width=”549″ height=”412″ /> Here is a quick and easy way to add additional aeration and also provide a convenient way to deeply water your compost during dry months. Simply cut to length of corrugated irrigation pipe with a utility knife and run them through your compost bin. Fill with uncomposted material being careful to not add material in the exposed tube(s). This should allow better airflow to your compost…
width=”549″ height=”412″ /> Though it is still pretty cold inside right now is the time for me to begin start planting seeds for this spring. These include bok choy which are very cold tolerant, onions which do pretty good in the cold but could use a head start on these to get some good sized bulbs by the end of the season. I also started some daisies which I…
width=”550″ height=”367″ /> Hope you have a happy holiday and for those looking to get started with your garden don’t fret there are seeds you can start indoors soon. If you wondering what you can start planting in Dec/Jan in your area check out our seed starting calculator.
width=”550″ height=”366″ /> There appears to be a tomato flying 4.791 miles per second, 230 miles above our heads which is probably a first. If you are wondering how it go there… Astronaut Koichi Wakata has the answer: "One fresh tomato for dinner makes us happy in space. It came up with us on Soyuz TMA-11M two weeks ago." I wish I could have tomato salads in space too….
width=”549″ height=”412″ /> The end of this summer I planted a bunch of carrots one afternoon and I unfortunately pretty much forgot about them. Without proper thinning I ended up with quite a few short and/or twisted carrots which I decided would be perfect to make some fermented ginger carrots. Step 1: Clean and peel carrots. Peeled and cut the ends off of the carrots and set them aside….
width=”549″ height=”412″ border=”0″ /> My seed collection from my Winter Luxury Pie pumpkin I purchased a few years back finally paid off and I was able to produce a couple of decent sized pumpkins which should provide me enough pumpkin goo (canned pumpkin) to make plenty of baked goods this fall. For those who have not made their own pumpkin goo the process is very easy…even easier this…
width=”488″ height=”366″ border=”0″ /> This weekend we decided to head to our favorite pumpkin patch to get some obvious pumpkins, kettle corn, cider donuts, and about a dozen pounds of u-pick apples. Now that I have amassed a plethora of apples we decided to make some homemade applesauce. For just a few apples I would just cut the apples by hand but with this many I break out my…
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…