Plan Ahead for Seed Saving
Choose just one variety of corn and get your neighbors to grow it with you.
Sarah took Mr. Nerd for a spin around the corn patch.
Where’s Gardenerd: Sarah the Real Gardener, NZ
When last we saw Mr. Nerd, he was finishing up his tour of Wellington, New Zealand. Now Where's Gardenerd? He's headed up north to visit Sarah the Real Gardener in Waiuku, which is also on the Northern Island. It's beautiful country where Sarah is located. She took Mr. Nerd on a tour of her spacious garden filled with corn, squash, tomatoes, and herbs. Reminder: it's summer in the Southern hemisphere, so those of you buried under snow right now can…
Add tomato paste, kale, the bay leaf, and broth, then simmer for about 10 minutes.
Recipe: Portobello Mushroom and Kale Stroganoff
It's that half-eaten container of sour cream in the fridge that brought us to this recipe. You know the one: that lonely tub, brought over by a guest for a recent party, languishing all alone in the back of the fridge. We hate to let things go to waste here, so we scoured the interwebs for ways to use left over sour cream. We found a vegetarian recipe for Portobello Mushroom and Kale Stroganoff. It worked. Kale is abundant in…
Avocado Chocolate Mousse
We found the best vegan chocolate mousse recipe that uses 2 avocados per batch.
Helios radishes, one of several new varieties we trialed this winter.
Wordless Wednesday – Winter Garden Bliss
As we prep for spring gardening, we enjoy the harvest from our winter garden. Soon it will be time to start seeds, but in the meanwhile, we add compost to existing crops and prune fruit trees, cane berries, and grasses. Rain pampers our plants and they reward us with a bountiful harvest. We're watering from rain barrels in between, and watching everything grow while we read through seed catalogs. Here's what's growin' on in this colorful (almost) Wordless Wednesday. For…
"Enjoying Wellington on a good day from atop Wright's Hill."
Where’s Gardenerd – New Zealand Travels
Where's Gardenerd? It's summer in New Zealand and our intrepid traveler was last spotted jaunting around Wellington, which is located on the North Island. Gardenerds there are harvesting peppers, tomatoes, beans and squash. Mr. Nerd, as he was recently dubbed, is still with David Scully, sightseeing beautiful places in the heat of summer. David really knows how to show off his homeland to visitors. Enjoy this armchair adventure. All photos and captions are from David. See his happy garden in…
Taking Stock – Seeds, Successes and More
Take time to take inventory and make a list of supplies needed for the coming growing season.
Best Sand for Storage
Beach sand is very smooth, which interferes with drainage and air circulation, and it’s full of salts and who knows what else.
Flour, water, salt and starter are the only ingredients in this loaf. Long rise (4 hours with turns every 1/2 hour), and then overnight refrigeration make this loaf great.
Sourdough Bread – Why It’s Better Than Yeast
I've been making bread for 25 years, but I've always been afraid of sourdough starter. Pretty sure I would kill it from neglect, so I limited myself to packaged yeast...until yesterday. Maybe it's a New Year's Resolution. Maybe it's courage, or blissful ignorance, but yesterday I made my first loaf of sourdough bread and have left over starter in the fridge. It's a thing of beauty. With all the gluten intolerance in the world now, one can't help but question…
Many varieties of cauliflower exist. Experimentation is the key to success.
Ask Gardenerd: Big Cauliflower – No Head
We got a question at Ask Gardenerd this week from Jeff: "I'm having trouble with cauliflower - the plants are not flowering. Is there anything I can do to encourage flowering? By the way, I planted broccoli as well and it's doing fine. Thanks, Jeff" You're not alone, Jeff. This is typical of places that don't have really cold temperatures in fall or winter. Cauliflower needs low temps to set a head, so in warm-winter climates you often get Jurassic…