solid compartment can be mixed with coconut coir (which is a sustainable, easy-to-source amendment) and empties every 4-6 weeks for a family of four. The liquid side needs to be emptied more frequently — every few days — but it can be diluted and used as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer on non-edible plants.

This is probably our top pick for a family homestead situation.

Separett Villa 9215

This is a more premium option with a sleek Scandinavian design — it actually looks like a regular toilet, which matters if you have guests or older kids who might balk at something that looks too “off-grid.” The Separett also uses urine diversion and has a built-in fan that runs on a small amount of electricity (it can be wired to solar easily).

For Florida, the constant airflow from that fan is a real asset. It keeps moisture moving and odor essentially nonexistent when the unit is maintained properly. The composting chamber uses biodegradable bags, which some families find easier for handling.

Sun-Mar Excel Non-Electric

If you’re truly off-grid without reliable solar power, the Sun-Mar Excel is worth a look. It uses a drum-style composting system and relies on natural ventilation rather than an electric fan. The tradeoff is that in high-humidity environments like ours, you’ll need to be more diligent about monitoring and may need to add a supplemental small fan.

This works best in an outbuilding or cabin situation where airflow is good and you’re not dealing with Florida’s typical enclosed humid air.

What to Look For No Matter Which Brand You Choose

Urine diversion — Non-negotiable in Florida. Get a unit that separates liquids and solids.

Ventilation fan — In our climate, passive ventilation alone usually isn’t enough. A small 12V fan that can run on solar is ideal.

Capacity for your family size — Most manufacturers list capacity by number of people and whether it’s full-time or part-time use. Be honest about your usage.

Ease of emptying — Because you will have to empty it, and it’s better to think about that now than in the middle of a Florida August.

Pairing Your Composting Toilet With the Bigger Homestead Picture

A composting toilet fits naturally into a whole-systems approach to homesteading. If you’re already thinking about closing nutrient loops — composting food scraps, feeding scraps to your chickens, using diatomaceous earth in the coop for pest control without chemicals, collecting rainwater with a rain barrel — then a composting toilet is just the next logical step.

We also love bringing our kids into these conversations. Our kids know where their food comes from because they collect eggs every morning. They know what decomposition looks like because we have a worm composting bin that they help manage. Teaching them that human waste is also part of a natural cycle — when done age-appropriately — is just good science. Charlotte Mason herself was big on nature as the great teacher, and honestly, there’s nothing more “nature as teacher” than a kid who understands soil food webs from the ground up.

If you’re working on detoxing your whole home and property setup, my post on how to detox your home from toxins room by room covers a lot of the indoor piece of that puzzle.

And if you’re raising backyard chickens alongside all of this — which, same — you’ll want to read up on best chicken coop predator-proof latches while you’re building out your setup. The homestead life is all connected.

A Few Practical Tips Before You Buy

• Call your county health department first. Seriously. Know your local regs before you spend a dime.
• Plan your ventilation stack carefully. Most units need a vent pipe that exits through the roof or an exterior wall — factor this into your installation plan.
• Stock up on bulking agent. Coconut coir, peat moss, or wood shavings are your best friends. Keep a supply on hand.
• Read the manual all the way through before first use. I know, I know. But with composting toilets, startup really matters for long-term success.

The Bottom Line

Going off-grid with your sanitation isn’t for every family, and it comes with real considerations here in Florida. But if you’re the kind of family that’s already trading chemical cleaners for Grove Collaborative products and choosing non-toxic everything — this is just the next extension of that same intentional living. Less dependence on broken systems, more responsibility for your own footprint, and honestly, a really cool thing to teach your kids about how the natural world works.

We don’t have to do everything perfectly or all at once. But asking the question — really sitting with it and researching — is always the right first step. And if you’re already out there in the Florida heat, tending your garden, gathering eggs, and trying to raise kids who understand where things come from, you’re already most of the way there.

📖 You Might Also Like:

• Natural Remedies for Kids’ Cough and Cold This Florida Winter (What We Actually Use)
• Charlotte Mason Nature Journal Ideas for Kids (What We Actually Do Year-Round in Florida)
• How to Detox Your Home from Toxins Room by Room (A Real Family’s Guide to Getting Started)

Frequently Asked Questions

Are composting toilets legal in Florida?

Florida does regulate composting toilets, and rules vary by county. They are generally not approved as a standalone primary sanitation system in most Florida counties, but many families use them as a secondary or supplemental toilet. Always check with your county health department before purchasing and installing any composting toilet system.

Do composting toilets smell in Florida’s heat and humidity?

They can if you don’t have the right setup. The key in Florida’s climate is choosing a urine-diverting model and making sure you have a powered ventilation fan — passive ventilation alone often isn’t enough in our humid Gulf Coast air. With proper setup and maintenance, a quality composting toilet should have virtually no odor.

How often do you have to empty a composting toilet?

It depends on the model and your household size. For a family of four using the toilet full-time, the solid composting chamber typically needs emptying every 4-6 weeks. The liquid (urine) diverter needs to be emptied much more frequently — often every few days. The liquid can be diluted with water and used as fertilizer on non-edible plants.

What is the best composting toilet for a full-time family home in Florida?

For full-time family use in Florida’s climate, urine-diverting models like the Nature’s Head or Separett Villa are top picks. Both have excellent ventilation systems and are designed for frequent use. The urine-diverting design is especially important in Florida because separating liquids from solids is what eliminates odor and speeds up proper composting in humid conditions.

Can you use a composting toilet output in your garden?

The liquid output (diluted urine) can generally be used as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer on ornamental plants or around fruit trees — most people avoid using it directly on edible crops. The solid compost, once fully processed (which takes longer than the unit itself provides), can eventually be used in non-edible garden areas. Always research your specific situation and local guidelines before applying any humanure to garden soil.

How to Make Elderberry Syrup at Home (The Simple Way Our Family Actually Does It)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Every fall — or what passes for fall here in Northwest Florida, which is basically just slightly-less-swampy August — I start getting that familiar urge to stock the medicine cabinet. Not with a cart full of drugstore bottles, but with real, whole-food things I can make myself and actually recognize the ingredients of.

Elderberry syrup was one of the first things I learned to make when we started simplifying our home, and honestly? It’s become one of those non-negotiable staples I keep on hand from October through spring. The kids take it daily during cold and flu season without complaint (it tastes like a slightly tart berry jam situation), and I love that I know exactly what’s in it.

If you’ve been buying the bottled stuff at the health food store and wincing at the price tag, good news: you can make a big batch at home for a fraction of the cost, and it genuinely doesn’t take long.

What You’ll Need to Make Elderberry Syrup at Home

The ingredient list is short and humble. That’s one of the things I love most about this recipe — nothing weird, nothing requiring a specialty store run.

The basics:

• 1 cup dried black elderberries
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup raw local honey (added after cooking — heat kills the good stuff)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4-5 whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon fresh or dried ginger

That’s really it. You can find dried elderberries on Amazon or at most natural health stores. I order mine with the elderberry syrup making kit that comes with everything measured out — it’s genuinely convenient when you’re making a batch with kids underfoot.

For storing, I use wide-mouth canning jars — the pint size is perfect. It keeps in the fridge for two to three months, though ours never lasts that long.

The Step-by-Step Process

This is a stovetop recipe. No pressure canner needed, no fancy equipment. (If you’re into canning and want to preserve things longer-term, check out How to Can Tomatoes at Home — same kind of approachable, beginner-friendly energy.)

Step 1: Simmer the berries

Combine your dried elderberries, water, cinnamon stick, cloves, and ginger in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the liquid to reduce by about half.

Step 2: Mash and strain

Take the pot off the heat and let it cool a bit. Use a potato masher or the back of a spoon to mash the berries and get all that good juice out. Then strain the whole thing through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth into a bowl. Squeeze those berries — don’t waste a drop.

Step 3: Add the honey

Once the liquid has cooled to warm (not hot — you want to preserve the enzymes and benefits in raw honey), stir in your cup of honey until fully dissolved. This is the step where it goes from “medicinal herb water” to “my kids are asking for more.”

Step 4: Bottle it

Pour into your clean jar, cap it, and refrigerate. Done.

How Much to Take and When

We use this as a daily preventive during cold and flu season, not just when someone’s already sniffly.

• Kids: 1 teaspoon daily for maintenance; 1 teaspoon 3x a day if someone’s coming down with something
• Adults: 1 tablespoon daily; up to 1 tablespoon 3x a day when sick

A quick note: elderberries should always be cooked before consuming — raw or underripe berries can cause stomach upset. This recipe takes care of that with the simmering step.

Also — if you have little ones under one year old, skip the honey or use a different sweetener like maple syrup. You already know this, but worth saying.

Why We Make It Instead of Buy It

The bottles you find at the store — even the good ones — often run $20-30 for a small amount that lasts maybe two weeks for a family our size. A big bag of dried elderberries plus honey runs me maybe $15 and makes enough syrup to last us through December. That math makes sense.

But beyond the money, there’s something about making it yourself that feels right. We involve the kids in the whole process — they help measure, they watch it simmer, they get to taste-test. My oldest has started asking why each ingredient is in there, which has turned into some genuinely great impromptu lessons about herbs, immune function, and why we choose honey over refined sugar.

It fits naturally into our Morning Basket rhythm on the days we make it — a little living science, a little practical life skill, all wrapped up in a kitchen afternoon. Very Charlotte Mason of us, truly.

Making It a Learning Moment

If your kids are anything like mine, they are infinitely more interested in something they helped make. Here’s how we turn elderberry syrup day into a mini nature study:

• Talk about what elderberries are, where they grow, and what part of the plant we’re using
• Look up the elderberry bush in a field guide or nature reference
• Have them sketch the berries and write a sentence about what the syrup is for in their nature journal
• Talk about bees and honey — where it comes from, why raw honey is different, why we keep it local when we can

This is the kind of stuff that sticks. Way more than a worksheet about the immune system, I promise.

If you’re looking for more ways to weave natural health and herbal knowledge into your homeschool days, we have a whole post on Natural Remedies for Kids’ Cough and Cold This Florida Winter that you might love.

A Few Tips From Our Kitchen

Use a slow cooker if you want hands-off. You can throw everything in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours instead of simmering on the stove. I do this sometimes when mornings are chaotic — start it when we sit down for school, strain and finish it after lunch.

Double the batch. Seriously. If you’re going to the trouble, make two jars. Give one to your neighbor, your sister, whoever. It’s a genuinely thoughtful gift and people are always surprised you made it.

A kitchen scale helps with consistency. If you make this regularly, weighing your elderberries instead of volume-measuring gives you a more reliable result batch to batch.

Florida humidity is real. Our jars sometimes get a little condensation on the outside in the fridge. That’s fine. Just keep the lid tight and don’t let it sit out at room temperature.

Storing and Shelf Life

Refrigerated, this syrup keeps for 2-3 months. You can also freeze it in ice cube trays and pop the cubes into a freezer bag — each cube is roughly one dose and it keeps for up to a year that way. I started doing this last winter and it was a game-changer for keeping a consistent supply without making a new batch every month.

You’ve Got This

I know it can feel like there’s a lot to learn when you’re trying to do things more intentionally — the homeschool, the garden, the chickens, the non-toxic everything. It can get overwhelming fast. But elderberry syrup is genuinely one of the simplest, most satisfying things you can add to your routine. It takes less than an hour of active time, the ingredients are inexpensive and shelf-stable, and there is something quietly wonderful about spooning something into your kids’ mouths each morning that you made yourself from actual plants.

We’re not trying to be perfect over here. We’re just trying to be a little more rooted. This is one small way we do that, and I hope it becomes one of yours too.

📖 You Might Also Like:

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long does homemade elderberry syrup last in the fridge?

Homemade elderberry syrup typically keeps for 2 to 3 months when stored in a sealed glass jar in the refrigerator. If you want to extend the shelf life, freeze it in ice cube trays — frozen elderberry syrup will keep for up to a year. Always check for any off smell or appearance before using.

Can I give elderberry syrup to toddlers?

Yes, elderberry syrup is generally considered safe for toddlers over the age of one. For children under one year old, omit the honey and use maple syrup instead, as honey carries a risk of botulism for infants. Always check with your pediatrician if you have concerns, especially for very young children or kids with immune conditions.

Do I have to use raw elderberries or can I use dried?

Dried black elderberries are actually what most people use for syrup — they’re shelf-stable, easy to order online, and available year-round. Raw elderberries can be used when in season, but they must always be cooked first. Never eat raw or underripe elderberries, as they can cause nausea and stomach upset.

Is homemade elderberry syrup really cheaper than store-bought?

Yes, significantly. A quality bottle of elderberry syrup at a health food store can cost $20–$30 for a small amount. Making it at home with dried elderberries and raw honey typically costs $12–$18 for a batch that produces two to three times as much syrup. The savings add up quickly for a family taking it daily through cold and flu season.

Can I make elderberry syrup in a slow cooker instead of on the stove?

Absolutely — a slow cooker works great for elderberry syrup. Add the elderberries, water, and spices and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Let it cool, mash and strain the berries, then stir in your honey once the liquid is warm but not hot. It’s a wonderful hands-off option on busy homeschool mornings.

How to Can Tomatoes at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Getting It Right the First Time

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Okay, so here’s how it started for me. We had a bumper crop of tomatoes from our raised beds last fall — more than we could possibly eat fresh — and I was standing in my kitchen looking at a colander overflowing with them thinking, I did not grow all of this just to watch it rot. I’d been wanting to learn to can for years. I had the romanticized version in my head: rows of beautiful red jars lined up on the pantry shelf, my kids thinking I was some kind of pioneer woman. But I was also a little intimidated, if I’m being honest.

So I did what I always do. I read everything I could find, I called my mama, and then I just did it. And y’all — it wasn’t nearly as complicated as I’d made it out to be in my head. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about canning tomatoes, this post is for you.

Why Tomatoes Are the Best Place to Start

Tomatoes are basically the perfect beginner canning project. They’re one of the most forgiving foods to preserve because their natural acidity puts them right at the safe edge for water bath canning (which is the simpler method — no pressure canner required). You don’t need a ton of fancy equipment, the process is pretty straightforward, and the payoff is huge. A pantry full of home-canned tomatoes gets you through soups, sauces, and chilis all winter long without reaching for a can of mystery-ingredient store stuff.

If you’ve already been gardening and you’re trying to figure out what to do with your harvest, check out How to Preserve Your Summer Harvest: Canning, Freezing, and Fermenting for Real Families — it’s a great companion to this post.

What You’ll Need Before You Start

You don’t need a ton of stuff, but you do need the right stuff. Here’s your basic list:

• Water bath canner (a large stockpot with a rack works too)
• Mason jars — quarts or pints, your choice
• New lids every time (bands can be reused, lids cannot)
• Jar lifter — please don’t skip this, boiling water is no joke
• Wide-mouth funnel
• Ladle
• Large pot for blanching
• Lots of tomatoes — about 21 pounds fills a canner load of 7 quarts

For the tomatoes themselves, you want a paste variety like Roma or San Marzano if you can get them. They have less water and more flesh, which means better flavor and faster processing. But honestly, any ripe, meaty tomato will work. Just avoid anything bruised or overripe.

Step-by-Step: How to Can Whole or Crushed Tomatoes

Step 1: Wash and Sterilize Your Jars

Run your jars through the dishwasher on a hot cycle or wash them well in hot soapy water and keep them in hot water until you’re ready to fill them. You want hot jars for hot food — putting boiling-hot tomatoes into a cold jar is how you get cracks.

Step 2: Blanch and Peel the Tomatoes

Score a small X on the bottom of each tomato, drop them into boiling water for about 30-60 seconds, then immediately plunge them into an ice bath. The skins will slip right off. It’s actually a satisfying little job for kids to help with — mine love peeling them.

Step 3: Add Acid — This Step Is Non-Negotiable

Even though tomatoes are naturally acidic, their pH can vary. To keep things safely in the water bath canning range, you need to add acid to every jar:

• Quart jars: 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice (bottled, not fresh — the acidity is standardized)
• Pint jars: 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice

You can also use citric acid if you prefer — ¼ teaspoon per quart. Add this to the jar before you put the tomatoes in.

Step 4: Fill Your Jars

For whole or crushed tomatoes, pack them in tightly, pressing down so the tomatoes release their juice and fill the gaps. Leave ½ inch of headspace at the top. Add a pinch of canning salt if you like (totally optional — it’s for flavor only, not preservation).

Wipe the rims of your jars with a clean damp cloth — any residue on the rim can prevent a good seal. Put your lids on finger-tight. Not gorilla-tight, just snug.

Step 5: Process in the Water Bath Canner

Lower your jars into the canner, making sure they’re covered by at least 1-2 inches of water. Bring to a full boil, then start your timer:

• Pints: 40 minutes
• Quarts: 45 minutes

(Adjust for altitude if you’re not near sea level — here in the Florida Panhandle, we’re basically at sea level so no adjustment needed.)

When time’s up, turn off the heat and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes before removing them. Set them on a towel on the counter and don’t touch them for 12-24 hours.

Step 6: Check Your Seals

After 12 hours, press down on the center of each lid. If it doesn’t flex up and down, you’ve got a good seal. If a lid pops, just put that jar in the fridge and use it within a week. Properly sealed jars will last 12-18 months in a cool, dark pantry.

The Stuff Nobody Tells Beginners

Don’t panic if a jar doesn’t seal. It happens. Just refrigerate it and move on. This is not a sign that you failed — it’s just canning.

Your kitchen is going to get steamy. This is a great Florida winter project, not a July one. We do most of our canning in October and November when it’s finally cooled off enough that running the stove for two hours doesn’t turn our house into a sauna.

Involve the kids. Peeling tomatoes, handing you lids, labeling jars with the date — these are all real jobs little hands can do. It’s practical life skills, it’s math (how many jars did we fill?), it’s science (why do we add the lemon juice?). This is Charlotte Mason home education happening in real life, not from a textbook.

Your pantry will feel different after this. I know that sounds dramatic, but walking past a shelf of jars you filled yourself — with tomatoes you grew yourself — hits different. My kids are proud of those jars. They show them to people. That’s something.

If you’re also growing your own tomatoes and want to make the most of your garden setup, How to Start a Homestead Garden in Florida for Beginners is worth a read, especially if you’re still figuring out our quirky Florida soil situation.

A Few Products That Have Made This Easier for Us

I’m not a gear person by nature, but a few things genuinely make canning more enjoyable. A good cast iron skillet isn’t canning equipment exactly, but it’s what I use to cook down tomatoes before canning sauce, and it’s earned its spot on my stovetop. A kitchen compost bin right on the counter makes quick work of all those tomato skins and cores — especially when you’re doing a big batch. And beeswax wrap is great for covering cut tomatoes or bowls in the fridge while you’re working in stages.

For cleaning products to wipe down your canning area without bringing harsh chemicals into a food-prep space, we love Grove Collaborative for all of that. Keeping things non-toxic in the kitchen matters to me, especially when we’re doing something like canning where cleanliness is actually part of the safety process.

You Can Do This

I want to close with this: canning tomatoes is one of those skills that feels intimidating from the outside and completely manageable once you’re in it. The first time is the hardest — mostly because you’re just not sure what to expect. But once those jars are on your shelf and you open your first one in December to make a big pot of soup, you’ll understand why generations of families have done this.

This is the kind of thing I want my kids to grow up seeing as normal. Not exotic, not extreme — just regular homemaking. The way most families lived before everything came in a package. We’re not perfect at it, but we’re learning, and every jar we put up feels like a small victory.

If you’re curious about other ways we preserve and use what we grow, check out How to Teach Kids to Cook Basic Skills by Age — because what’s the point of filling the pantry if the kids don’t know how to use what’s in it?

You’ve got this, friend. Go can some tomatoes.

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• How to Preserve Your Summer Harvest: Canning, Freezing, and Fermenting for Real Families
• Best Books on Simple Living and Homesteading for Families (Our Actual Favorites)
• How to Start a Homestead Garden in Florida for Beginners (What Actually Works Down Here)

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a pressure canner to can tomatoes at home?

No — tomatoes can be safely processed using a water bath canner, which is much simpler and more beginner-friendly. The key is that you must add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to every jar to ensure safe acidity levels. As long as you do that, a water bath canner is all you need.

How long do home-canned tomatoes last on the shelf?

Properly sealed home-canned tomatoes stored in a cool, dark place will last 12–18 months. After that they’re still likely safe to eat, but quality and flavor start to decline. Always check the seal before using — if the lid flexes or the jar smells off, throw it out.

Why do I have to use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh?

The acidity of fresh lemons varies from fruit to fruit, which means you can’t guarantee a consistent pH in your jars. Bottled lemon juice has a standardized, tested acidity level that makes it safe for water bath canning. It’s one of those spots where you don’t want to wing it.

Can I can tomatoes without salt?

Yes, absolutely. Salt is purely optional in canned tomatoes — it’s added for flavor only and plays no role in preservation or safety. If you’re watching sodium intake or just prefer to leave it out, go right ahead. You can always season when you open the jar.

What are the best tomato varieties to use for canning?

Paste tomatoes like Roma or San Marzano are the go-to for canning because they have thick flesh, fewer seeds, and lower water content, which means better texture and richer flavor in the jar. That said, any ripe, meaty tomato works. Just avoid watery varieties like beefsteak if you can, and always skip anything bruised or overripe.

Best Raised Bed Soil Mix for Florida Gardens (What Actually Works in Our Sandy Southern Soil)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

If you’ve ever dumped a bag of garden soil into a raised bed, planted your seedlings with all the hope in the world, and then watched them just… sit there looking sad in the Florida heat — you are not alone. I have been there. More than once.

Gardening in Florida is its own thing. We’ve got sandy soil that drains faster than you can water it, summers that feel like standing inside an oven, and a humidity level that makes everything feel swampy. Regular gardening advice from the internet (usually written by folks gardening in the Midwest or Pacific Northwest) does not always translate down here. And when it comes to raised beds specifically, what you fill them with makes or breaks the whole operation.

We’ve been doing raised bed gardening at our place outside Pensacola for a few years now, and I’ve learned a lot through trial, error, dead tomato plants, and a whole lot of reading. So let me share what we’ve landed on — and why it works for our Florida conditions.

Why Raised Beds Are the Right Move for Florida in the First Place

Our native soil here in Northwest Florida is basically glorified sand. It’s low in organic matter, drains extremely fast, and has very little natural nutrient content. You can amend in-ground beds over time, and we do work on that too (our chickens help a lot with that — more on that in a second), but raised beds give you total control over your growing environment from day one.

Raised beds also warm up faster in late winter, which matters when you’re trying to get an early spring start before the heat shuts everything down in May. And they drain well enough to avoid the waterlogging that can happen during our summer monsoon season — while also holding moisture better than pure Florida sand ever would on its own. It’s a balance, and a good soil mix is how you find it.

If you’re just getting started with your Florida homestead garden, I wrote a whole post on How to Start a Homestead Garden in Florida for Beginners (What Actually Works Down Here) that might be a helpful starting point before you even dig into soil mixes.

The Basic Raised Bed Soil Formula We Use

The classic starting point for raised bed soil — made famous by Mel Bartholomew’s Square Foot Gardening method — is equal thirds:

• 1/3 compost
• 1/3 peat moss or coconut coir
• 1/3 coarse vermiculite

This is a solid formula and we’ve used it. But Florida adds some nuances. Here’s how we tweak it.

Go Heavy on the Compost

In Florida’s heat, organic matter breaks down fast. Like, really fast. What that means practically is that your raised bed mix is going to settle and lose volume over each growing season. The solution is to start with more compost than you think you need and plan to top-dress every season.

We use a mix of purchased compost and our own homemade stuff. Our backyard chickens are genuinely the best composting partners I’ve ever had — their manure mixed into our compost pile breaks down beautifully and adds serious nutrients. If you have chickens or are thinking about it, composting with them is one of the most practical homestead habits you can build. (We also keep a kitchen compost bin on the counter to collect scraps before they go out to the pile.)

Aim for 40-50% compost in your Florida raised bed mix, rather than the standard 33%.

Choose Coconut Coir Over Peat Moss

Traditional mix recipes call for peat moss, and it works fine — but coconut coir is a better fit for Florida for a couple of reasons. First, it’s more sustainable (coir is a byproduct of coconut processing). Second, and more practically, coir actually rehydrates more easily than peat moss, which can get hydrophobic in dry conditions. Given how fast our Florida soil dries between waterings, that matters. Coir also has a more neutral pH, which is helpful since peat tends to be quite acidic.

Aim for about 25-30% coir in your mix.

Don’t Skip the Vermiculite

Vermiculite is what keeps your mix from compacting into a brick over time. It’s light, it holds moisture and nutrients without waterlogging, and it keeps good air pockets in the soil for root growth. In Florida’s heat, roots need room to breathe. Keep this at around 20-25% of your mix.

Add Perlite for Extra Drainage

This is our Florida-specific add. During summer rainy season in Pensacola, we can get several inches of rain in a single afternoon storm. Adding 10-15% perlite to your mix gives you a little extra insurance against waterlogging while still holding nutrients. Think of it as your raised bed’s drainage valve.

What to Add Each Season

Because Florida heat burns through organic matter so quickly, you’ll want to refresh your beds before each new growing season. Here’s what we do:

Before fall planting (our most productive season here):

• Top-dress with 2-3 inches of finished compost
• Mix in a scoop of aged chicken manure if we have it
• Add a light dusting of food grade diatomaceous earth around the bed edges — it’s our non-toxic first defense against pest pressure

Before spring planting:

• Another compost top-dress
• Check and refill any settled areas with fresh mix

We use our Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens as a general homestead reference, and it has great information on how to use chicken manure effectively in the garden without burning your plants. The key is making sure it’s well-composted first — fresh manure is too hot and will damage roots.

Getting the Kids Involved (This Is School, After All)

One of my favorite things about garden work is how naturally it fits into our homeschool days. Mixing raised bed soil is basically a hands-on science lesson in decomposition, soil biology, drainage, and plant nutrition. My kids don’t even realize how much they’re learning when they’re helping scoop compost and mix layers.

We keep a nature journal going throughout the growing season — the kids sketch what they plant, note when seeds sprout, draw the bugs they find, and record what thrived or flopped. It’s pure Charlotte Mason in action, and it builds a real record of our garden over time that we actually love looking back on.

For the younger ones, a bug collection kit turns every garden session into a nature study. Florida raised beds are surprisingly alive — earthworms, pill bugs, beetles, the occasional frog — and my kids have learned more about soil health and ecosystems from just watching our garden beds than from any worksheet ever could have taught them.

If you want more ideas for weaving the natural world into your homeschool, check out our post on Florida Homeschool Art Curriculum Charlotte Mason Style (What We Actually Do and Why It Works) — a lot of those same principles apply right out in the garden.

A Word on Buying Bagged Soil

If you’re filling a large number of beds and mixing your own isn’t realistic, bagged mixes can work — but read the labels carefully. A lot of big-box store garden soils are mostly wood chips or bark with very little actual nutrition. Look for mixes that list compost, aged bark fines, and perlite or vermiculite. Avoid anything that smells sour (anaerobic decomposition — not good) or feels heavy and wet in the bag.

We still supplement any bagged mix with additional compost and perlite before we consider it ready to plant in Florida.

For more on what grows well once your beds are ready, our post on Best Container Vegetable Garden for Florida Summer Heat (What Actually Grows When It’s 95 Degrees Outside) covers the variety selection side of things, which is honestly just as important as the soil.

The Simple Version to Remember

If I had to distill everything into a quick formula for a Florida raised bed:

• 40-50% compost (the more the better)
• 25% coconut coir
• 15% vermiculite
• 10-15% perlite
• Top-dress every season, no exceptions

That’s it. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Gardening in Florida requires a little more intention than in other climates, but once you get your beds filled right, you will be genuinely amazed at what grows here — especially in the fall and winter, when the rest of the country is buried in snow and we’re out here harvesting kale in January in flip flops.

This is one of those things I wish someone had just told me plainly when I started. Hopefully this saves you at least one season of guessing. Now go fill those beds — and let the kids help. There’s no better dirt to get your hands into than the kind that grows your own food.

📖 You Might Also Like:

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best soil mix for raised beds in Florida?

In Florida, the best raised bed soil mix is heavier on compost than standard recipes suggest — aim for 40-50% compost, 25% coconut coir, 15% vermiculite, and 10-15% perlite. Florida’s heat breaks down organic matter quickly, so more compost upfront and regular top-dressing each season is key to keeping your beds productive.

Can I use bagged garden soil in Florida raised beds?

You can, but most bagged garden soils from big-box stores are too low in nutrients and too high in wood filler to perform well on their own in Florida. Always supplement bagged mixes with extra compost and perlite before planting, and check that the bag lists compost and vermiculite or perlite among its main ingredients.

How often should I add compost to raised beds in Florida?

At minimum, top-dress your Florida raised beds with 2-3 inches of finished compost before each growing season — which typically means before your fall planting and again before spring. Florida’s heat and humidity accelerate organic matter breakdown, so beds need refreshing more often than in cooler climates.

Is peat moss or coconut coir better for Florida raised beds?

Coconut coir is generally the better choice for Florida. It rehydrates more easily than peat moss (which can become water-repellent when dry), has a more neutral pH, and is a more sustainable material. Both will work in a pinch, but coir performs better in Florida’s drying heat between waterings.

How do I improve my Florida garden soil naturally?

The best natural ways to improve Florida garden soil are to add large amounts of finished compost, use cover crops like cowpeas or buckwheat in the off-season, mulch heavily to retain moisture and build organic matter as it breaks down, and if you have backyard chickens, compost their manure to use as a rich soil amendment. Raised beds also give you control over your growing medium so you’re not fighting native sand at all.

Natural Remedies for Kids’ Cough and Cold This Florida Winter (What We Actually Use)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

You know how it goes. It’s January in Pensacola, it’s 68 degrees and gorgeous one day, then 42 and drizzly the next, and somehow that is exactly when somebody in the house starts with the sniffles. We’re not talking blizzard weather. But Florida winters are sneaky. The temperature swings, the dry indoor air from running the heat for two weeks out of the year, kids playing outside in wet grass — it all adds up.

And when you’re a homeschool mama who’s made a real effort to clean up your home and your medicine cabinet, you don’t just want to grab the bright red syrup off the shelf anymore. I’ve been down that road of reading ingredient labels and feeling like I needed a chemistry degree, and no thank you.

So over the years, I’ve put together a little rhythm of what we actually do when coughs and colds roll through our house — things that are simple, real, and genuinely help. This isn’t a substitute for your pediatrician (always call your doctor if something seems serious), but these are the natural remedies that live in our pantry and actually get used.

First: Florida Winter Colds Are a Real Thing (Even if Northerners Laugh at Us)

I know. I know. We complain about being cold when it’s 55 degrees and our neighbors up north are shoveling snow. But the truth is, our kids’ immune systems still have to navigate seasonal changes, shared germs, and the weird humidity fluctuations that come with Gulf Coast winters.

Our kids spend a lot of time outside — that’s kind of the whole point of how we school. They’re in the garden, checking on the chickens, catching bugs, climbing things. Outdoor kids are healthy kids, mostly. But they’re also outside in the wet and the wind, and sometimes a bug finds its way in.

When it does, here’s what we reach for.

What We Keep On Hand All Winter

Raw Honey

This is our number one. Raw local honey — and if you can find it from a Florida beekeeper, even better — is genuinely one of the most well-researched natural remedies for kids’ coughs. Studies actually back this one up. A small spoonful before bed can calm a nighttime cough better than some OTC products, and kids actually want to take it.

We do honey in warm water with a squeeze of lemon, honey stirred into chamomile tea, or just straight off the spoon. Note: Never give honey to babies under 12 months.

Bone Broth

This one sounds old-fashioned because it is — and it works. When someone is under the weather, a warm mug of homemade bone broth is the first thing I make. It’s nourishing, easy to get down even when nobody feels like eating, and it’s genuinely supportive for the immune system. If you haven’t started making your own yet, I wrote a whole post about it: Making Bone Broth at Home: Why Our Family Does It and the Easiest Recipe You’ll Ever Try.

We use broth from our own chickens when we have it. Knowing exactly where that food came from and what went into it is a whole different feeling.

Elderberry Syrup (Homemade or Store-Bought)

Elderberry has become pretty trendy, but it’s been used for centuries for good reason. We make our own during cold season — it’s easier than it sounds and way cheaper. The kids take it daily as a preventive and we increase the dose if someone actually gets sick. Look for a recipe that includes raw honey, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon for extra immune support.

Ginger and Turmeric

Fresh ginger tea with honey is soothing for sore throats and helps with congestion. I’ll also add fresh ginger to broth or make a simple golden milk with turmeric, ginger, and coconut milk for the kids before bed. My youngest calls it “yellow milk” and asks for it even when he’s healthy, so that’s a win.

Steam and Humidity

Florida humidity is legendary in summer, but once we’re running heat in January, the air inside gets dry fast. A cool-mist humidifier in the bedroom makes a real difference for nighttime congestion and coughs. We also do old-fashioned steam — sit in a warm bathroom with the shower running for a few minutes, sometimes with a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a washcloth near (not in) the water.

Non-Toxic Products We Actually Trust

Sometimes you need something beyond the pantry, and that’s okay. Here’s what we reach for when we want a little extra support without the artificial stuff.

Wondercide is our go-to for so many things around the house and yard, and they have wellness products I trust for the same reason — they’re transparent about ingredients. You can browse their line at Wondercide.

For cleaning products that don’t add to our indoor air problem when someone is already congested and struggling to breathe, we order through Grove Collaborative. Real ingredients, nothing sketchy, and they deliver — which is great when you don’t want to drag a sick kid to the store.

Rest, Slowness, and the 1990s Approach

Here’s something I really believe: we have way over-complicated sick days.

When I was a kid, being sick meant you stayed home, you watched a little daytime TV (the low-bar kind), you ate soup, and you slept. Nobody was trying to push through. Nobody was optimizing. You just rested.

That’s still the best medicine, honestly. When someone is sick in our house, we slow everything down. School pauses. We read aloud more, do quiet puzzles, maybe watch something simple together. Our daily rhythm shifts to accommodate rest, and that matters.

If you’re thinking about how rhythm and routine play into family health and homeschool life, I wrote about that here: Family Rhythm vs. Routine: What Actually Works for Real Homeschool Life.

What About Herbal Support?

A few herbal allies we’ve added over the years:

• Mullein leaf tea — wonderful for chest congestion and coughs. You can find dried mullein at most health food stores.
• Echinacea — we use this at the first sign of illness, not throughout. Short-term use seems to be where it shines.
• Thyme tea with honey — thyme is genuinely antimicrobial and has been studied specifically for coughs. It tastes fine with honey.
• Garlic — I know, I know. But a tiny bit of raw garlic in broth or on food when someone is sick is something our grandmothers knew and modern research is starting to validate.

We also love spending time in our Florida yard and garden even in winter — fresh air still matters. And interestingly, nature study walks are a gentle way to keep kids from being totally stir-crazy during a mild sick day. Something about watching the chickens or spotting birds in the yard feels restorative for everybody.

If you love connecting nature to your homeschool days (even sick days), a nature journal and some Faber-Castell watercolors for gentle, quiet nature drawing from the window can be a sweet way to spend a slow day without screens.

A Note on When to Call the Doctor

All of this assumes we’re dealing with a run-of-the-mill cold or cough — the kind that comes, lingers for a week, and passes. If your child has a high fever that’s not coming down, trouble breathing, seems to be getting significantly worse after a few days, or anything feels off to your gut as a mama — call your pediatrician. Always. Natural remedies are supportive, not a replacement for medical care when it’s genuinely needed.

Keeping Immunity Strong Year-Round

The best cold remedy is the one you never need. We’ve found that kids who spend real time outside, eat whole foods, get enough sleep, and aren’t over-scheduled tend to get sick less often and bounce back faster.

Things that have made a real difference for us beyond the sick-day remedies:

• Consistent outdoor time, even in Florida’s chilly weeks
• Whole food diet with minimal processed food (meal planning on a whole food budget has helped us make this sustainable)
• Limiting sugar, especially during cold season
• Fresh air and unstructured outside time every single day

That’s the 1990s childhood approach, and it still holds up.

I hope this gives you some real, practical options to reach for this winter — without the overwhelm or the mystery ingredients. You don’t need a fully stocked apothecary to take good care of your family. Just some honest staples, a slow-down mentality, and the confidence that you know your kids best.

Here’s to a healthy, low-key Florida winter, y’all. 🍋

📖 You Might Also Like:

• Making Bone Broth at Home: Why Our Family Does It and the Easiest Recipe You’ll Ever Try
• Family Rhythm vs. Routine: What Actually Works for Real Homeschool Life
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Frequently Asked Questions

What natural remedies actually help kids’ coughs?

Raw local honey is one of the most research-backed natural options for children’s coughs — a small spoonful before bed can calm nighttime coughing effectively. Other supportive remedies include thyme tea with honey, steam inhalation, mullein leaf tea for chest congestion, and homemade bone broth for overall immune support. Always make sure your child is getting plenty of rest and fluids, and consult your pediatrician if symptoms worsen or a high fever develops.

Can I give honey to my toddler for a cough?

Honey is safe and effective for children over 12 months old, but should never be given to babies under one year due to the risk of infant botulism. For kids over one, a half to one teaspoon of raw honey — especially local raw honey — before bedtime can help soothe a cough naturally.

Do kids in Florida still get colds in winter?

Yes! Even though Florida winters are mild compared to northern states, the temperature swings — especially in Northwest Florida — combined with dry indoor air from heating systems and close contact with other kids can absolutely lead to colds and coughs. Florida kids are not immune to winter bugs just because it doesn’t snow.

Is elderberry syrup safe for kids?

Elderberry syrup is generally considered safe for children when properly prepared (raw elderberries must be cooked) and used in age-appropriate amounts. Many families use it both as a daily preventive during cold season and at higher doses at the first sign of illness. Check with your child’s pediatrician if you have specific health concerns, and avoid giving it to very young infants without guidance.

What can I do to help prevent colds in my kids naturally?

The best natural prevention is a lifestyle approach: daily outdoor time in fresh air, a whole-food diet low in sugar, adequate sleep, and minimizing unnecessary stress and over-scheduling. Immune-supportive foods like garlic, ginger, turmeric, and fermented foods all contribute to resilience over time. Daily elderberry syrup, vitamin D (especially in winter when kids are indoors more), and reducing exposure to toxic cleaning chemicals in the home can also make a meaningful difference.

How to Introduce Goats to a Small Florida Homestead (Without Losing Your Mind or Your Garden)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I’m going to be honest with you — the goat conversation in our house started the same way a lot of things do around here. One kid saw a YouTube video, another one heard about a friend’s goat, and suddenly everyone was in agreement that we absolutely needed goats and life would be incomplete without them.

So I did what I always do. I slowed way down, researched way too much, and then eventually said yes — but on our terms, with a real plan.

If you’re somewhere in that same middle space — curious, maybe a little nervous, wondering if a small Florida yard can actually handle goats — this one’s for you. We’re in the Pensacola area, and what works in the Pacific Northwest or even Central Florida sometimes looks real different up here in the Panhandle. So I’m going to share what I’ve actually learned, not just what sounds nice on paper.

Are Goats Actually Realistic for a Small Florida Homestead?

Short answer: yes, with the right breed and setup.

Long answer: goats are not low-maintenance. They are clever, social, escape-prone, and they will absolutely eat your blueberry bushes if you give them half a chance. (Ask me how I know.) But they are also endlessly entertaining, genuinely useful, and honestly one of the best things we’ve ever added to our backyard homestead.

For small properties — we’re talking under an acre — the key is choosing the right breed from the start.

Best Goat Breeds for Small Florida Homesteads

Nigerian Dwarfs

This is where most small homesteaders should start, and for good reason. Nigerian Dwarfs are compact, friendly, and honestly great with kids. They produce a surprising amount of rich, high-butterfat milk for their size, which is wonderful if you’re interested in raw milk, cheese, or soap-making. They also handle Florida’s heat and humidity reasonably well as long as they have shade and fresh water.

Pygmy Goats

If milk isn’t your goal and you mostly want personality and a backyard companion (and a nature-study animal your kids will be obsessed with), Pygmy goats are a solid pick. They’re stocky, playful, and easy to manage for beginners.

Kinder or Mini-Nubian

If you want a little more milk production but still need a manageable size, Mini-Nubians are worth looking into. They’re a cross between Nigerian Dwarf and Nubian, so you get a mid-sized goat with good milk and those adorable floppy ears.

Whatever breed you choose, get at least two. Goats are herd animals and a single goat will be miserable — and loud about it.

Fencing: The Non-Negotiable

I cannot stress this enough: your fencing will make or break your goat experience. Goats will test every weak spot. They’ll climb on things, lean on things, and figure out latches faster than you’d expect.

For small homesteads in Florida, we recommend:

• 4-foot welded wire or cattle panel — strong and visible enough to actually contain them
• T-posts every 6-8 feet at minimum
• A real latch on every gate — the kind that requires two steps to open
• No climbable objects near the fence line — they will use that old pallet as a launching pad

Also? Check your local ordinances. Some Florida counties and municipalities have specific rules about goats on residential properties, especially does vs. bucks. Bucks (intact males) can be smelly and loud, so most small homesteaders stick with does or a wether (castrated male) for companionship.

Shelter and Setup in the Florida Climate

Goats actually don’t love rain — which is a little funny given how much it rains here in Northwest Florida from May through September. They need a dry, well-ventilated shelter they can retreat to. It doesn’t have to be fancy. A three-sided structure with a roof is enough for most of the year.

What matters most in our climate:

• Shade, shade, shade — afternoon shade is essential in summer
• Airflow — a closed-up stuffy shelter is worse than a simple open one
• Dry bedding — pine shavings work well; just refresh it regularly to avoid moisture buildup and hoof issues
• Elevated sleeping area — goats love to be off the ground

For pest control around the shelter area (we deal with the same with our chickens), Wondercide has been our go-to for keeping flies and mosquitoes down without bringing harsh chemicals onto our property.

Feeding Your Goats: Keeping It Simple

Goats need:

• Quality grass hay (coastal bermuda or orchard grass works well here) — this should be the foundation of their diet
• Fresh water always — seriously, they drink more than you’d think
• Loose minerals specifically formulated for goats (not sheep minerals — copper levels differ)
• Limited grain — mostly for lactating does or growing kids

They’ll also browse on whatever you let them near, which is why our garden is firmly off-limits. If you’re growing a food forest or working on a homestead garden, you’ll want to make sure goat grazing areas are clearly separate. If you’re curious about what we’re growing, I share more in our Florida Food Forest Beginner Guide.

Basic Goat Health: What You Need to Know Before You Bring Them Home

Goats are hardier than their dramatic personalities suggest, but they do have some specific health needs:

• CDT vaccine — this is the one core vaccine all goats need, given annually
• Hoof trimming every 6-8 weeks (more in wet Florida seasons)
• FAMACHA scoring — a simple way to monitor for barber pole worm, which is a real issue in our warm, humid climate
• Find a large animal vet before you need one — not every vet sees goats, so have that contact ready

For natural pest and parasite management around the animals, we use food grade diatomaceous earth in the bedding and around the shelter perimeter. It’s the same thing we use with our chickens — if you’re curious how we manage a backyard flock alongside other animals, our post on Raising Meat Chickens at Home covers a lot of that overlap.

Bringing Kids Into It: Goats as a Homeschool Experience

This is honestly one of my favorite parts. Goats fit so naturally into a Charlotte Mason, nature-based homeschool rhythm. There’s real, living science happening every single day.

Our kids have learned:

• Animal behavior and herd dynamics (social studies meets biology)
• Basic anatomy and health observation
• Responsibility and consistency — animals don’t care if it’s Saturday or if you’d rather read a book
• Record-keeping — we track feed, health notes, and milk production in a simple notebook

A good nature journal is perfect for sketching the goats, recording observations, and even pressing the occasional plant they like to browse. My kids have filled pages just watching and drawing. It’s the kind of slow, attentive observation that Charlotte Mason was talking about — and it costs nothing once you’re already out there doing morning chores.

For younger kids who want to understand more about what they’re caring for, Storey’s Guide to Raising Dairy Goats is the reference book I reach for, and there’s also a Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens that — while chicken-focused — covers a lot of the same animal husbandry concepts in language that works for elementary-age kids.

And honestly? Watching my kids do morning chores barefoot, talking to the goats, filling water buckets, and just being outside before we even open a book — that’s the 1990s childhood I’m trying to give them. No screens, no schedule pressure. Just kids and animals and a Florida morning.

For more on building that kind of daily rhythm into your homeschool life, I share a lot in our post on How to Involve Kids in Homestead Chores by Age — it’s one of the most-read things on this whole site.

One Last Thing Before You Bring Goats Home

Start small. Two does. A solid fence. A simple shelter. Give yourself a full season to learn their rhythms before you expand.

Goats will surprise you — sometimes with how much joy they bring, and sometimes with how they’ve dismantled the thing you built last weekend. But if you go in with realistic expectations and a real plan, they will absolutely become one of the best parts of your homestead.

We’re still learning over here, and that’s okay. That’s kind of the whole point, isn’t it?

If you’re adding goats alongside chickens or thinking about expanding your backyard flock at the same time, you might also enjoy our post on Best Duck Breeds for a Florida Backyard Flock — because apparently we can’t stop adding animals around here, and maybe you can’t either.

Welcome to the goat side. It’s wonderfully chaotic.

📖 You Might Also Like:

• Raising Meat Chickens at Home: A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started (And Actually Following Through)
• How to Preserve Your Summer Harvest: Canning, Freezing, and Fermenting for Real Families
• Seasonal Living Ideas for Families: Simple Ways to Celebrate Every Season Year-Round

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you have goats on a small lot in Florida?

Yes, in many parts of Florida you can keep goats on a small property, but it depends on your county and municipality. Always check local ordinances first — some areas allow does and wethers but not intact bucks. Nigerian Dwarf goats are ideal for smaller lots because of their compact size and manageable needs.

How many goats do I need to start?

Always start with at least two. Goats are herd animals and a single goat will be stressed, vocal, and generally unhappy. Two does or a doe and a wether (castrated male) is a great beginner setup for a small homestead.

What do goats eat in Florida?

Goats in Florida do well on quality grass hay (coastal bermuda or orchard grass), fresh water, and loose goat-specific minerals. They’ll also browse on brush and weeds, which can be helpful — just make sure your garden is fenced off separately. Limit grain unless you have a lactating doe or young kids.

Are goats hard to keep in the Florida heat and humidity?

Goats can handle Florida’s climate reasonably well as long as they have access to shade, fresh water, and good airflow in their shelter. The bigger concern in humid climates is internal parasites like barber pole worm — learning FAMACHA scoring and working with a vet familiar with goats will help you stay ahead of that.

What’s the best goat breed for a first-time homesteader?

Nigerian Dwarf goats are widely considered the best starter breed for small homesteads. They’re small, friendly, good with children, and produce rich milk despite their size. Pygmy goats are another great option if milk production isn’t a priority and you’re mainly looking for a backyard companion animal.

How to Make Homemade Sourdough Bread from Scratch (Even If You’ve Killed Every Starter You’ve Ever Had)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I’ll be honest with you — I killed my first sourdough starter. And my second one. The third one is still going strong on my counter, and we’ve been baking together for over two years now. I named her Biscuit.

If you’ve been curious about making homemade sourdough bread but every tutorial you’ve found reads like a chemistry dissertation, I get it. I was there. But here’s what I want you to know: this is one of those old-fashioned skills that real people — people without stand mixers or Dutch ovens that cost more than my grocery budget — have been doing for thousands of years. You can do this too.

For our family, sourdough fits right into the way we try to live. Less processed, more intentional, made with our own hands. My kids help me feed Biscuit in the morning like she’s one of our pets (don’t tell the chickens). It’s become one of those quiet, rhythmic parts of our week that I genuinely look forward to — right up there with our morning nature journaling and collecting eggs from the coop.

What You Need to Start (It’s Less Than You Think)

You don’t need a $300 proofing basket or a sourdough subscription box. Here’s the real list:

• All-purpose or bread flour (unbleached is great)
• Whole wheat flour (for feeding your starter — it speeds things up)
• Non-chlorinated water (filtered or left out overnight)
• Salt
• A glass jar
• A kitchen scale (optional but helpful)
• A cast iron skillet or Dutch oven for baking

That’s genuinely it. We bake our sourdough in a covered cast iron pot and the crust comes out crackly and gorgeous every single time. If you want to go deeper on cast iron cooking, I wrote about it over at Cast Iron Cookware for Beginners: How to Get Started and Actually Keep It.

Step One: Build Your Sourdough Starter

Your starter is a living culture of wild yeast and bacteria that will leaven your bread naturally — no commercial yeast needed. This is the part that intimidates people, but I promise it’s really just flour and water and a little daily attention.

Days 1–7: Feeding Your Starter

Day 1: Mix 50g of whole wheat flour with 50g of room-temperature filtered water in a clean glass jar. Stir well, loosely cover (not airtight), and leave it on your counter.

Days 2–7: Each day, discard about half the starter and feed it with 50g flour and 50g water. You’ll start to see bubbles forming around day 3 or 4. By day 5–6, it should be noticeably rising and smelling a little tangy and yeasty — like bread is supposed to smell.

Here in Northwest Florida, our humidity and warmth actually works in our favor. My starter tends to get active faster than my friends up north report. If yours seems slow, try putting it in a slightly warmer spot — on top of the fridge works great.

Your starter is ready when it doubles in size within 4–8 hours of feeding and passes the float test: drop a small spoonful in water and if it floats, it’s ready to bake with.

Step Two: Mix Your Dough

Once your starter is active and bubbly, it’s time to make bread. This is a simple, no-knead sourdough method — perfect for a busy homeschool day.

Basic Sourdough Loaf:

• 450g bread flour
• 325g filtered water
• 100g active starter
• 9g salt

Mix: Combine the flour and water first, let it rest 30 minutes (this is called autolyse — it helps gluten develop without kneading). Then add your starter and salt, mix until combined.

Stretch and Fold: Over the next 4 hours, do 4 sets of stretch-and-folds about 30–45 minutes apart. Just grab a corner of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over. Turn the bowl and repeat all the way around. This takes about 30 seconds each time.

Shape and Cold Proof: Shape your dough into a round loaf, place it seam-side up in a floured bowl or banneton, cover it, and put it in the fridge overnight (8–16 hours). This slow cold ferment is where the flavor really develops.

Step Three: Bake It

This is the exciting part. The morning after your overnight proof:

1. Preheat your oven to 500°F (yes, really) with your cast iron pot inside for at least 45 minutes.
2. Carefully flip your cold dough onto a piece of parchment paper.
3. Score the top with a sharp knife or bread lame — a simple slash down the middle works fine.
4. Lower the dough into the hot pot, put the lid on, and bake covered for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the lid and bake another 20–25 minutes until the crust is deep golden brown.
6. Let it cool at least an hour before cutting. I know. It’s hard. But the inside is still finishing cooking.

The smell that fills your house during this hour? It is one of the simple pleasures of life. My kids come running from wherever they are in the yard every single time.

How We Make This a Homeschool Moment

This is one of those activities that covers so many subjects without feeling like school at all — which is very much the Charlotte Mason way.

• Science: The starter is a living ecosystem. We’ve used our pocket microscope to look at the bubbles up close and talked about wild yeast and fermentation.
• Math: Weighing ingredients, fractions, timing — it’s all there. We use Math-U-See for our main math curriculum, but baking might be the best applied math we do all week.
• Nature journaling: My daughter once drew Biscuit (the starter jar, not a dog) in her nature journal and labeled the stages of fermentation. That’s real learning.
• Life skills: There is something deeply grounding about teaching kids to make food with their hands. It connects them to something real in a way that no worksheet ever will.

This goes right alongside the way we think about raising kids in general — giving them ownership over real-world processes and showing them that they are capable of making things from scratch. If you want more on that, I love thinking about this stuff in How to Involve Kids in Homestead Chores by Age (Without the Meltdowns or Doing It All Yourself).

A Few Tips That Will Actually Save You

• Don’t use tap water. Chlorine can mess with your starter. We use a filtered pitcher or just leave tap water out uncovered overnight.
• Warmer kitchen = faster rise. Florida summers make our bread rise fast. In cooler months, tuck your dough in the oven with just the light on.
• If your starter smells like nail polish remover, it’s just hungry — feed it and give it a day.
• Hooch (the gray liquid on top) is fine. Pour it off or stir it in. Your starter isn’t dead.
• Don’t skip the preheat. The hot pot is what gives you that gorgeous oven spring and crackly crust.

And if you want to make this even more from-scratch? We use eggs from our own backyard flock in our egg bread variations. There’s something special about a loaf where nearly every ingredient came from your own property. If you’re thinking about starting with chickens, Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens is the one book I recommend to everyone.

This Is Simple Living in Action

Sourdough isn’t trendy to us — it’s just how we try to eat. Less stuff from a bag, more stuff from our kitchen. It saves money, it tastes better, and the kids know where their food comes from. You can read more about how we approach the whole food budget piece over at How to Reduce Your Grocery Bill Eating Whole Foods (Without Going Back to the Processed Stuff).

One loaf of homemade sourdough costs us maybe $1.50 in flour and salt. And it feeds our family with something nourishing and real that we made with our own hands. That matters to me.

If you’re just starting out, give yourself grace. Your first loaf might be a little flat or a little dense. That’s okay. Mine was basically a very dense frisbee. Feed your starter, try again, and don’t give up. Biscuit believes in you.

📖 You Might Also Like:

• How to Reduce Your Grocery Bill Eating Whole Foods (Without Going Back to the Processed Stuff)
• Best Container Vegetable Garden for Florida Summer Heat (What Actually Grows When It’s 95 Degrees Outside)
• Best Kids Garden Tools That Actually Work (No Flimsy Plastic Junk Here)

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to make homemade sourdough bread from scratch?

From starting your sourdough starter to pulling your first loaf out of the oven, expect about 7–10 days total. The starter takes 5–7 days to become active. Once it’s ready, the actual bread process takes about 24 hours including mixing, fermenting, cold proofing overnight, and baking. Active hands-on time is only about 30–45 minutes total.

Can beginners really make sourdough at home without special equipment?

Absolutely. You need flour, water, salt, a glass jar, and something to bake in — a Dutch oven or covered cast iron pot works perfectly. A kitchen scale helps with accuracy but isn’t strictly required. Most beginners are surprised by how little equipment sourdough actually needs.

Why does my sourdough starter smell bad?

A young starter can smell pretty funky — like vinegar, cheese, or even nail polish remover. This is usually just a sign that it’s hungry or the bacteria balance is still establishing itself. Keep feeding it daily and within a day or two the smell typically becomes more pleasant and yeasty. If there’s any pink or orange mold, that’s the only time to toss it and start over.

What flour is best for sourdough bread?

Unbleached all-purpose or bread flour works great for the loaf itself. For feeding your starter, mixing in some whole wheat flour speeds things up because the bran contains more wild yeast. Avoid bleached flour when possible — the bleaching process can affect fermentation.

How do I store a sourdough starter so I don’t have to feed it every day?

Once your starter is established and you’re not baking every day, just store it in the fridge with a loose lid. Feed it once a week — discard half, add fresh flour and water — and it will stay alive indefinitely. Pull it out the night before you want to bake, feed it, let it sit at room temperature until active and bubbly, then use it.

Florida Food Forest Beginner Guide: What to Plant (And How to Actually Make It Work Down Here)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I’ll be honest — when I first heard the term “food forest,” I pictured something that required an agriculture degree and ten acres in Vermont. It sounded beautiful but also… not for us. We’re in the Florida Panhandle. It’s hot, it’s humid, the bugs are relentless, and half the things I’ve tried to grow have melted into the ground by July.

But then I started reading about how food forests actually work with nature instead of against it, and something clicked. Because that’s what Florida already is — lush, layered, wild, and abundantly growing things whether you want it to or not. All we’re doing is pointing that energy somewhere useful.

We’re not fully there yet. We’re building ours in stages, the way I think most real families do. But I’ve learned enough — and made enough mistakes — that I want to share what’s actually working for us here in Northwest Florida, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

What Even Is a Food Forest?

A food forest (sometimes called a forest garden) is a planted ecosystem that mimics the structure of a natural forest — but everything in it is useful to your family. You’ve got tall canopy trees, smaller fruit trees underneath, shrubs, groundcovers, herbs, vines, and root vegetables all working together.

The beauty of it is that once it’s established, it mostly takes care of itself. The plants support each other. The leaves mulch the ground. The diversity keeps pests in check. It’s the opposite of a neat row garden that needs constant attention — it’s more like… building a living pantry.

And in Florida, where things grow fast and hard? Once you get the right plants in the ground, they want to thrive.

Why Florida Is Actually a Great Place for a Food Forest

We have two growing seasons, which means we can be productive almost year-round. We have rainfall that most of the country would envy. Our soil is sandy, sure, but that’s fixable with compost and mulch. And the sun? We’ve got plenty.

The key is choosing plants that are adapted to our climate — heat-tolerant, humidity-friendly, and ideally ones that don’t mind the occasional hurricane season stress. We’ve had good luck starting simple, adding layers over time, and letting the forest kind of grow itself into what it wants to be.

If you’re already gardening in Florida, check out my post on How to Start a Homestead Garden in Florida for Beginners (What Actually Works Down Here) — a lot of those same principles apply here.

The 7 Layers of a Food Forest (Simplified for Real Life)

You don’t have to nail all seven layers from day one. Start with what makes sense for your yard and your budget. Here’s how we think about it:

1. Canopy (Tall Trees): These are your big producers — think pecan, persimmon, or mulberry. They give shade and drop leaves that feed the soil below.

2. Sub-Canopy (Smaller Fruit Trees): This is where a lot of the fruit action happens. Citrus, figs, avocado, loquat. These are the workhorses of a Florida food forest.

3. Shrubs: Blueberries, elderberry, and pigeon pea are all fantastic here. Pigeon pea is especially magic — it fixes nitrogen, grows fast, and our chickens love the pods.

4. Herbaceous Layer: Herbs, comfrey, lemongrass, sweet potato vines. These fill in the gaps and do a lot of the soil-building work.

5. Ground Cover: Sweet potatoes (again!), strawberries, and native ground covers keep the soil cool and covered.

6. Root Layer: Turmeric, ginger, cassava. These grow underground and love Florida’s warmth.

7. Vines: Passionfruit, Seminole pumpkin, and chayote all climb and spread and produce like crazy once established.

What We Actually Plant in Our Northwest Florida Food Forest

Here’s our real, not-glamorized plant list — the things that have survived, produced, and made us feel like we actually know what we’re doing:

Fruit Trees That Love Florida

• Fig trees — fast-growing, prolific, and our kids eat them straight off the branch
• Loquat — one of the best-kept secrets in Florida gardening; it fruits in late winter when nothing else does
• Satsuma mandarin — hardier than most citrus and they do just fine in the Panhandle
• Mulberry — grows fast, birds love it, and so do the kids (and the chickens — free ranging under the mulberry tree is their favorite thing)
• Persimmon — native varieties are especially tough and beautiful in the fall

Shrubs and Mid-Layer Plants

• Blueberries — we have Rabbiteye and Southern Highbush varieties; they need a companion for pollination, so plant at least two
• Elderberry — incredible for immunity support and the kids help me make elderberry syrup every fall
• Pigeon pea — nitrogen-fixing, fast-growing, and doubles as chicken feed

Groundcovers and Herbs

• Lemongrass — grows in big clumps, repels mosquitoes, and smells incredible in the summer heat
• Comfrey — the best soil builder I’ve found; chop and drop it around your trees
• Sweet potato — plant it and mostly forget it; harvest a few months later
• Turmeric and ginger — tuck these under the shade of your fruit trees and they’ll quietly multiply

Vines

• Seminole pumpkin — a Florida native that laughs at heat and humidity; we’ve gotten pumpkins as big as your head from basically neglected vines
• Passionfruit — beautiful flowers, delicious fruit, and the kids are obsessed with watching the blooms open

For more ideas on what actually survives Florida’s brutal summers, I wrote about Best Container Vegetable Garden for Florida Summer Heat (What Actually Grows When It’s 95 Degrees Outside) — a lot of those heat-tolerant picks translate well to food forest edges and gaps.

How to Start Small (Without Overwhelming Yourself)

My honest advice? Pick one corner of your yard. Plant one or two fruit trees, some blueberry bushes, and whatever herbs you already cook with. Let the chickens scratch around underneath. Watch what happens.

We’ve been layering ours in over about three years now, and it just keeps getting better. The more plants you add, the more the ecosystem balances itself. Pest pressure actually goes down as diversity goes up — we’ve noticed this in our yard firsthand.

If you want to go deeper into Florida-specific foraging and what’s already growing wild around you, my post on Wild Edibles in Florida: What to Look for on Your Next Family Walk is a great companion read.

Making It a Homeschool Thing (Because of Course We Do)

This is one of those places where Charlotte Mason and homesteading overlap so naturally it almost doesn’t feel like school. Nature journaling under the fig tree. Sketching a passionfruit flower with Faber-Castell watercolors while we wait for it to open. Using a pocket microscope to look at soil after we’ve turned in compost. Identifying the birds that show up once the mulberries ripen — our Sibley’s field guide gets a serious workout in summer.

We keep a nature journal specifically for the food forest — drawings, observations, what fruited when, what the chickens ate, what bugs we found. It’s living science, living math, living everything. And it’s the kind of hands-in-the-dirt, 1990s-style childhood I want for my kids.

For pests on our chickens and around the garden, we use Wondercide — it’s non-toxic and safe around the birds and the kids, which matters a lot to me in a space where we’re eating.

Don’t Forget the Soil

This is the foundation of everything. Florida’s sandy soil drains fast and doesn’t hold nutrients well on its own. Compost is your best friend. We keep a kitchen compost bin on the counter and our backyard pile gets fed constantly — fruit scraps, chicken bedding, garden trimmings. Over time, that soil underneath our trees has transformed.

Mulch heavily. Like, more than you think you need. Wood chip mulch from a tree service (often free!) piled deep around your trees will hold moisture, feed the soil, and keep weeds from taking over.

Building a food forest is one of those slow, beautiful projects that pays you back for years. It’s not instant — but neither is a good childhood, right? We’re planting for the long game here. And every time one of my kids reaches up and grabs a fig or spots a new bird in the mulberry tree, I know it’s working.

If you’re just getting started, please don’t let the scale of it intimidate you. Start with one tree. One patch of lemongrass. One blueberry bush. And build from there.

📖 You Might Also Like:

• How to Start a Homestead Garden in Florida for Beginners (What Actually Works Down Here)
• Wild Edibles in Florida: What to Look for on Your Next Family Walk
• How to Involve Kids in Homestead Chores by Age (Without the Meltdowns or Doing It All Yourself)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest food forest to start in Florida?

Start with a fig tree, a couple of blueberry bushes, and some lemongrass — all of these are extremely low-maintenance and well-suited to Florida’s heat and humidity. Add mulberry and loquat as your next step. These plants establish quickly and produce reliably without a lot of intervention, making them ideal for beginners.

Can you grow a food forest in North Florida or the Florida Panhandle?

Yes! Northwest Florida is actually a sweet spot for food forests because you get enough winter chill hours for blueberries and some stone fruits, plus the long warm season for tropicals like figs, persimmons, and citrus. Satsuma mandarins, Rabbiteye blueberries, loquats, figs, and mulberries are all excellent choices for the Pensacola area and beyond.

How long does it take for a food forest to produce food?

Some plants produce within the first season — sweet potatoes, herbs, and lemongrass give you something to harvest almost immediately. Blueberry bushes may take 2-3 years to really produce well. Fruit trees like figs and loquats often fruit within 2-4 years. The good news is that in Florida’s climate, establishment happens faster than in colder regions.

What ground cover works best in a Florida food forest?

Sweet potato is hands-down the best ground cover for most Florida food forests — it spreads quickly, suppresses weeds, keeps soil cool, and gives you an edible harvest. Strawberries work well in cooler months, and native ground covers like sunshine mimosa are great for areas where you want something that truly takes care of itself.

Do I need a lot of land to start a food forest in Florida?

Not at all. You can start a food forest in a small backyard or even a large corner of your yard. Even a 10×10 space can hold a dwarf fruit tree, a couple of shrubs, herbs, and ground cover. The layering concept scales to whatever space you have — start small, plant densely, and let it fill in over time.

How to Start a Homestead Garden in Florida for Beginners (What Actually Works Down Here)

This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

If you’ve been standing in your backyard, staring at a patch of scraggly St. Augustine grass and thinking I really want to grow food back here — hi, me too. That was us a few years ago. We had a vague dream of a homestead garden, a very sandy yard, absolutely zero idea what we were doing, and a flock of chickens who were already way more prepared for this life than we were.

The thing nobody tells you when you start Googling “how to start a garden” is that almost everything you find is written for somewhere that is decidedly not Florida. We are not Zone 5. We do not get a hard frost. And planting tomatoes in May is basically a death sentence down here.

So this is the post I wish I’d had when we started — practical, Florida-specific, and real about what it takes to actually grow food in the Panhandle.

First, Forget Everything You Know About Garden Seasons

This is the single biggest mindset shift for Florida beginner gardeners. Our growing seasons are essentially flipped compared to most of the country.

In Northwest Florida, your two main growing windows are:

• Fall/Winter garden: September through March — this is your prime time. Greens, root vegetables, brassicas, herbs. This is when Florida gardening feels magical.
• Spring garden: February through May — tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans. Short window before the heat shuts everything down.
• Summer: Unless you’re growing sweet potatoes, okra, or some serious heat-lovers, summer is mostly a break. It’s brutal. Give yourself grace.

Once that clicks, everything else starts to make more sense.

Start Small. Like, Really Small.

I cannot stress this enough. Do not till up half your backyard in year one. Start with one raised bed, or even just a few containers on your back porch. Learn the rhythms, learn your space, learn what the Florida sun actually does to your plants before you go all in.

We started with two 4×8 raised beds and thought we were heroes. By year two we added two more. Now we have a real system — but it took building up slowly.

If you have kids helping (which I hope you do — more on that in a second), smaller beds are also just way more manageable. My kids have a sense of real ownership over our garden, and that only works because it’s not overwhelming.

Fix Your Soil First — Florida Soil Is Not Your Friend (Yet)

Florida native soil is basically sugar sand with some wishful thinking mixed in. It drains fast, it doesn’t hold nutrients, and plants are not impressed by it.

For raised beds, we fill ours with a mix of:

• Good quality garden soil
• Aged compost (we compost kitchen scraps year-round — a simple kitchen compost bin on the counter makes this easy)
• Aged chicken manure from our own flock

That last one is a game-changer, y’all. Our chickens work for us. Their aged manure is some of the best fertilizer you can put in a garden bed — it’s one of those things where having backyard chickens starts to feel like the best decision we ever made. (If you’re just getting into chickens too, Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens is the book I recommend to every beginner.)

We also dust our garden beds and coop area with food-grade diatomaceous earth to help with pests naturally — it’s part of our non-toxic approach to pest control across the whole property.

What to Actually Plant (For Beginners in the Florida Panhandle)

Here are the crops that have been most successful for us as beginners in Northwest Florida:

Fall/Winter (plant September–November):

• Lettuce, spinach, kale, Swiss chard
• Radishes and turnips (fast and easy — great for kids)
• Carrots (need loose, amended soil)
• Broccoli and cabbage
• Herbs: basil (in summer), parsley, cilantro, dill

Spring (plant February–April):

• Tomatoes — get them in by early March
• Peppers
• Squash and zucchini
• Green beans
• Cucumbers

A seed starting kit is really helpful for getting a jump on your spring garden indoors before the last cool nights pass.

Get Your Kids Involved — This Is the Real Point

Okay, I have to say this because it’s genuinely why we garden in the first place. Yes, we want to grow real food. Yes, we want to reduce our grocery bill. But mostly? We want our kids to know where food comes from, to put their hands in the dirt, to learn patience and observation and the deeply satisfying feeling of eating something you grew yourself.

This is Charlotte Mason gardening. Nature study with dirt under your fingernails.

Our kids have their own small garden plot. They plant what they want (within reason — last year it was mostly sunflowers and cherry tomatoes, which honestly was perfect). They keep a nature journal where they sketch what they’re observing — changes in the plants, bugs they find, what the soil looks like after rain. My youngest uses Faber-Castell watercolors to paint what she sees. It’s slow, it’s messy, it’s exactly the kind of childhood I want them to have.

For the bug-obsessed kids (and there’s always at least one), a bug collection kit or pocket microscope turns the garden into a full science classroom. We’ve identified more insects and critters in our garden than I ever expected to find in a suburban Pensacola backyard.

For more on getting kids involved in real homestead work, check out How to Involve Kids in Homestead Chores by Age (Without the Meltdowns or Doing It All Yourself).

A Few Florida-Specific Tips Nobody Else Will Tell You

Water deeply, not constantly. The heat here makes you want to water every day, but daily shallow watering grows shallow roots. Water deeply every 2-3 days and let those roots go looking for moisture.

Mulch like your garden depends on it — because it does. A thick layer of mulch keeps the soil cool, holds moisture, and is non-negotiable in a Florida summer. Pine straw is free and plentiful here and works beautifully.

Watch for pests in warm weather. Aphids, whiteflies, and caterpillars love a Florida garden. We use Wondercide for pest control — it’s plant-safe and non-toxic, which matters a lot to us with kids and a dog running through the garden constantly.

Shade cloth is your summer friend. If you want to try growing anything through the hotter months, a 30-40% shade cloth can make the difference between survival and scorched plants.

What About the Budget?

Starting a garden does have some upfront costs, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. We’ve saved significantly on groceries since our garden hit its stride — especially in the fall and winter when our beds are overflowing with greens.

If you’re using the Florida PEP scholarship, some garden and nature study supplies may count toward your educational expenses. It’s worth checking what your scholarship account covers — and if you’re new to homeschooling in Florida, take a look at Florida Homeschool Graduation Requirements: What You Actually Need to Know to get a fuller picture of how homeschool life works here.

For more on managing a real food budget, How to Reduce Your Grocery Bill Eating Whole Foods has a lot of practical overlap with what a productive garden makes possible.

Just Start. Imperfectly. This Week.

You don’t need the perfect setup. You don’t need to know everything. You need one raised bed, decent soil, seeds suited for your season, and a willingness to learn from your mistakes — because you will make them, and that is absolutely fine.

Our best garden lessons have come from things that didn’t work. The tomatoes we planted too late. The kale the caterpillars demolished. The bed we forgot to water through a dry spell. Every failure taught us something, and the kids were right there learning alongside us.

That’s the 1990s way of doing it, honestly. You figure it out by doing it. You get dirty. You try again. And eventually you’re standing in your backyard in October, handing a kid a just-picked cherry tomato still warm from the sun, and it tastes better than anything from a grocery store ever could.

That’s the whole point.

📖 You Might Also Like:

• Best Kids Garden Tools That Actually Work (No Flimsy Plastic Junk Here)
• How to Create a Nature Play Yard in Your Backyard (That Kids Actually Use)
• Wild Edibles in Florida: What to Look for on Your Next Family Walk

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I start a vegetable garden in Florida?

In Northwest Florida and the Panhandle, your best planting windows are fall (September–November) for cool-season crops like greens, carrots, and broccoli, and early spring (February–April) for tomatoes, peppers, and squash. Summer is generally too hot for most vegetables — okra and sweet potatoes are notable exceptions.

What vegetables grow best in Florida for beginners?

For beginners in Florida, start with easy cool-season crops like lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, radishes, and herbs in the fall. In spring, cherry tomatoes, green beans, and squash tend to be forgiving and rewarding. Avoid planting warm-season crops too late — Florida’s heat arrives fast.

Why is Florida soil bad for gardening and how do I fix it?

Florida’s native soil is mostly sandy, which means it drains quickly and doesn’t hold nutrients well. The best fix is to build raised beds filled with a mix of quality garden soil, compost, and aged manure. Top-dressing with compost each season and mulching heavily will continue to improve your soil over time.

Can I homestead in Florida on a small suburban lot?

Absolutely. Many Florida families are homesteading on smaller suburban properties with raised bed gardens, backyard chickens, composting, and fruit trees. You don’t need acreage to grow a meaningful portion of your family’s food — you just need a plan that works for your space and Florida’s unique climate.

How do I keep pests out of my Florida garden without chemicals?

Florida’s warm climate means pest pressure is real year-round. Non-toxic options that work well include food-grade diatomaceous earth for soil-level pests, plant-safe sprays like Wondercide for aphids and whiteflies, physical barriers like row covers, and encouraging beneficial insects by planting flowers near your vegetable beds. Chickens can also help patrol for bugs around the garden edges.