I haven’t shown you guys the garden in awhile – it’s looking great this year because we’ve had more sun and heat than is typical. That’s pushing ripeness and growth rates higher. Result? Super lushness and happy gardener! I snapped quite a few photos so I’m trying a new thing and turning them into a…
Recent Posts
{Giveaway} Can Seeds Save The World? A Conversation with Tom Stearns of High Mowing Organic Seeds.
Regular readers know that I’m pretty proud to have High Mowing Organic Seeds as a sponsor. Now, I’m more proud than ever. High Mowing has always been 100% organic, and soon will be the first and only seed house to be certified non-GMO by the Non-GMO Project. They are defining what it is to be an ethical…
I'm Writing A Book And You Can Help
I soft-launched an announcement about this about a month ago, but shit’s gotten real on the Write A Book front, so I wanted to keep you guys in the loop. First, the Big Announcement, if you missed it when I snuck it in the first time around: yup, I’m writing a book. It is a…
Help! Garden Anxiety! (Reader Question)
Sophie wrote to me a few days after I posted this photo on my Facebook page. She wanted to know if my garden had always looked this healthy. Hello! Quick question! Do you feel like your garden always looked this nice and healthy? Or did it take you time? Time to improve the soil, learn…
Thai Red Curry Cabbage Salad
A few months ago I planted a half-bed of Caraflex cabbage, a new-to-me variety that has become my official favorite fresh eating cabbage. This pointy-headed cabbage has performed wonderfully for me on dense spacing, so I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I’ve made basically one thing with it. That’s not to say the cabbage has gone to…
5 Ways To Save Time In The Garden
Ah the simple life. Sounds so placid, doesn’t it? All those simple pleasures: home-grown food, warm earth between our toes, the cluck and baa and buzz of backyard animals, the happy smells of a kitchen much used. So why does this simple life seem so freaking complex sometimes, huh? That’s the part no one talks…
The Basil Bliss
It’s been an unseasonably warm, late spring day and we’ve been digging a duck pond. It’s time for a drink. It’s not quite warm enough for the icy summer staples (gin and tonic, I’m looking at you) but the moody drinks of winter are just too emo for a day of high cirrus clouds against a clear…
{Giveaway} reCAP Fermentation Kit from FarmCurious
One of my most popular posts continues to be my tutorial on how to use a reCAP Mason Jar lid into a to hack together a flexible, cheap, DIY lacto-fermentation crock. This is a super easy DIY project, but it does require getting your hands on a homebrewing-style airlock and the right-size bung to fit…
Meet The Ducks!
Here’s the list of homestead things we were hoping to accomplish in 2014: Install Solar Panels. Plant Suburban Food Forest Build Pond – working on it. Get Ducks. Get Bees – too late; pushed to 2015. The solar panels are churning out a ton of power (nearly 40 kWh on a lovely sunny day), the trees,…
June 2014 Gardening Chores For The Pacific Northwest
This year is moving so fast I’m terrified I’m going to turn around twice and miss an entire month. It’s June, the plants seem about 2-4 weeks ahead and I feel about 2 weeks behind. I’m already picking ripe cherries, the tomatoes have little proto-fruit on them and the beans are about to hit the…
Mother Earth News Fair Meetup, New Book, High Mowing Organic Seed Discount
You know how sometimes you have a nice romantic dinner with your partner and you languidly discuss the topics of the day? And then sometimes you both set your calendar in front of you and you shovel spaghetti into your mouth while coordinating your To Do lists and appointments? Yeah, this post is the blog…
The Rhubarb 75
It’s not quite strawberry season, cherries look like small, hard green marbles and peaches are just a fuzzy dream. But there is rhubarb. Rhubarb is a strange edible. Not really a fruit but typically used as one, poisonous except for the stalk, tart and astringent and stringy when raw. Who was the first brave gatherer that…