by Geoff | Jan 14, 2010 | Gardening
This morning the lid on the compost bucket in the kitchen would no longer close, so it was time to make the first compost pile at my new home. Unlike my dad, Noel, I prefer to build my compost in layers first with materials high in carbon, then a nitrogen layer, followed by a cap of soil, repeating the process until the pile gets to be three to four feet high. I have to mention here that I learned a large part of what I know about composting from my gardening...
by Anneliese | Jan 13, 2010 | Environmental Issues, Gardening
About a year ago I set up a worm composting system using the Worm Factory. I was pretty excited about it at the time, and I decided to name it Phil (each individual worm is also named Phil). Because I’ve read that vermicomposting can take a while to really get going, I was careful not to overfeed Phil during the first few months. I don’t think I even added a second tray until two or three months had passed. When July rolled around, the creator of the...
by Judy | Jan 1, 2010 | Gardening, Recipes
No black eyed peas for us New Year’s Day. This larder has capucijners. Capucijner (pronounced cap-you-sigh-ner according to the Fedco catalogue) peas are one of the richest and most complex soup peas we have cooked with. We’ve been saving seeds that we think we purchased from Johnny’s Seeds about 20 years ago. We’re not sure because they don’t have them in their catalogue any more but this Dutch heirloom purple podded pea (pisum...
by Geoff | Dec 22, 2009 | Gardening
Last month as I spotted some plants growing out of my compost piles, I was reminded of a fun course that I took at the University of Texas with Dr. William Doolittle called Environment, Development and Food Production. Professor Doolittle introduced us to Edgar Anderson and the idea of Dump Heaps and the Origin of Agriculture. Hyacynth Bean Flower In his 1952 book Plants, Man and Life, Edgar Anderson devotes a chapter to the idea that early humans may have...
by Judy | Nov 30, 2009 | Gardening, Recipes
Brighten your holiday table with the ‘other’ green vegetable – greens of all colors. The greens I’ve enjoyed the most recently are the seared collard greens at the Eldorado Grill in Madison, Wisconsin. Admittedly I haven’t eaten collards too many times, they just weren’t on the menu when growing up in Minnesota. If you want to try the exact recipe check it out in the ‘Eldorado Grill Southwestern Cuisine Cookbook’ by Kevin...
by Geoff | Nov 16, 2009 | CobraHead, Gardening
After a record hot summer with virtually no rain, this has been a most perfect fall for gardening. Right now I am enjoying sugar snap peas, cilantro, Japanese mustard greens, pole beans and radishes. Broccoli, broccoli raab and tatsoi will be in full production soon. Cascade pole beans I use a raised bed gardening system similar to the one presented in the John Jeavons book How to Grow More Vegetables. I learned how to create raised beds through a two year...
