by Geoff | Jan 6, 2014 | CobraHead, Gardening
I’ve struggled to keep a corner of my garden free of Bermuda grass. The grass rhizomes keep sneaking under the drip irrigation tubes. They infiltrate the garden bed and reduce vegetable production. This year I decided to take that section of the garden bed out of production for the season and put it under a mulch to knock the grass back. I’ve also decided to divide my beds into 4′ x 4′ sections for planting and rotation purposes. Since...
by Judy | Dec 23, 2013 | CobraHead, Recipes
We had another abundant harvest of leeks. A full garden bed of 300 leeks is a bit much for just the two of us but it forces me to be more creative in my storage and cooking. They do store fresh for 3 to 4 weeks, washed and bagged in the refrigerator. I also slice and store raw leeks in the freezer for use in soups, stews and rice. For caramelized leeks it takes about a half hour to brown the leeks in a cast iron frying pan but, I decided to try the oven...
by Noel | Nov 23, 2013 | CobraHead, Gardening
It was 19 degrees today with a low of 2 predicted for tonight. I knew it was time to harvest the leeks before they froze into the ground. We’ve had a lot of below freezing temperatures, but I had the leeks well covered with a layer of agricultural fabric topped over with a layer of polyethylene. I was hoping they were doing alright. To my pleasant surprise, the earth under the cover was soft and moist even though the ground surrounding the leek bed was...
by Noel | Nov 17, 2013 | CobraHead, Gardening
Comfrey and Compost PilesI can’t remember how comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.) got introduced into my garden, but it probably came from Geoff when he worked at Nokomis Gardens in East Troy, Wisconsin, about sixteen years ago. It’s now firmly established just north of the garden beds and west of the compost area. The plants are gradually expanding their area of control and comfrey can become a pest with its ability to spread, but I’m welcoming...
by Judy | Nov 16, 2013 | CobraHead, Recipes
Noel harvested almost 80 pounds of sweet potatoes last month – another record crop for us from 18 starts. And guess what? We’re still eating sweet potatoes from last year’s harvest. I haven’t been cooking them often enough so we’re scrambling to find new ways to serve them – though you just can’t beat them simply baked and buttered. Here’s an adaptation of a recipe I must have found online a while ago, though I don’t know who authored it. I’ve already changed...
by Noel | Oct 2, 2013 | CobraHead, Recipes
I found these puffballs in the grass along the edge of the woods two days ago. Giant puffballs, Calvatia gigantea, are edible but they have to be harvested and used while quite fresh. Once they start to dry and turn yellow and brown, they not only lose their culinary appeal, they apparently become toxic. So when these presented themselves at the right time this year, we harvested, prepared a couple meals, and dried quite a few. The golf ball, which was also in...
