Suburban Sodbuster

Suburban Sodbuster I raise vegetables using no-till, organic methods in our backyard. I also keep honey bees, using natural, treatment-free methods, primarily in Layens hives.

When I harvested garlic last week, I also cleared weeds from the beds. One bed was filled with plantain, known for it's...
06/30/2025

When I harvested garlic last week, I also cleared weeds from the beds. One bed was filled with plantain, known for it's health benefits including soothing, healing and anti-inflammatory qualities. I harvested an abundance of plantain along with the garlic, washed it and hung the "weeds" to dry in the greenhouse. Once the leaves are well dried I plan to use some to make a balm, but may also save some for tea for its respiratory and digestive benefits.



Today's garlic harvest is a good one - from two 4x8 beds I filled 4 buckets. Now for the curing!
06/27/2025

Today's garlic harvest is a good one - from two 4x8 beds I filled 4 buckets. Now for the curing!








Here's a big THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased and/or shared the listing for "Don't Fear the Bees". I hope that i...
06/23/2025

Here's a big THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased and/or shared the listing for "Don't Fear the Bees". I hope that it's an enjoyable and beneficial book for the children in your life. If you find value in the book, would you please leave a rating and review? We were pleasantly shocked to see our book listed at #2 of new releases in Amazon's Children's books - Bugs and Spiders category. Your review can help the book to be promoted to even more people on Amazon. The book listing can be found at https://amzn.to/4ecJBmw.

Mrs. Sodbuster and I spent the weekend at the Homestead Freedom Festival at Southfork Homestead near Paris, Illinois. I...
06/23/2025

Mrs. Sodbuster and I spent the weekend at the Homestead Freedom Festival at Southfork Homestead near Paris, Illinois. It was a good event and we got to meet a lot of great people. Our booth was right on a corner, next to a large presentation tent, which gave us a good location for foot traffic and to be able to listen to the speakers. You can't quite tell due to the light, but the 4th photo is while Joel Salatin was speaking. At the event we saw a lot of familiar faces from other homesteading events and had the opportunity to get to know some people better, like Heather of Yes Honey Brand. Their honey sweetened sodas and other products are growing in popularity - you might see them at a festival near you or find their products at Azure Standard or maybe at a store near you.

The event was great but the heat became an issue, particularly on the second day. Even as we sweated in the heat wave, it was still great to talk beekeeping with old and new friends who came by the booth.

Now available on Amazon: a children's book, written as a conversation between a young girl and her father, to help pres...
06/19/2025

Now available on Amazon: a children's book, written as a conversation between a young girl and her father, to help preschoolers understand that they don't have to be initially fearful of bees. The engaging illustrations in this book are the handiwork of my talented daughter-in-law, who also did our bio portraits in the same style. We're proud to finally release this book publicly and hope it will be valued and useful to parents and those who work with young children. The book can be found on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3SU9GNw.

There's a lonely little petunia in my potato (not onion) patch. I have no idea how it got there.
06/14/2025

There's a lonely little petunia in my potato (not onion) patch. I have no idea how it got there.








Earlier this week I removed a honeybee colony from a second story floor in front of a bump-out window. The bees had mad...
06/13/2025

Earlier this week I removed a honeybee colony from a second story floor in front of a bump-out window. The bees had made their home in a small space under the end wall, only large enough for me to fit a fist in even after removing the floorboards right up to the wall. This was a successful removal - I didn't see the queen during the job but found her in the bee vacuum later. The bees and their comb are now in a new hive.

Beekeeping doesn't have to be hard! On Saturday, September 20th, for the price of a nucleus colony, you can join me for ...
06/12/2025

Beekeeping doesn't have to be hard! On Saturday, September 20th, for the price of a nucleus colony, you can join me for an all-day in-person natural beekeeping seminar to learn how to keep bees without supplemental sugar syrup or hive treatments, allowing them to live much like they would in nature. This seminar will cover topics such as:

• Life and biology of honeybees
• Principles of natural beekeeping
• Planning for swarm catching success
• Managing a horizontal hive
• Marketing and selling your honey
• Live hive inspection (weather permitting)

For more details and to purchase registration, go to https://suburbansodbuster.com/product/natural-beekeeping-1-day-seminar/.

I look forward to meeting you and helping you prepare to keep bees naturally!





These are some views around our booth at The Homestead Festival this last weekend. Each afternoon brought storms, but a...
06/10/2025

These are some views around our booth at The Homestead Festival this last weekend. Each afternoon brought storms, but as you can see in these photos we also had some beautiful, sunny times, too. Our location was on a corner, near both a presentation and demonstration tent, so was a great position for foot traffic. Overall, despite the rain and storms, this was a great event.

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Affton, MO

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