Petroleum in Our Food?
Make it a New Year’s resolution to reduce the distance your food travels, as well as the stuff that’s sprayed on them.
Parsnips, carrots, a purple sweet potato and Yukon potato
Roasted Winter Vegetable Jambalaya
Looking for a delicious way to cook up those winter vegetables? Look no further. This recipe from the November 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine cooks up a savory, satisfying jambalaya that rivals any meat version. Smoked paprika, cayenne and chili powder make it spicy, but not too hot. Roasted Winter Vegetable Jamabalaya -Serves 6 1 cup long-grain brown rice (we used short grain - worked fine) 2 large carrots, diced 2 medium parsnips, diced 1 small sweet potato, diced…
Dirt Simple Compost Tea Brewer
2013 Gardening Resolutions
With each new year, gardeners vow to make changes or try new techniques (or remember old ones). 2013 shall be no different, and so we bring you Gardenerd's Gardening Resolutions for the new year. 1) De-Clutter - haven't used that stack of plastic pots in three years? It's time to let them go. Donate them to a school or recycle them through Freecycle or Craigslist. I'm cleaning out shredded bird netting, old balls of wire (collected from Christmas wreaths of…
Winter Solstice is Here
Winter solstice (in the northern hemisphere) means that it’s the shortest day and longest night of the year. What does this mean for your garden?
Chayote squash sprouted
The Chayote Squash Dilemma
Interesting things come in the monthly produce exchange, and last month it included one chayote squash. As it sat on the counter, it became more interesting. It sprouted. I've never eaten chayote squash before. It's usually cooked like summer squash, but the roots, leaves and stems are also edible. A quick glance at Wikipedia yields an abundance of ideas for using it in different ethnic cuisines: Uses for chayote squash But wait, there's more... Perhaps the most interesting part about…
Navel orange
‘Tis the Season for Citrus
There's something special about sneaking outside in your bathrobe into the crisp, cool, fall air to pick a citrus breakfast off a tree: a fresh orange dripping with new fallen rain. December is when navel oranges really hits their stride, and lemons fall abundantly from the tree. Instead of installing a front lawn four years ago, we opted for a mini orchard of five trees. This week the navel orange and Meyer lemon have finally turned color and are ready…
Homemade Organic Pest Control
Many home remedies for bug spray call for dish soap, but if you’re not using an earth-friendly biodegradable soap, you could be doing your garden more harm than good.
Pine needles for tea?
Oh Christmas Tree (+a Book Giveaway!)
This week we have a great guest blog post from Kami McBride, author of The Herbal Kitchen. I met Kami at the Heirloom Expo, where she was sharing her knowledge of healing remedies from the garden. Today Kami presents an interesting twist on the Christmas tree. Take it away Kami... Healing Qualities of the Evergreen Trees Decorating the Christmas tree is an ancient tradition from a time when various trees and plants were honored at different times of the year.…
The family has 2 rabbits, and they plan to put up a barrier to protect the herb garden.
New Herb Garden
A call came in from a Santa Monica homeowner who had been wanting to put in a small herb garden for years. She had a busy life, and participated in a monthly CSA (community supported agriculture), so a full-sized vegetable garden wasn't necessary. She dreamed, though, of walking out her back door to harvest fresh herbs. With most of the back yard relegated for volleyball, we chose a corner of the yard for the herb garden. The homeowner wanted to…
Seeds for 2013
Even if your garden is dormant for the winter, seed catalogs carry us through with hope for another season of fresh produce.