Kale – A Most Versatile Green

Kale – A Most Versatile Green

One of the advantages of leaving plants in the garden overwinter is that some of them sprout again or regrow from the root. Different types of kale can be annuals or biennials. The several types of kale that we grew last year have grown new edible leaves this spring. It’s fun to be able to forage in your own garden as the snow melts away. The young tender leaves are great in a salad, and as they mature into a chewier leaf, they work well in a stir fry or...
Pea Planting Time

Pea Planting Time

The weather here, like everywhere, keeps getting weirder. I’ve been gardening the same plot for over 35 years and the last couple years have really departed from what used to be normal. This year is extremely wet and warm. It’s been hard to get the beds prepped because of the wetness. I did take advantage of some nice dry days last week to get my peas planted. I try to get them in the ground in April. Later than that can get iffy for full production as peas don’t...
Sweet Potato Latkes

Sweet Potato Latkes

In spite of the hungry voles that ravaged our sweet potato patch we still have at least 40 lbs in storage. So I started looking through my cookbooks and was reminded about this latke recipe that I used to make several years ago from the book "Vegetarian Planet" by Didi Emmons, published in 1997. It's interesting how you cycle through recipes and then forget about them for a while. Anyway, if you think you don't care for sweet potatoes because...
Getting Ready for Gardening

Getting Ready for Gardening

March is nearly over and we are getting serious about this year’s garden. I’ve got a few things started in the house and things are popping outside. This flat is bottom heated and top lit. It has peppers, eggplant and cauliflower. The peppers and eggplant haven’t sprouted, yet, but the cauliflower is taking off. I won’t start anything new for a couple weeks since we’ll be out of town the second week of April and I don’t want to burden Anneliese with too much plant...
Blue Scalloped Potatoes and Green Bean Surprise

Blue Scalloped Potatoes and Green Bean Surprise

We are still eating our Adirondack Blue potatoes (and other types) from last year’s harvest. They have done very well in Noel’s make-shift above ground root cellar in the barn. I have adapted our usual cheesy garlic potato bake and added some frozen green beans, also from last year’s garden. This dish was originally from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and has evolved over the past fifty years in my kitchen...
February Garden Musings

February Garden Musings

The weather in southern Wisconsin, as everywhere, is alarming. Record one day temperature swings. It was 73 yesterday and 12 this morning. It will be back to the 60’s in a couple days. This new normal will cause mostly grief for gardeners and growers, but I’ll try to take advantage of the warm days to do some garden prep that normally would wait until late March or April. The end of February marks the beginning of seed starting. I’ve put onion and leek seeds into...

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