Read more about the article Recipe: Portobello Mushroom and Kale Stroganoff
Add tomato paste, kale, the bay leaf, and broth, then simmer for about 10 minutes.

Recipe: Portobello Mushroom and Kale Stroganoff

Continue ReadingRecipe: 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…

Read more about the article Wordless Wednesday – Winter Garden Bliss
Helios radishes, one of several new varieties we trialed this winter.

Wordless Wednesday – Winter Garden Bliss

Continue ReadingWordless 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…

Read more about the article Where’s Gardenerd – New Zealand Travels
"Enjoying Wellington on a good day from atop Wright's Hill."

Where’s Gardenerd – New Zealand Travels

Continue ReadingWhere’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…

Read more about the article Sourdough Bread – Why It’s Better Than Yeast
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

Continue ReadingSourdough 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…

Read more about the article Ask Gardenerd: Big Cauliflower – No Head
Many varieties of cauliflower exist. Experimentation is the key to success.

Ask Gardenerd: Big Cauliflower – No Head

Continue ReadingAsk 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…

Read more about the article Toddler Garden
Mostly started from nursery transplants to make it easy for beginning gardeners. We did plant seeds for radishes and carrots though.

Toddler Garden

Continue ReadingToddler Garden

It's important for kids to know where their food comes from, so here at Gardenerd we like to start them young. Really young, in the case of this recent garden installation. A two-year-old was about to get a younger sibling, so her parents wanted to give her something small to call her own: a toddler garden. Naturally, we needed to keep it simple for both child and parents. They'll have their hands full, so this garden needed to be self-sufficient…

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