The ol’ homestead is not yet up to growing all the strawberries my family will eat in a year. We used to have an enormous berry patch and could barely keep up on the harvest, but these days we have one main berry bed that’s situated in far too shady a spot for berries. There…
Total Potato Fail
I am having the darndest time with the easy plants this year. The beans, the peas, the broccoli, the berries, the onions, the beets, the lettuce, the squash, the artichokes…all thriving, but the crops you just can’t mess up? Well, they’re messed up. The garlic went tits up due to white rot and my potatoes are…
Monetization My Way
Blogging, like motherhood, is very rewarding, but not a high return-on-investment gig. In the seven months since I started this blog, I’ve made about $30 from people who have purchased things on Amazon through my site (mostly my in-laws; thank you!). I’ve spent, give or take, 450 hours working on this blog directly, and at…
No Spend Month: Week 1 Review
Well $250 is going to be a lot harder than I anticipated. I managed to forget about provisioning berries for the year, and with the late spring, all the mid-June strawberries ripened in early-July. I’m looking at blueberries and raspberries coming down the line in the next few weeks and I’m wondering if I blow…
Frugal Friday: Fun Card Budgeting For Non-Budgeters
I spent most of my post-college years with a checking account that was perpetually overdrawn by $300. I once went on a three-week trip to Scandinavia and spent the entirety of my food money on my first dinner outside of the U.S. In my defense, food in Reykjavik during the holiday season is unbelievably expensive….
We Hang Together, Or We All Hang Separately
Hey you! Yeah, you – the 22 year old barista with the excessive facial hair and the Che Guevara tee-shirt, riding around Portland on your Marin Point Reyes, wondering if you can make it to both rallies for raw milk that are happening tonight and still get your winter cabbage starts planted in your Urban…
Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Asparagus
Seven Deadly Sins In The GardenPride “Looks like Sally hasn’t gotten her beans in yet. My beans are already to the top of the trellis. People are going to notice when I’m eating fresh beans three weeks before Sally.” Greed “I’m grabbing all the basil starts I can carry at the plant sale. Outta my way,…
To Do In The Northwest Edible Garden: July 2011
It looks like warmer weather might finally be here. (Quick, someone knock on some wood!) It’s relative, of course, warmer in my neighborhood is 72 degree days and 53 degree nights. That’s enough for me to get a rosy glow about my neck and shoulders while I work the garden, and is good news for…
No Spend July: Be A Cheap Bastard For A Month
It’s July and that means our No Spend Month Challenge is in effect. If you’ve been following along on Facebook or on the blog, you know that June is a spendy series of weeks for us and July seems like a natural month to reign in hard on the spending. That’s where NSM comes into…
You're Invited To A Few Really Cheap Virtual Parties!
Okay, some of you readers may not follow the going’s on over on Facebook. (I’d conclude from this that you are too busy gardening – good on ya! Facebook is such a time-sink.) Here’s what’s coming up. Feel free to virtually participate in any, all, or none of these events. I’ll be blogging about them…
The Barrier Method Of Carrot Protection
We live in Carrot Fly country. I’m not sure why, but it is commonly accepted in Western Washington that you will not grow a decent crop of carrots without some sort of barrier to protect them. (Talking about barrier methods of carrot protection makes me snicker.) I’ve lost most of my unprotected carrot crops to…
Oh, What A Glorious Morning, Muffin!
There’s a local cafe that serves chocolate chip cookies that should be illegal and morning glory muffins that really do make my morning glorious. Since I have an ethical and financial problem paying $6.50 for a muffin and cup of coffee, and since it behooves my expanding ass to stay away from the chocolate chip…