Working Worms
I've explained my composting process previously, but I wanted to show a picture of an army of red worms working the sludge mass in a 55 gallon drum that we use to collect kitchen scraps. Boss Cat supervised as I tipped over and emptied the drum. The worms were thick...
From These Ashes a Garden Will Flourish
It was a perfect night for burning the brush pile. Thursday's heavy rains had diminished to a very light drizzle. The pile is a collection of trimmings and fallen branches. This year we had two huge sections of trunk from an old apple tree that I took down in the...
Using the CobraHead Long Handle Effectively
We began developing a long-handled CobraHead soon after we introduced our original CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator. It quite honestly was a reaction to older gardeners who at trade shows kept telling us, "that looks great, but I need it on a long handle." When we got...
A Score of Gorgeous Caps
The cold weather that was delivered with five inches of rain last week dealt me this beautiful flush. The shiitake in my hand is neither the largest nor the smallest. It is one of twenty close to perfect mushrooms I sliced off the plugged logs this afternoon. I have a...
Writing About Writers
We attended the Garden Writers Association 61st Annual Symposium in Raleigh , North Carolina, last week. It was CobraHead's 6th GWA, and our fifth as an exhibitor. Here's Anneliese putting the final touches on our booth. The symposium includes a trade show, seminars,...
One Sweet Potato, Two Sweet Potato
I've dug two sweet potato plants out early, well ahead of the first frost, which is when they will all need to be removed from the ground. The plant on the left yielded over four pounds of usable tuber. We've already eaten one tuber that weighed a little over a pound....
Bloom Day! Or: How I Learned What’s Growing in My Garden
About a week and a half ago, I bought a house. It's my first house, and I have to admit I'm a bit intimidated by it. Just the idea of home ownership and the responsibility that goes with it is intimidating enough, but on top of that I had to go and buy a "fixer...
Potato Bonanza
The bucket is holding over 28 pounds of Purple Viking and Durango potatoes that I dug yesterday. There are some very large specimens and I'm quite happy with this year's crop. The entire bed yielded about 55 total pounds of spuds including these, some blue fleshed...
Leek and Purple Spud-nik Soup
Lest you think I jest, take a look at the purple pommes de terre next to the skinny leeks below: The garden leeks aren't as fat as I would like yet but they are usable and the potatoes are definitely ready. It's time for leek and potato soup. With all the hype about...
Small Fairs – Lots of Gardeners
We continue to do a lot of trade shows, trying get our tools known by the gardening public. We've found that small shows can be more attractive than large ones, especially if the ratio of hands-on gardeners to the overall attendance is good. Big shows attended by the...
Rasberry Obsttorte – or Potluckin’ with Maryann
Last night we were invited to a potluck. I don't usually bring desserts because I rarely make them at home – and I'm not one that can live on just desserts. Besides, who has time to bake? But how could I not do something with the raspberries that we're lucky enough to...
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Funnel Collector Japanese Beetles On A Grape Leaf Japanese beetles only became a pest in my garden four years ago. When they first appeared their numbers were so overwhelming that I pretty much had no choice but to let them go unchecked. They nearly defoliated my...
Back to Kickapoo
Judy and I returned to the Kickapoo Country Fair in La Farge, Wisconsin for another show Saturday and yesterday. We did our first show there, last year, which you can read about here. The fair is about farming and smaller organic family farms, versus the corporate...
Bummed Out Bumble Bees
A couple days ago I blogged about flowering edibles in the garden. It was quite hot when I was taking the pictures which included some shots of the multitude of pollinators that collect around the flowers. I commented on how hard it was to photograph the bumblebees...
Pretty Flowers From Plants You Can Eat
Long ago I used to have a bad attitude about ornamentals. I looked at flower gardening as an indulgence, without the necessity attached to growing plants to eat. That has changed and I now not only admire beautiful gardens, but I have great respect for the gardeners...
Buried in Berries!
The strawberries are dwindling. I believe we just had our last handful of extra sweet ones on our garden fresh greens topped with a little bit of Hook's Blue Cheese. We've surpassed our previous best of 44 quarts with over 50 this year! We have 3 beds that are 20 feet...
Corn Corrals
When I returned from Chicago yesterday afternoon, Judy let me know that a morning thunderstorm had taken the fabric off the hoop tunnel and had knocked down the corn. Fixing the tunnel was easy. The corn took a little more work. Corn does very well in my raised beds,...
Easy Hoop Tunnel
I put up this tunnel to protect my cole crops from insects. It was very quick and easy. My son Geoff gave me the idea. I'm not sure who showed it to him. Material List: 12 pieces - 3/8" reinforcing rod cut into 18" lengths by my local lumber cut the material to length...
MREA
This weekend Judy and I were CobraHead Exhibitors at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association's 20th annual energy fair in Custer, Wisconsin. It is the largest show of this type in the U.S. This was our third year at the show. We sell lots of garden tools. In fact it...
Chucking Woodchucks
Two day ago I caught momma groundhog. I posted about it and got a comment from Beckie who noted, "I am sure she will do fine in the wild, but be on the look out for the pups - they may be big enough to make it on their own." We'll, sure enough. I caught this guy this...