Did you know Washington State is the leading commercial producer of rhubarb in the United States? It grows really well here. Sometimes it grows so well that it’s a little intimidating. Such was the case with Audrey the Giant Rhubarb of Ballard. Our best friends moved into a great 1950s house near Ballard a few…
Archives for January 2011
Yogurt Making: How To Add Some Culture To Your Day
Last August my husband and I embarked on a no spend month challenge. We allotted ourselves $300 (jointly) in spending money. We had to make that $300 count: all our groceries, gas and incidental spending had to come in under $300 for the month. Since we had never done this kind of thing before, I…
Garden Inventory: January 2011
It’s early January and after that list of harvest-ables what am I actually harvesting? Root Crops Beets Still a row of Bulls Blood standing. The tops are all sad and little, but the roots have put on a bit of size. Most are around golf ball size, with some a fair bit larger. I got…
Lessons From A Year Without Summer
Last year (2010) we had a cool spring and a cool, short summer. No one had a ripe tomato until damn near September. The heat loving tomatoes, squash, corn, etc. didn’t thrive, and so a lot of gardeners said it was a terrible, terrible year. I disagree! I had the best year ever for cabbage,…
New Year, New Blog, New Seed Catalogues
It’s the beginning of January and everything seems fallow and sleepy. The garden is shivering through it’s second cold snap of the winter. The first came just before Thanksgiving and brought us temperatures in the teens and lots of snow (lots for Seattle, mind you: some places got 5 inches). The second we are enjoying…