making life delicious blog
In 2011, we put in an asparagus bed, and for two springs we have patiently watched and tended, waiting for our first harvest. Last year we let the plants grow full and fern out, knowing this would be the year we would finally get to eat. The spears started popping last week, and I’ll say [...]
Last year we started growing heirloom Ivory Egg tomatoes using plants we bought at Debaggio’s, our favorite herb farm and nursery. They always have a fantastic selection of healthy plants, and we ended up with 20 tomato plants, 4 tomatillo plants, 6 bell pepper plants, and 12 hot pepper plants. That may sound crazy, but [...]
This summer has brought us the best tomato harvest we’ve ever had. Though some of the plants are plodding along, our paste tomatoes are thriving and we’re bringing in a couple pounds a day. We have three types of paste tomatoes that do very well in our garden: San Marzano, Roma VF, and Amish Paste. [...]
We planted artichokes last year, and we were very pleased with how well they did. The plants grew large and we even got a few chokes the first year. This spring they came back with an amazing vigor, and we started harvesting small chokes in May. As the summer has worn on and the temperatures [...]
Has the cilantro (aka coriander) in your garden gone from leafy and fragrant to tall and spindly? It’s probably the summer heat and a natural part of the cilantro life cycle. Cilantro is a cool weather plant and thrives in spring and autumn. When the summer temperatures start to go up, the plant stops producing [...]
Since putting in our raised beds a few years ago we’ve tried a few different options for trellising our beans and peas. We were going for easy and not necessarily attractive. We certainly got “not necessarily attractive” and easy to put up, but unfortunately not easy to work with because they kept leaning and falling [...]
The weather has been strange this year. Winter didn’t feel like winter at all and the official start of spring passed by without much notice because I was already wearing sandals before the big day. However, having an early spring means that our garden popped a little early this year. The chard (above) is going [...]
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 [...]
It's spring in the U.S. and the following foods may be in season in your area:
artichokes, fennel, fiddleheads, radishes, broccoli, rhubarb, kale, cresses, spinach, spring lettuces, chard, cabbages, chives, cilantro, collards, tatsoi, mustard greens, spring onions, asparagus, rosemary, wild garlic, ramps, strawberries, blueberries, cherries
Eat fresh seasonal produce to stay healthy and help your food budget.Learn more about seasonal and sustainable cooking at Sustainable Table - In the Kitchen.
