width=”500″ height=”424″ /> Kale is a vegetable that is up and coming in American society, both in restaurants and in the home kitchen. My favorite way to prepare it involves flash grilling over my fire pit and a homemade Caesar dressing, but the options are limitless. Many people think that Kale is best grown in cooler areas, and while this is sometimes true, it is in fact a crop…
width=”550″ height=”438″ border=”0″ /> As many of us grow more environmentally conscious and feel an increased concern about exposure to chemicals and toxins, one appealing option for wrestling back control over what goes into our systems is to grow our own fruits and vegetables. However, the steps involved in planting, maintaining, and harvesting a successful crop can feel daunting, especially to those of us who have had trouble keeping…
width=”550″ height=”310″ /> Interesting approach to get gardens in some very interesting places. The system uses the waste from the air conditioning to water the plants and can provide some much needed photosynthesis in very congested areas in the world scrubbing air as they go. So sure you prized tomatoes would not survive going 50 MPH down the freeway but a very interesting approach to make use of some…
width=”549″ height=”412″ /> When my first cucumber started to rot in the vine when I was waiting for it to mature, I realized that I grew the smaller variety of which grows 6-8 inch cucumbers which are perfect for pickling to enjoy a nice nutritional snack. Having a few nice specimens on the vine this afternoon I decided to make myself a few pickles. Step 1: Clean the pickles. …
width=”550″ height=”412″ /> If you’re growing your own fruit and vegetables, or just trying to eat the things that are produced locally, you come across one obvious problem: when something’s in season, you have more than you can handle, and then there’s nothing for the rest of the year. So the obvious solution is to preserve your food when you have it in abundance. Dehydration is an excellent preservation…
width=”550″ height=”309″ border=”0″ /> The great thing about growing zucchini in your garden is it is a great producer, but at times you can get overwhelmed with the yields but fortunately zucchini bread is a delicious way to take a care of this problem. Below is my favorite recipe, typically you would swap out the chocolate chips with something like walnuts but have a kiddo with nut allergies and…
width=”550″ height=”309″ /> In my area, the tomatoes and cucumbers plants are starting to take off and are in desperate need of some additional support. After walking the aisles of my local home improvement store I couldn’t make myself pay the $15-30 for a single support. Sure they look real pretty but at that price it could take a few seasons to even break even for an inexpensive vegetable…
width=”550″ height=”309″ /> My youngest (2 years old) decided to venture out and too a little strawberry picking this weekend. It took her a little while (probably a solid pound of berries) to figure out we were supposed to be picking berries and putting them into our flat and not her mouth. Thirty minutes later and $11.50 paid I left with my full flat (11.5 pounds of berries) The…
width=”549″ height=”366″ /> Here are some awesome modular hydroponics setups by Home Lohas. Pretty much a supersized version of an Aerogarden, they use timers and proprietary selection of nutrient solutions to provide produce without soil and advertised in harvest times with 30% less time. They use a full spectrum LED light system to provide adequate light without running up a huge water bill. Lights/pumps are completely automated so pretty…
width=”531″ height=”319″ /> This is definitely very early for zucchini for this part of the country but I am not complaining. We just need a couple more to make zucchini bread (wife and kids favorite use) but for now I will be making zucchini noodles with this one The great/bad thing about zucchini is once it gets rolling you can easily be overrun with produce and your neighbors start…
width=”550″ height=”412″ /> So you want to build a pond in your garden? There is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. First, you have to pick the area in your yard that will be a good fit. In order to do that, you have to know where all of the underground utility pipes are located. Whether it is water, electrical or cable, you…
width=”550″ height=”215″ border=”0″ /> Pretty awesome Ikea commercial involving gnomes, fortunately for me I just have one gnome and he is always sleeping.