It's that time in the gardening season when you look at your garden and wonder, " What the heck am I gonna do with all those ____________?" Could be tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. However you fill in the blank, discovering ways to use all that delicious homegrown goodness is challenging. Several years ago, I asked myself this question while staring at hill of huge jalapeno peppers. And that's how my family formed an addiction to jalapeno pepper jelly. Jalapeno plants are highly productive and if you don't have a plan, in the garbage or compost bin they go. Unlike my husband, I don't eat them like apples. Food pantries are a good option, as are neighbors, but spicy peppers are not a universally desired food. This is the moment water bath canning entered my world. A quick search of ...
The Best Garlic to Grow for Northern Gardeners
Chances are you like to eat. Me too! I'm also assuming you buy garlic from the grocery store. I did too until I got a taste of the real McCoy. I'm not saying what you're buying isn't real garlic. It is, just not the kind of taste bud blowing garlic you'd have if you grew your own. So why limit yourself? Most grocery store garlic bulbs are softneck varieties from California or China. That's a helluva lot of food miles! It's what most Americans know. But once you have a go with homegrown garlic, you'll never go back. I promise you. And if I haven't sold you already, what if I told you it's probably the easiest crop to grow and autumn is prime planting time here in the Midwest! Gather Your Garlic Growing Supplies Here's the deal. You really don't need supplies other than garlic, ...
Taking My Backyard Garden Skills to Navarro Farm
The expression "Go big or go home" resonates these days. I had been looking for a job this last year. Something full-time. Little did I know I'd find myself managing the largest raised bed garden on a farm in Illinois. Twenty years of freelance writing and photography done ten feet away from my bedroom has taken it's toll. I've wanted a little more distance between my work life and my home life. With the girls away at school, there's no need for me to stay here doing something that no longer brings me joy. A quiet house gets lonely, fast. The idea of returning to full-time employment both thrills and scares me. When you're a work-from-home mom, you're the boss. You get used to it. The schedule, the errands, the flow. Transitioning to someone else's schedule is slightly daunting. ...
Tropical Plants for a Cold Climate Garden
I love big, bold foliage. The "extras" of the plant world. You'll find tropical plants woven into every garden bed, not to mention the containers on the patio. I tend to like plants, and some people, one might call "extra." They make life a bit more interesting. Plants that scream look at me have a place in every garden and they make the smaller, softer spoken plants stand out and look even better. Funny how that works. Too much of the big stuff however, just looks like a bunch of big stuff. It's overwhelming. So I find that a tropical plant here and there makes the garden so much more interesting and it satiates my desire for a little something tropical in every bed or container. Cold climate be damned! My love affair with tropical plants began several years ago with Christopher Lloyd ...
Dahlia Fail and a Change of Heart
The dahlias are tucked away despite the fact that I swore off trying to overwinter them again after last year's dahlia fail. I killed all except one variety. It was my first attempt at overwintering dahlias and I thought the garage was the perfect spot. As it turns out, it's not. Chalk this fail, there have been many, up to some serious gardener error. Three crates full of clean, plump, labeled tubers by March had become three crates of shriveled, puckered pods. I learned two things from that experience – the garage is too cold for dahlia tubers and you have to check your tubers monthly. Ok three things. I stink at this dahlia thing. I went to all that effort to store them and basically forgot about them for months, expecting they'd be just as I had left them months before. Well, these ...
Tough Perennials for a Colorful Fall Garden
Place the word "tough" in front of a word and oftentimes you get a negative meaning. Meat. Disposition. Decision. Childhood. No one likes tough meat or a tough childhood for that matter! But put it in front of "plants" and every gardener listens. Tough plant you say? To survive in my garden, you (the plants) gotta be tough. I'm not a plant coddler but instead subscribe to the Joan Crawford school of gardening. So when I was planning my side yard last winter, I focused on tough plants for a fall garden. It's very specific, but being specific keeps me on point and narrows my focus. With so many plants from which to choose, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Here's my criteria: 1. I want flowers until frost. 2. I want to to see them from inside the house. 3. I want to do as little as possible ...
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