by Noel | Dec 1, 2017 | CobraHead, Garden Tools, Gardening
We’re taking advantage of good weather to get a lot of garden beds prepared for winter. We’re loosening them up with a broadfork, pulling out most of the weeds, shaping them up neatly, and covering them with a thick layer of leaves. I don’t use cover crops to protect the beds through the winter. Cover crops are a good approach, as garden soil should not be left uncovered and bare, but I have an abundance of leaves, and covering the garden with them is a lot...
by Noel | Nov 24, 2017 | CobraHead, Garden Tools, Gardening, Vegetable Growing
I try to plant garlic by the end of October. This year it didn’t happen. Having great faith in climate change, I knew I would get another opportunity or several before the ground froze too hard to work easily. Today the high temperature peaked at around 66 F and it was a quite pleasant day for planting, a very good way to spend Black Friday. I plant garlic in ridges, three per bed. I work up the soil in a bed until it is soft. The ideal tool for this is an...
by Noel | Nov 13, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening, Recipes, Vegetable Growing
I prepared horseradish sauce yesterday. I ran the horseradish twice through a food processor, first slicing, then shredding the pieces of root. As I was shredding, I added enough vinegar to keep the horseradish from drying out or heating up. The vinegar helps retain the hot flavor and allows it to keep for a while in the refrigerator. It will last a couple months. It’s a tasty condiment and it has an impressive list of purported health benefits. I grow...
by Noel | Oct 17, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening
We harvested 89 pounds of sweet potatoes yesterday. That’s not a record, but it’s well above our normal yield, and we’re happy with the results. Our average sweet potato yield is about 80 pounds per bed. We grow a variety named Jewel (sometimes spelled Jewell). We’ve been growing Jewel from our own starts for over 10 years and we find it excellent for both yield and long-term storage, and they taste great, too! The potatoes were grown in...
by Noel | Feb 7, 2017 | CobraHead, Gardening
This old flat dates back to about 1990. I started making my own flats from some cheap fence wood I had acquired. I’m not sure where I got the design, probably a garden magazine or garden book, but it has proven to be long-lasting and very useful. The flats are built using 3″ x 12″ x 5/8″ wood for the ends and 3″ x 18″ x 5/8″ wood for the sides. Thus they are 3 inches deep. The construction is very rough, especially the...
