making life delicious blog
Sometimes we are really on top of the garden to do list. Everything gets planted on time, weeded regularly, and harvested on time. This autumn was not one of those periods. So this weekend we are finally planting the garlic a month late, hopefully not too late. Like other bulbs, garlic needs to winter in [...]
We are always a little sad to take down the tomato and pepper plants each autumn.
We have been talking about planting grapes in our yard for a long time but weren’t ready to take the leap until recently. This was a first for both of us, so we had some research to do, and the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension had the just the information we needed. As with all plants, [...]
After the blistering heat of this summer, the sudden drop in temperatures into the 40s at night was a welcome change, though it means a mad dash to harvest the last of the basil and tomatoes. We processed a couple batches of pesto today and used some of the Thai basil and some of our [...]
In the early days of Spring and Autumn, we have fun visiting nurseries and garden centers, admiring all the newly arrived plants and pondering what should go next in our edible back yard. Yesterday we selected a few new fruit trees and bushes to plant, though we had a hard time narrowing down the choices. [...]
What you are about to see is not pretty. It’s true, sometimes gardening is neither beautiful nor relaxing, particularly when dealing with garden pests and ultra resilient weeds. Take, for instance, the grass and weeds growing in our garden and behind the fence.
This year the biggest surprise in our garden was the volunteers, which is much better than the bunny surprise we got last year. Apparently some of our compost didn’t cook long enough because we have volunteers aplenty.
Like much of the country, the heat has been brutal here in Northern Virginia. When we went on vacation at the beginning of the month, we made sure to set the irrigation system to run daily since the temperatures were forecasted for the high 90s with little to no rain for the entire week we [...]
Last fall Michael decided we needed to cover our fruit trees with netting to protect the harvest from the local wildlife, and after seeing similar techniques on fruit trees while on a trip to Okinawa, our collection of net bags grew.
Our garden beds all have a mix of things in them, but this has to be the most mixed up of them all. This bed is the scene of the The Great Zucchini Squash Disaster of 2009, and we took some measures to improve conditions and hopefully avert problems with the dreaded squash vine borer.
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.
