making life delicious blog
There’s something about striped tomatoes and the gorgeous splash of color they add to a garden. Michael’s favorite which we have always planted is the heirloom Mr. Stripey, and this year we added varieties of zebra tomatoes. In the basket are red zebra (the orange tomatoes with red stripes), black zebra (the darkish tomatoes with [...]
Sometimes you have to take drastic action to get rid of garden pests, like squash bugs. Every year we lose plants due to this persistent insect, which feeds on our squash, pumpkins, and cucumber plants. They lay their eggs on the bottom side of plant leaves, which hatch in about 10 days, and though one [...]
Sometimes we plan our garden experiments months, or even a year, in advance, and then sometimes we just wing it at the last minute or even a little late. The latter is the case with this pot of okra. I didn’t even think about it until I saw okra in the grocery store in late [...]
Last year was the first for our blueberry bushes to produce, and we were thrilled when the first bush blossomed and even more so when the blueberries started to ripen. Apparently the birds were just as excited, and they got more of our blueberries than we did; not the desired outcome for our garden. We [...]
One of the many things growing in our garden. Can you name that flower?
A few years ago my mother took her love of gardening to a whole new level. She successfully completed the Master Gardening course through the Clemson University Extension and now volunteers as a Master Gardener. To say that I’m proud of her doesn’t even begin to cover it, and I find myself calling her frequently [...]
For me, spring means asparagus and I anticipate asparagus season as much as I look forward to strawberry, cherry, and blueberry season. Michael actually tried growing asparagus early in our courtship, but the crowns never took and we ended up with an empty raised bed and dashed hopes. We finally decided to give it another [...]
I think the ground hog’s crystal ball has a crack in it, because spring did not come early in our area. Overnight freezing temperatures persisted through the end of March, plus cold rainy weekends kept us indoors, so we are finally getting out to the garden this week. Instead of being in the kitchen, I’m [...]
A couple years ago I spotted seeds from Renee’s Garden in a local nursery. I was drawn to the herbs, particularly the slow-bolt cilantro, a variety that holds its leaves longer when the heat of summer sets in. As I’ve tried more of their seeds—haricot verts, dwarf cucumbers, Thai Queenette basil—I’ve been very pleased with [...]
We started talking about worms about a month ago, thinking about adding them to our compost to help it along. Michael did the research and we talked it up with the boys, describing how they are beneficial in the garden. The boys started showing an interest, picking up every worm they found on the driveway [...]
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