The ups and downs of the gardening world.
I declare this 2020, The Year of the Tomato! Forget COVID, frosts, and marauding ground hogs, I have harvested the most tomatoes that I can remember in my many years of gardening. Bad Start to a Tomato Year With an inauspicious start - an unusually late killing frost around Mother's day - I was left …
Continue reading "Year of the Tomato – Best Recipes To Use Your Tomato Bounty"
Yes, yes, I know tomatoes and jam is an oxymoron, but when I spotted a recipe for tomato jam that included chocolate, I was hooked. After all, I had tasted and enjoyed tomato sorbet which is another sweet treatment for my favorite garden edible, so I was willing to give jam a try. To clinch …
Continue reading "All Jammed Up! Creating Savory Tomato Jam From Heirlooms"
Whats blooming in my garden? Elderberries!! The sweet umbels of creamy colored flowers that can reach 12" across are so fragrant and have a unique smell, kind of like floral, creamy, and summery all in one package! All cultivars look very similar with their shrub-like plant structure, compound leaves, and big, beautiful clusters of white …
Continue reading "Elderberry-Growing and Using a Versatile Herb"
Inundated with cucumbers this summer, the cukes in my frig reached critical mass and I had to do something about it, or we would be over run with them. I had at least 100 of them stuffed into every space in my refrigerator and I had already made cucumber salad, cucumber water, and everything else …
Continue reading "Cucumbers Are Here: Pickle Frenzy"
Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic, and Aromatic Ah....The fragrance of lavender! Evoking many memories, like wandering through blooming fields of lavender on a hot summer day buzzing with bees. This is one herb that if I were on a desert island, I would want to grow! Growing lavender in my garden every year is essential and I …
Continue reading "Queen of Herbs-Lavender"
Lemon Verbena has always been at the top of my list of herbs to grow for its intense lemony fragrance. More pungent that lemon balm or lemon thyme, I ended up with a bumper crop last year and found many uses for it. Be sure to buy a transplant this spring and place it where …
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Liking to cook, garden and design, when I noticed these beautiful focaccia breads all over the internet, I had to make some. It makes sense to decorate focaccias, as they are a blank canvas waiting to be adorned with art- edible art! Focaccias have always been my favorite easy-to-make bread in my bread machine and …
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With the stay at home edict, lots of people are making bread. It is a comfort food and much better than what you can buy and a fresh product that you can make easily at home. I have friends making bread who never would have considered it just a few months ago and this recipe …
Continue reading "Best No-Knead Bread Ever!-Cheddar Jalapeno Bread"
It's that time of year again, where I review my most viewed posts from all over the world and I was surprised at some of the posts that were at the top of the heap. The top ten countries that view my blog in descending order are the U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, India, Germany, …
Continue reading "Top Gardening Posts for 2019"
I love Butternut squash! It is a sweet nutty squash that is very nutritious - full of vitamins A and C and fiber. Versatile in many types of dishes - soups, roasted, steamed, risotto, pies, pasta, gratins - the recipes are endless. And perfect for Thanksgiving! Butternut squash soup is a favorite during cold months …
Continue reading "Winter Squash Soup & Pie Recipes"
