Our HOMEGROWN 101s empower eaters and farmers together to learn skills and get know-how for growing, cooking, sharing and cultivating community through food and farming.

Celebrate the culture of agriculture and connect to the source of our food.

Featured HOMEGROWN 101s


Growing Peas

All it takes to grow peas is a little bit of space, seeds, and some know-how. Whether you’re looking to grow scall-scale in your backyard, or have bigger plans in mind, this guide will help you get started.

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Raising Ducks

Ducks are wonderful, beautiful, and fun, but you need to know what you’re getting into. Find out all you need to know in our guide.

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Photo by Troy T

Building A Duck House

Where will you keep ducklings when they’re grown up? Never fear. Follow our guide to build an adorable, sturdy duck house with materials you may even have on hand.

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Photo by Annie Spratt

 

Buying A Whole Pig

Get all the information you need to connect with a local farmer to buy a whole (or half) pig for you and your family. How big a freezer do you need? How do you find a farmer? What’s it like to butcher a pig yourself? Find out in our guide.

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Build A Pallet Wood Chicken Coop

Learn the ins and outs of building a chicken coop from pallet wood. Get instructions on sourcing the wood, designing the coop, and how to build your very own hen house.

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Companion Planting

All about Companion Planting, where you place plants next to each other that will get along. Do tomatoes like basil? Will arugula play nicely with broccoli? Create harmony in your garden and avoid food fights.

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How to Start a Food Recovery Program

This 101 brings advice from Ashlee O. Shelton, founder of The Greenhouse, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Where some food recoveries focus on salvaging unsold food from restaurants, the Greenhouse collects its food from local farmers — and then does one better. To extend the life of this good food, Ashlee and company preserve, can, pickle, and freeze it, capturing precious nutrients at their peak before redistributing their efforts to Harrisburg’s underserved citizens.

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Photo: Lori Garringer

How to Build Raised Beds

We’re not talking raised beds in the princess-and-the-pea sense, with fluffy mattresses stacked a mile high. We’re talking raised beds for growing—as in gardening boxes. Usually made out of wood planks, concrete blocks, bricks, or other recycled materials, a raised bed gives you lots of control over your growing patch.

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