It’s mid-September and, by the looks of it, my summer garden has been a huge success and looks to be still going strong.
In one way it has been. Just not in the way I would have wished. Because of all the rain we’ve had this summer, I got lots and lots of foliage. But not so much in the way of actual veggies.
While “lush” is pretty, you can’t eat it.… Read More
There’s a trick to getting not-soggy, not chewy, but perfectly CRISP kale chips every time. And I’m going to share 2 of my secrets to ensure your success. But first the recipe!
1. Start with a bunch or two of kale and rinse well. (As it so happens, I have several bunches from the garden that need using.)
2. Use a salad spinner to dry well. [SECRET #1: You need to start with very dry kale pieces—moisture contributes to sogginess.]… Read More
Ok, between covid cabin fever and winter snowstorms, I am SO over it. To keep myself sane, I’m thinking green!
As in this kind of green. I’m dreaming and planning for my summer gardens.
Over the years, my gardens have shrunk in size for lack of time to keep up with them.
I started going back to raised beds this past summer. For now, this is the perfect, manageable size.
But I’m thinking of going one step further. I’ve been … Read More
While this year has seen some damages to some of my fruit trees–I lost all my plum trees and one cherry tree–I continue to get a bumper crop of Asian Pears.
My three trees are bearing so many pears this year that I had to pick at least half before they were fully ripe to prevent the branches from breaking from the weight. Even with that, I lost one limb in a windstorm.
So what do you do with the … Read More
As I’m getting ready to harvest my garlic, I do what I’ve always done every year. I go grab my garden journal to get ready to record the harvest date, and the yield and quality of the bulbs.
I’ve been keeping a journal of my garden almost since I began. It’s a habit I picked up from the old woman who taught me.
She drummed into my head, “Karen, if you want to see if what you’re doing works, you’ve … Read More
Gardening season officially starts here on Mother’s Day. That’s typically when all chance of frost has passed. But, maybe courtesy of global warming, there is no frost in the 10-day forecast. In fact, I probably could have planted a week ago and still been alright. May be the first year that I actually get in two full crop rotations… Gotta take the good with the bad.… Read More
The temp is a whopping 20 degrees outside, but I’m thinkin’ Spring. Yes, it’s that time of year already — time to order seeds for this year’s garden!
Regular readers know that I’m big on annual garden experiments. An experiment that I didn’t chronicle last season was trying seeds from a variety of catalogs.
Since I save most of my seeds, I only grow from organic open-pollinated seeds. That immediately limits my selection.
I chose seeds from:
I don’t know about you, but around this time of year I’ve gone bone dry when it comes to thinking up tasty cooking ideas for impromptu gatherings. Cait showed me this site. It’s fun. It’s fast. It’s delicious!
You’re welcome! : )
