02 Nov 2012 No Comments
And you will never see more excitement in the garden than kids discovering their first recognizable pumpkins. Except in the case of worms and frogs. Those are WAY exciting.
Granted we missed Halloween, but these are sugar pumpkins and we intend to cook them into pumpkin pie. YUM! 
Next up, our first tomato. More
30 Oct 2012 4 Comments
When it comes to my garden, my motto is “eat what’s blooming.” So, with my zucchini in full bloom, I came up with a little comfort sauce for my pasta. Now I prefer roasted zucchini, but since I’ve already had that three times this month, I decided to try something new. While making pasta and red sauce for the family, I decided to have mine with zucchini. Mind you, I’m the only one in the family who cares for zucchini, but we have an entire bed of the stuff because I am the head gardener which means I get a say in what grows where. Leadership has its privileges.
Anyhoo, this sauce is easy and delicious and can be expounded upon exponentially (can you tell my daughter is learning algebra?). The ingredients are zucchini, garlic, tomatoes, basil and parsley.
Olive oil and butter, too, but I can’t grow those in the garden. The basil I used is cinnamon basil, but plain old sweet basil is also delicious (yes, I’ve made this twice, now). More
26 Oct 2012 2 Comments
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I love salads, all kinds. I love growing them and I love eating them. And cooler weather in Florida means fresh lettuce in my garden. A sample, if you will… Swiss chard — healthy and colorful.
Romaine – strong and delicious; a classic. More
22 Oct 2012 No Comments
So I have this cricket problem. They’re eating me out of plant and garden. Voracious little critters, they seem to be able to destroy a pumpkin vine in a matter of days, a helpless little Brussels in a matter of hours. I tried bird netting. But the squares are a bit too big.
Crickets can jump clear through them. Not always on the first try, mind you, but give them enough chances and out they go! Rascals.
So I had to get creative. For my netting, I’ve doubled up. This way, the pattern won’t match up identically and some of the squares will be rendered to triangles and the crickets won’t be able to escape. More importantly, they won’t be able to get in. The hoops are 9 gauge wire cut into pieces that I bend to suit my needs. More
19 Oct 2012 No Comments
This week the kids continued bug duty, as their pumpkins are being devoured by the day. It’s a sad sight when the kids clamor to inspect their pumpkins only to find the leaves eaten half off their plant.
Sad. Very sad. So they continued with their dispatch duty and in the process, found this little guy. More
17 Oct 2012 No Comments
Now why didn’t I think of this? A vegetable washing table, complete with hose and close proximity to the harvest bounty!
I do like a gardener who thinks “outside” the garden—as in: ”Where am I going with this stuff?”
Probably because he’s a man. A woman thinks practicality: Going to the kitchen now to prepare my fresh veggies… She knows there’s a sink in the kitchen. A man thinks solution: This stuff is dirty and I’ve got to clean it off before bringing it anywhere near the kitchen. A well-trained husband, that is. More
12 Oct 2012 No Comments
You’ve all heard of the dirty dozen, right? Not to be confused with Dirty Harry (though my mother would plant him in her garden, if she could!). These are the top twelve fruits and vegetables known for being laden with pesticides and fungicides. Unfortunately, my favorite “Granny Smith” tops the list every year.
Apples. The number one offender when it comes to toxic residue. According to Environmental Working Group (EWG), the group who publishes the list every year, it’s believed “more pesticides and fungicides are being applied after the harvest so the fruit can have a longer shelf life.” Huh. Well who’d a thunk it. Yet another reason to grow your own. That’s what the kids think, anyway. This week we chased caterpillars from the garden and talked pesticide. Organic pesticide.
The little boy looked up at me in horror. “You want me to squish it?” More
10 Oct 2012 4 Comments
I quit. I’ve had it up to here with the dastardly hornworm. He’s BACK in my garden and devouring my tomato plants at alarming rates. Egads–have you ever seen anything so horrid?
It’s not pretty. Probably can’t see him in there, tucked beneath the leaves. But look closely. Head like a walrus on one end, cute little tail like a puppy dog on the other, these creatures can eat their weight in tomato leaves in the space of ten minutes, taking out your entire plant by the end of the day. (Those missing leaves are his doing.) More
05 Oct 2012 No Comments
This week the kids were taught how to pinch their plants. Their tomatoes, to be specific. (No pinching the others, or slapping that rosemary either. Kids.) We pinch our tomatoes to encourage nutrients and water to go where needed—the main stems and branches. Scraggly, overgrown and unkept tomato plants help no one, least of all the gardener looking for some ruby-red produce.
And it’s simple. The tiny branch growing in the crux there? Pinch it—a difficult task if your gloves are ultra thick, so take care, and pinch with precision. More
01 Oct 2012 No Comments
Remember the horrible squash washout? The one where someone–Mother Nature, mystery visitor or something–washed the end of my squash row to nothing?
Well, I solved the mystery. I didn’t tell you, but it happened again. Twice. The first time I thought it may have been the rain, but the second? More
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