Zucchini Fritters, Turkish Style (Mucver)
We are inundated with zucchini. Somehow last year we didn't get any planted so Noel went overboard and planted five different kinds this year (including a climbing variety). We eat zukes and summer squash almost every day, and we've already sent some to the local food...
July Garden
July is when food output kicks into high gear. Harvesting is a daily job, with both Judy and me bringing in the bounty. I talked last month about trying out a 2 leader system for the tomatoes. It’s working great. Here are some Brandywines just waiting to turn red. ...
Ten Tomato Spaghetti Sauce, mas o menos
I was looking through the Book Pages flyer at our local library and this book caught my eye: Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World, a History by William Alexander. We grow a lot of different tomatoes and I cook with them so this book sounded intriguing. I usually can't...
June Garden
June is almost over and it’s going out very uncomfortably as we are experiencing the Canadian smoke that has made a lot of the upper U.S. extremely dangerous and unpleasant Air quality is awful. It’s suggested we do not even go outside. We’re still in a drought,...
Rosemary Roasted Potatoes and Cauliflower
We are still using up the last of our 2022 potato harvest. While we love roasted potatoes sometimes you want a little lighter dish, i.e., less carbs! Bring on the cauliflower! By mixing the potatoes with cauliflower you still get that potato taste with a few light...
May Garden
May was very warm and very dry here in south central Wisconsin. I’m doing a lot of hand watering, trying to water just the plants so as not to encourage weed growth in open areas which overhead sprinkling would certainly do. A good thing about the open bed system I...
April Garden
April brings on the hard work period of the gardening season. I keep looking for ways to make it easier. This old guy doesn’t quickly recover from hard work like I used to. Here are a few pictures of some of the things going on in the garden. The hoop tunnel helps a...
Asparagus Mustard Rollups
It's almost asparagus time here in Wisconsin. For a diversion from steamed or roasted asparagus try these rollups. Great for a snack or an appetizer. Ingredients: 12 slices sandwich bread, crusts removed (I used cracked wheat ) 1/4 cup (more or less) stoneground or...
Indoor Seed Starts
I started peppers and onions in late February and now it's time to move them out from under the grow lights and into the sunroom. I need the grow lights for tomatoes, eggplant, cabbages, and other stuff. I'll re-pot the peppers into individual cups. They'll go into...
Instant Pot Vegetarian White Bean Chili
I've been experimenting with various bean recipes, almost always with the Instant Pot. We've had some very good white bean chicken chili but prefer to cook vegetarian dishes at home. The Instant Pot makes it fast and easy. Since I do a quick soak by pouring boiling...
PBS Wisconsin Garden Expo
Our big gardening experience for the month of February, other than starting onion seeds, is exhibiting CobraHead tools at the PBS Wisconsin Garden & Landscape Show in Madison. Only 20 miles from home, it’s always been our favorite show. Garden Expo has earned a...
Visit from a Senator
Wow, we had a pretty exciting visit from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin earlier this month! Did you know that when consumers buy items online, websites are not required to display the country of origin for the product being sold because our labeling laws were written...
Pickled Red Onions
Need a splash of red on your holiday table? Or a quick hostess gift? If you like onions give the following super easy recipe a try. Recipe: 1 large onion, thinly sliced, preferably red (if you have a mandoline, go for it) Brine: 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1 cup water 1 T....
The December Garden
Winter in Wisconsin can sometimes be nice, but this December has started out as a lesson in dismal. The picture above looking out to the garden area from the house was taken a week ago. It was our first significant snow. We received about four inches of really wet...
Digging Potatoes
I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that potatoes may not be the best value for work input for a home grower. High-quality organic potatoes from the market are quite inexpensive, and certainly a better pure cost value than our homegrown spuds. However, I have no doubt...
Raspberries Atop Oatmeal Pancakes for Two
If you have ever considered planting raspberries in your home garden I highly recommend it. Once they're established, other than once-a-year pruning, they are relatively carefree and can last nearly forever with occasional transplanting. And you can stand up to pick...
Seven Tomato Recipes
Every year the tomatoes take over the kitchen. Besides our usual plain tomatoes and spaghetti sauce for the freezer, we've built up a collection of recipes that use this fabulous fruit. Here are just a few. Maybe you'll find something new or be reminded of past...
Tomato Harvest
The picture represents a very small fraction of the total tomato yield. I have forty plants growing in two beds. The 20 different types I grow our mostly heirloom varieties and a lot are started from saved seed. One hybrid I have grown for a lot of years is...
Simple Marinated Cucumbers
This has been a great year for cucumbers. We've had rainfalls mostly at the appropriate times so production has been steady. I'll be making refrigerator pickles with a lot of them but marinated slices are an easy and fast fix for dinner. Here goes: 2-4 cucumbers,...
Bindweed – CobraHead’s Weed of the Year
For our first, and probably last, annual award for the worst weed in the garden, this year goes to bindweed, hands down. Weed of the year requirements are simple. What weed is causing me the most grief or the most work to control in the garden? This year bindweed is...