Another Spring, Another Fling
Okay, so it's summer, but summer doesn't rhyme with fling. For the past four years, a group of garden bloggers has met up each spring or summer in a different part of the country. I've had the pleasure and privilege of attending all four Garden Bloggers Flings, and...
Fresh Garlicky Pasta
On a busy work day around here it’s not always easy to take time to cook. But if you have some fresh pasta in the fridge and a bulb of garlic you’re most of the way there. And do we have garlic! See Noel’s post about the Great Garlic Harvest. Fresh pasta is not...
The Great Garlic Harvest of 2011
We harvested garlic, yesterday. The bed was kind of weedy this year and I did not do my usual inter-planting with salad greens. However the garlic was just fine and at the peak time for harvesting. Last year we left it in the ground a little too long and the bulbs...
Cleaning an Overgrown Garden Bed — Video!
Noel and I made another video last week demonstrating how he uses a few different tools to help him clean out a totally overgrown, weedy garden bed. As you can see in the video, a few of the beds in the vegetable garden have grown out of control. The daunting task of...
Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad
We have polished off the last of the garden asparagus. I did freeze a couple of containers of blanched asparagus puree with lemon for seasoning. Since I’m always reading recipes I don’t remember where I saw that idea. We’ll see how we like it this winter tossed...
We Meet the Nicest People at Trade Shows
Last weekend Anneliese, Judy and I exhibited at the 2011 MREA Energy Fair. I've posted about this show in previous years because it is one of our favorites. MREA attracts an audience that is far more in tune with the issues of sustainability than the general...
Beautiful and Bountiful Berries
We came home late last night from four days on the road after a trade show. It's the time of the season when we should be picking strawberries twice a day, so we lost a few berries to birds and over ripeness, but we still had a huge amount waiting for us, which I...
Oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries
With all of the sweet potato recipes that we like to cook, we’ve had yet to make sweet potato fries. So last week I had some friends over to test my oven-baked version of this dish. Per tray: Enough Peeled and sliced sweet potatoes to cover tray without touching each...
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day June 2011
Welcome once again to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, where garden bloggers around the world share the flowers they're enjoying in their own gardens. You'll have to forgive my pictures for this month. By the time I was able to take photos, the sky was dark and overcast,...
Using the CobraHead Long Handle as a Scuffle Hoe
Noel and I decided to seize upon the nice weather we had today and shoot a few short videos in the garden. Here, he's demonstrating how the CobraHead Long Handle® can be used as a scuffling hoe. Please enjoy! We plan to post more videos as the summer progresses....
A Morel to the Story
People go crazy over morel mushrooms. They can sell for $40 a pound. I found a few yesterday in the woods, but over the years I've never had a major haul. I didn't even realize they appeared on the property until about six years ago. One year I found about 25, but...
Yaupon Tea
This afternoon I made a cup of yaupon tea from the leaves of one of the shrubs that’s growing in my backyard. As I write this I think that the caffeine buzz has begun to hit me. Yaupon holly, a relative of Yerba Mate, is the only native North American plant that...
Banking on Berries
The 200 plus strawberry plants in the foreground are in a very temporary home. They are banked, trenched, or heeled in; a process of laying plants in a trench and covering the roots with soil. Here they can reside until they can be relocated. A few of these...
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day May 2011
Well it's Bloom Day again, and I'm ashamed to admit that it's been a rather long time since I last put up a Bloom Day post. Even longer still since I've posted about my own garden. It's not that I have a shortage of flowers during the "warm" months (I put warm in...
Asparagus Sauté
Asparagus, again? We’re eating asparagus every day now. I’ve been cutting asparagus tips since the end of April. At first it was every other day, now it’s mandatory cutting every day. For brunch last weekend we tried it roasted with baked eggs on top. I’d never...
Another Battle in the Everlasting War on Weeds
My garden is an experiment to prove to myself that it's possible to maintain a large organic vegetable growing area using all hand labor and with a minimum of outside inputs. Weed control is the toughest part, and not having or taking enough time to do a good job of...
Planting Boards for Raised Beds
I planted a bed of potatoes Sunday, using two new planting boards that I made from a 4' x 4' sheet of 1/2" plywood. I had been using some old scrap plywood for planting boards, but I decided I would be happier and more efficient with two boards exactly the size I...
494 Peas – More or Less
Here's me, yesterday, atop a bed, planting peas. We had a nice little break in the rainy weather, so I took the opportunity to get my peas seeded. I'm using a large piece of plywood to kneel on. The plywood disperses my weight and allows me to get right on top of...
Pierogi with Savory Sweet Potato Filling
What can I say…. we still have sweet potatoes from last year’s harvest so it was an experiment waiting to happen. It was Geoff’s idea. He’s been wanting to learn how to make pierogi. There are lots of traditional fillings that can be used but he thought it appropriate...
Pomegranate Border
Over the last few years I’ve been developing a pomegranate border along the north side of my vegetable garden. So far I have planted four pomegranate trees spaced tightly at 4-5 feet apart and plan on extending the border with another two to three trees. The initial...