by Noel | Mar 20, 2020 | CobraHead, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
Starting seeds is critical to my vegetable garden. Buying live plants is cost-prohibitive and only by starting seeds can I grow exactly what I want. The flats above are bottom heated with a heat mat. A sheet of plywood between the mat and the flats mitigates and spreads the otherwise too intense heat of the mat. The mat is connected to a timer, 15 minutes heat on, 60 minutes off. The unit doesn’t have a thermostat so this works reasonably well. The lights...
by Noel | Dec 12, 2019 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
Every garden year is different. Because I grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, I can usually be assured that I’ll get some good harvests of most things, even if occasional failures occur. Thirty-three years of growing in the same area also contribute a lot of knowledge of how things work and increase the chance of success. Peppers, Sweet and Hot This year we had a better than average and most bountiful harvest of peppers, both sweet and hot....
by Judy | Dec 11, 2019 | CobraHead, Gardening, Recipes
Vegetable bean soup is one of our standby dishes in the fall and winter. I make it every couple of weeks in the Instant Pot. Using the Instant Pot is a very carefree way of making this soup but you can certainly cook it on the stove top. The basics of the soup are the same each time but you can vary it by the type of beans and veggies and herbs you use. I used a mix of fresh and frozen garden vegetables. Unlike our Capucijner pea soup, the...
by Noel | Sep 19, 2019 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening
My gardening interest is in growing food. While I like flowers and ornamental plants, they are not my hobby. I’m definitely not passionate about growing them, learning their Latin names, or keeping up with the latest introductions. I’ve often said “if you can’t eat it, why grow it”, but I’m really not that cold about the beauty or necessity of flowers. We have a lot of colorful plants in the yard, but they are easy-care perennials and the work...
by Noel | Aug 16, 2019 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
The year has brought us a lot more rain than we really need. The good news is that I’ve barely had to water. More good news is that water-loving plants like tomatoes, melons, and zucchini are putting out huge crops. Bad news is the tomatoes are splitting from too much water, and leaf blight, always a problem in Wisconsin is rampant again. More bad news is that the weeds love the rain every bit as much as the veggies. Even more bad news is that the mosquitos...
by Noel | Jun 26, 2019 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening
Monarchs love milkweed. If you grow it, and you’re in the range of their travels, you may get them to lay eggs and hatch caterpillars. I’ve got milkweed in a few areas on the property, and I always let a couple plants survive in the garden growing area. The monarchs almost always show up. It’s going to be tough going for the monarchs if they are to survive, and it will require humans to change some bad habits. As gardeners, our efforts to...
