The International Herb Association has chosen parsley for its 2021 Herb of the Year. Now wait . . . don’t throw this article aside like you might toss aside the parsley served by a restaurant along with your entrée. That restaurant parsley had likely been stored, shipped a long distance, and stored again before [Continue]
In my opinion, one of the most beautiful features in any home landscape is a vegetable garden. Not everyone agrees. In fact, some homeowner’s associations specifically prohibit vegetable gardens. But just because you don’t have space for a vegetable garden or are forbidden to have one doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own food. [Continue]
This fall I fell in love with red twig dogwood. It is one of the few native shrubs among an overwhelming multitude of invasive plants and shrubs that edge the trail where I walk every morning. The dogwoods have been particularly beautiful this fall, or perhaps they’ve always been there, just waiting for me to [Continue]
It’s planting time! You might think that a strange beginning for an October article, perhaps more appropriate for May. But there is no mistake. Mid-October is the time to plant bulbs of many spring-bloomers as well as garlic. Perhaps more planting is the last thing you feel like doing at the end of a [Continue]
About a year ago I read an article in a magazine about fermenting vegetables. It was all new to me, but people have been preserving vegetables by fermentation for thousands of years. Several things caught my attention. First was how many vegetables – almost all of them – can be fermented. Next was [Continue]
What came to mind when you read the headline above? I’m guessing it was either a picture of a farmer aboard a tractor dragging a cultivator across his fields, or a gardener using a rototiller or hoe to remove weeds and fluff up the soil between plants. Here is how Merriam-Webster defines cultivate: 1. to [Continue]
August is a busy time in the garden. There’s just so much . . . zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans. And you need to keep harvesting all of it. Ideally you harvest every day, but at minimum every other day. There is no point in allowing large, overripe vegetables to tax a plant of resources [Continue]
It’s time to begin harvesting the heavy-hitters of the vegetable garden. Garlic, onions and potatoes will last throughout the coming winter and into next spring with proper curing and storage. They each need a slightly different curing strategy but none are difficult. Garlic is ready to harvest when there are five green leaves remaining [Continue]
It’s no secret that the world is suffering from a lack of pollinators. One out of every three bites of food we eat is provided through the work of animal and insect pollinators and our food supply is at risk if pollinators continue to disappear at the rate they have been. Here are some [Continue]
Since the advent of COVID-19, I’ve written a few articles about stocking up and self-sufficiency through gardening. Yet another way to ensure that in the future you will have food, or at least the potential for food, is through saving seeds from this year’s garden. As a bonus, you’ll also avoid the cost of [Continue]