by Noel | Feb 26, 2018 | CobraHead, Environmental Issues, Gardening
Last week it rained heavily on top of solidly frozen ground. The result was a lot of localized flooding and ice ponds everywhere. The water had nowhere to escape. Our closest large drainage is Koshkonong Creek which runs more like a ditch under Highway 18 about three blocks west of here, then through downtown Cambridge and on its way to the Rock River and the Mississippi. Here’s an ice pond on my property. There are ice ponds everywhere in the area, and...
by Noel | Jan 15, 2018 | CobraHead, Farming, Garden Tools, Gardening, Recipes, Vegetable Growing
Gardening is excellent physical and spiritual activity. Most who garden, love it and need it, but what would you do if pain or restricted movement from a debilitating disease were forcing you to give up gardening and your garden? Shawna Coronado found herself in that situation when she was diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis. Shawna was already an established garden writer and well-known gardening spokesperson when she came close to giving up gardening with...
by Noel | Dec 1, 2017 | CobraHead, Garden Tools, Gardening
We’re taking advantage of good weather to get a lot of garden beds prepared for winter. We’re loosening them up with a broadfork, pulling out most of the weeds, shaping them up neatly, and covering them with a thick layer of leaves. I don’t use cover crops to protect the beds through the winter. Cover crops are a good approach, as garden soil should not be left uncovered and bare, but I have an abundance of leaves, and covering the garden with them is a lot...
by Noel | Nov 24, 2017 | CobraHead, Garden Tools, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
I try to plant garlic by the end of October. This year it didn’t happen. Having great faith in climate change, I knew I would get another opportunity or several before the ground froze too hard to work easily. Today the high temperature peaked at around 66 F and it was a quite pleasant day for planting, a very good way to spend Black Friday. I plant garlic in ridges, three per bed. I work up the soil in a bed until it is soft. The ideal tool for this is an...
by Noel | Nov 13, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening, Recipes, Vegetable Growing
I prepared horseradish sauce yesterday. I ran the horseradish twice through a food processor, first slicing, then shredding the pieces of root. As I was shredding, I added enough vinegar to keep the horseradish from drying out or heating up. The vinegar helps retain the hot flavor and allows it to keep for a while in the refrigerator. It will last a couple months. It’s a tasty condiment and it has an impressive list of purported health benefits. I grow...
