This year, I finally did what I’ve known I should have been doing for 25 years but never had the nerve to do. In early July, and then again a few weeks later, I ruthlessly thinned the apples growing on my ‘Liberty’ apple tree. Mother Nature gives us a head start at thinning with what [Continue]
Brussels sprouts are one of the most disliked vegetables, but that is due mostly to being boiled to the point of mush and then smothered in butter. There are more appetizing, ways to prepare these mini-cabbages. I too hated Brussels sprouts until I bought some fresh at the Neenah Farmer’s Market a couple years ago [Continue]
Every year I plant at least one new vegetable that I’ve never grown before. This year I planted baby broccoli, also called sprouting broccoli. Seed catalogs feature many varieties, each touting their own wonderful attributes. I chose Asparabroc Hybrid Baby Broccoli. The “aspara” part comes from the word asparagus, but this is definitely a broccoli [Continue]
Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable garden plant. Even gardeners who have space for nothing else often put a tomato plant in a pot on their porch or in a flower bed. Tomatoes are easy to grow, but here are some tips to make them even more successful. There are a few things you should [Continue]
Health food magazine articles have frequently touted superfoods and superfruits the past few years. While “superfood” and “superfruit” are marketing terms developed in 2005 and have no official FDA or USDA endorsement, it is generally understood that the terms refer to foods with highly concentrated nutrition in the form of heart-healthy antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. [Continue]
After gardening for many years, I’m – fortunately – past the stage where I feel the need to grow every single thing out there. Still, every year I try a few new things in the vegetable garden and flower beds. Here’s a quick look at what is new for me this year in the [Continue]
After the first hard frost of autumn blackened the basil, wilted the peppers and knocked down the nasturtiums, one plant still stood proudly in the vegetable garden – the kale. There are three types of kale and you are probably most familiar with the one that has been around the shortest time. Ornamental kale with [Continue]
What happens when you see an insect chewing on your beans? Do you immediately reach for some kind of spray? You really don’t need to do that – as soon as the chewer landed on the plant and began snacking, the bean called for help. It did this by releasing a complex of chemicals called [Continue]
Elderberry is a mostly forgotten shrub, often considered a weed along roads and trail sides, ditches and hedgerows. The abundance of other sweeter, larger berries in grocery stores and farmer’s markets has made them borderline obsolete. But that’s just why they are special. You won’t find fresh, frozen or canned elderberries for sale commercially. If [Continue]
I was so confused. What was it that I actually planted? You’ve heard Shakespeare’s line “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”? That may be true of roses, but I planted endive and it sure didn’t look like the stuff in the grocery store. I meant to plant Belgian endive, a leafy [Continue]