The Backyard Pantry - From Ours to Yours

11/10/2026

🌱 How Many Seeds Are in There?
Pull apart one fluffy boll and you'll find 4 to 5 sections called "locks." Each lock holds about 6 to 9 seeds, so a single boll can have 30 to 45 seeds hiding inside! Every fiber is actually attached to a seed. Cotton fluff is nature's way of helping seeds travel.

✨ The "Magic" Stretch
Here's the part that amazes every kid (and adult) I show it to: grab a little wad of cotton and gently pull it apart, and it just keeps growing and growing! That's because each fiber is a tiny flat, twisted ribbon. Those natural twists grip onto each other, so as you pull, the fibers slide past one another without letting go. That same gripping action is exactly what makes cotton spinnable into thread. People have been spinning it for thousands of years!

🤓 Fun Cotton Facts

👉 Each cotton fiber is a single plant cell, and one seed can grow thousands of them.

👉 U.S. paper money is made mostly of cotton, which is why it survives the washing machine.

👉 Cottonseed is pressed into cooking oil, so almost nothing goes to waste.

11/09/2026

11/08/2026

🌿 We need YOUR help, friends! 🌿

Have you ever brought home one of our medicinal or culinary products, booked a garden consult, attended our free classes at the Republic Library, or rolled up your sleeves and volunteered alongside us? Then you're part of The Backyard Pantry family, and we'd be so grateful to hear from you! 💚

⭐ Leave us an honest review on Google or Facebook. Your words help other folks in our community find us, and they mean the world to a small family business like ours.

11/08/2026

🌿💛 Fennel: A Garden Favorite From Root to Seed! 💛🌿

Fennel is one of those plants that does it all. It's beautiful, edible from top to bottom, loved by pollinators, and has a long history in herbal traditions. Here's why we grow it on the homestead!

🦋 A butterfly nursery. Fennel is a host plant for black swallowtail butterflies! If you spot green, black, and yellow striped caterpillars munching on your fronds, leave them be. They'll turn into gorgeous butterflies, and the plant bounces back.

🐝 Beneficial bug magnet. Those flat, yellow umbrella-shaped flowers attract hoverflies, ladybugs, tiny parasitic wasps, and bees. These good bugs help control aphids and other garden pests.

🍽️ Every part is edible!

🧅 Bulb: Crisp and mild with a sweet licorice flavor. Delicious raw in salads or roasted until caramelized.

🌿 Fronds: Use like dill in salads, soups, fish dishes, and pesto.

🌾 Seeds: A classic seasoning for sausage, breads, and Italian dishes.

✨ Pollen: A gourmet treat with an intense, sweet flavor.

🍵 Traditional uses: Fennel seeds have long been used to support digestion, ease gas and bloating, and freshen breath. A simple fennel seed tea after a meal is a classic home remedy, and chewing a few seeds is a tradition in many cultures.

🌱 Two types to know:

🔸 Florence (bulb) fennel is grown for its bulb and treated as an annual. It loves cool weather and makes a great fall crop since summer heat makes it bolt.

🔸 Herb fennel (including the stunning bronze variety) is grown for its fronds and seeds. It's a hardy perennial here in Zone 6b/7a and comes back year after year.

🫙 How to save fennel seeds:

1️⃣ Let some flower heads stay on the plant until the seeds turn from green to brown
2️⃣ Cut the heads off and place them upside down in a paper bag
3️⃣ Let them dry for a week or two, then shake the bag to release the seeds
4️⃣ Store in an airtight jar in a cool, dark place

⚠️ Good to know:

❌ Fennel doesn't play well with others! It releases compounds that can stunt nearby plants, especially tomatoes and beans, so give it its own spot.

❌ It reseeds enthusiastically. Clip off flower heads before they drop seed if you don't want fennel popping up everywhere.

❌ Use medicinal amounts with caution during pregnancy, and avoid if you're allergic to carrots, celery, or other plants in the same family. Talk with your healthcare provider before using it medicinally.

From caterpillars to the kitchen, fennel is truly a plant that gives back! 💛

Do you grow fennel? Tell us your favorite way to use it in the comments! 👇

This post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition.

11/07/2026

Is a worm a herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore? 🪱

Trick question! Earthworms are actually detritivores, a word most of us never learned in school.

Detritivores eat detritus: dead leaves, rotting roots, manure, and other decaying organic matter. They don't eat living plants and they don't hunt. Along the way they also swallow the bacteria, fungi, and tiny critters living on that decaying material, so if you had to pick one of the big three, "omnivore" is the closest fit.

You've got a whole detritivore crew working in your garden right now:

🪱 Earthworms
🐛 Millipedes
🦐 Pill bugs (roly-polies are actually crustaceans!)
🐜 Springtails
🪲 Dung beetles

Here's the fun part: detritivores and decomposers aren't quite the same thing. Detritivores physically eat and shred dead material. Then fungi and bacteria (the true decomposers) finish breaking it down into nutrients your plants can use. It's a tag team!

So the next time you skip raking every last leaf or toss scraps on the compost pile, you're feeding the cleanup crew that builds your soil. 🌱

What's the coolest critter you've found in your compost? 👇

11/06/2026

❄️🌿 FROST ADVISORY IN REPUBLIC TONIGHT 🌿❄️

The National Weather Service has issued a Frost Advisory for our area, with frost expected by midnight tonight. It's 52° right now with a light north wind, but temperatures will drop fast after sunset.

🌡️ At what temperature does frost happen?
Frost forms when surfaces like leaves and grass hit 32°F. Here's the tricky part: you can get frost even when the forecast says 36 to 38°F! Thermometers measure air about 5 to 6 feet off the ground, while plants down low lose heat faster and get colder, especially on clear, calm nights.

📊 Know your cold categories:
🥶 Frost (32 to 36°F): damages tender plants like tomatoes, peppers, and basil
❄️ Light freeze (29 to 32°F): kills tender plants
🧊 Moderate freeze (25 to 28°F): damages many plants
⛄ Hard freeze (24°F and below): ends the season for most crops

🏡 What we did at The Backyard Pantry today:

✅ Moved potted plants into the greenhouse

✅ Harvested the last of our herbs, I wish you could see just how big these piles of herbs are!

✅ Picked all remaining tomatoes and peppers

💡 Zone 6b/7a Tip:
Green tomatoes will ripen indoors! Wrap them loosely in newspaper or set them in a paper bag at room temperature, and check every few days. Peppers can be used green, chopped and frozen, or dried for winter.

🛡️ Still have plants outside? Protect them tonight:
1️⃣ Water the soil this afternoon. Moist soil holds heat better than dry soil.
2️⃣ Cover plants with sheets, frost cloth, or buckets. Let covers reach the ground to trap warmth.
3️⃣ Avoid plastic touching leaves, since it can transfer cold.
4️⃣ Remove covers in the morning once temperatures rise.

🥬 Good news: Cool-season crops like kale, collards, spinach, and carrots can handle a frost, and kale actually gets sweeter after one!

💬 Did you get your garden tucked in? What's the last thing you harvested this season? 👇

11/06/2026

🤍☁️ We Grew Cotton in Our Backyard, and It's LOADED! ☁️🤍

Harvest time is here, and our four cotton plants are bursting with fluffy white bolls! Cotton is such a fun and unexpected plant to grow, and it's a wonderful way to connect with where our clothes and fabrics come from.

🌺 A beautiful plant, too! Cotton is related to okra and hibiscus, and it shows! Its flowers open creamy white or pale yellow, turn pink or deep rose by the next day, then drop off. Where each flower was, a green pod called a boll forms. As it matures, the boll dries, splits open, and reveals that soft, fluffy cotton.

☀️ Growing cotton in Missouri: Cotton loves heat and needs a long growing season. That's why it's grown commercially down in the Missouri Bootheel! Here in Zone 6b/7a, start it after the soil has warmed in late spring, give it full sun, and be patient. It's an annual here, but it's worth the wait.

✂️ How to harvest:

1️⃣ Pick bolls once they've fully split open and the cotton is fluffy and dry

2️⃣ Harvest on a dry day, since damp cotton can mold

3️⃣ Gently twist the cotton out of the dried hull. Wear gloves, because those dry hulls are SHARP!

4️⃣ If frost is coming and you still have closed bolls, cut the stems and bring them indoors. Mature bolls will often finish opening inside.

🫘 Hand ginning and saving seeds: Each fluffy lock of cotton has seeds tucked inside. Pulling them out by hand is called ginning, and it gives you a whole new appreciation for the invention of the cotton gin! Save those seeds in a cool, dry spot to plant next spring.

🧵 What can you do with homegrown cotton?

🔸 Practice hand spinning it into thread or yarn

🔸 Use it as stuffing for small projects

🔸 Make rustic farmhouse decor, wreaths, and bouquets with dried stems

🔸 Use it as a hands-on lesson for kids about history, agriculture, and where fabric comes from

⚠️ Good to know:

❌ Cottonseed is NOT edible raw. It contains a natural compound that's toxic to people and many animals, so keep seeds away from kids and livestock.

📋 Missouri has statewide boll weevil rules that can apply to backyard cotton, not just big farms in the Bootheel. Before you plant, give the Missouri Department of Agriculture or your local MU Extension office a quick call to see if they'd like your plants reported. And avoid buying unginned cotton from other states, since it can carry pests.

There's something really special about growing a crop that's shaped so much history. Cotton is proof that the garden can hold a lot of surprises! 🤍

Would you try growing cotton? Tell us in the comments! 👇

11/05/2026

🌿Meet Mojito Mint and the Rest of Our Mint Family!🌿

Mint is one of the easiest and most rewarding herbs you can grow, and we're a little obsessed! The star of today's video is Mojito mint, but we grow EIGHT kinds here at Mounteer Farms. Here's a peek at the whole family:

🍹 Mojito Mint: The traditional mint used in authentic Cuban mojitos! It has a mild, sweet, slightly citrusy flavor without the sharp bite of other mints. Perfect for drinks, iced tea, and fruit salads.

🍌 Banana Mint: Bright green leaves with a fruity banana scent. Fun in smoothies, desserts, and kids' gardens!

🍏 Apple Mint: Soft, fuzzy leaves with a gentle, fruity flavor. Lovely in teas, jellies, and lemonade.

🍫 Chocolate Mint: Smells like a peppermint patty! Amazing in hot cocoa, brownies, coffee, and ice cream.

🍊 Mandarin Mint: A citrusy twist that's wonderful in teas, cocktails, and fruit dishes.

🍓 Strawberry Mint: Sweet and fruity, great for infused water and summer drinks.

❄️ Peppermint: The strong, cooling classic, packed with menthol. Our go-to for herbal tea and apothecary products.

🌱 Spearmint: Sweeter and milder than peppermint. The classic flavor in gum, mint jelly, and Middle Eastern dishes.

🍵 Traditional uses: Mint has been used for centuries to settle upset stomachs, ease bloating, and freshen breath. Peppermint tea is a classic after-dinner digestive, and peppermint is also traditionally used to help with tension headaches and that stuffy feeling during cold season.

🐝 Bonus for the garden: When mint flowers, it attracts bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. Its strong scent also helps deter some pests.

✂️ How to harvest and use:

🔸 For the best flavor, harvest before the plant flowers

🔸 Cut stems just above a pair of leaves, and the plant will branch out and grow fuller

🔸 Use fresh, or bundle and hang to dry for tea all winter long

🔸 Freeze chopped leaves in ice cube trays for drinks!

⚠️ Mint growing tips:

❌ Mint spreads FAST through underground runners. Grow it in pots or containers so it doesn't take over your garden beds.

✅ Keep each variety in its own container so they stay separate and easy to tell apart.

✅ Most mints aren't true to seed, so the best way to grow more is from cuttings. Just stick a stem in a glass of water and it'll root in a week or two!

❄️ Mint is hardy here in Zone 6b/7a. Give it one last big harvest before a hard freeze, then cut it back and it'll return in spring.

💡 Good to know: Peppermint may make heartburn worse for some people. As always, talk with your healthcare provider before using herbs medicinally.

Whether you're making tea, cocktails, desserts, or home remedies, there's a mint for everyone! 🌿

Which mint is your favorite? Tell us in the comments! 👇

This post is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition.

11/05/2026

Our Seasonings and Infused Salts got a new look! Did you know to help keep our cost low we design and create all of our own labels print them off and cut them out ourselves!?

Did you know that we have eight different seasoning blends and nine different infused salts?!

Or that we have 12 different tea blends and 14 different bread mix flavors? 🤔

We have a whole culinary line on top of all of our medicinal wellness line.

Check out our website!