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! : )
It’s that time of year again. Around the 1st or 2nd week of October, I plant my garlic. But how do you know which bulbs you should save for your seed cloves? And then how do you know which cloves from those bulbs to plant? It’s easy, once you know what to look for.
Let’s get started!
What you’re looking for are your largest, firmest, roundest bulbs. Sure, save a few to give away as gifts, if you have some … Read More
I know, there are a bazillion salsa/salad recipes, so why do you need another one? Of all my dishes, this one NEVER fails to get rave reviews–no matter how fussy the eaters! There’s something about the combination of flavors that seems to make every mouth happy. Even though it’s really just a tricked out Black Bean and Corn Salad, it’s been dubbed “Confetti Salad” at our house because it’s so colorful.
The great thing about this salsa is that you … Read More
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