I have struggled for a few years with a desire to have more fruit trees than my 1/3 acre lot can accomodate. A third-acre is actually pretty big by urban standards, but only one-quarter of our property is given over to edibles. The house, driveway, paths, shady areas and kid’s play area (aka lawn) take…
Recent Posts
Beer: A Historical Look At Food Adulteration
We tend to think of the problems of our age as new problems. Take, for example, food adulteration. When you hear about children dying from melamine-tainted infant formula it’s easy to conclude that the food supply is starting to go to hell in a hand-basket. Without minimizing the seriousness of modern food supply adulteration, I’d suggest…
My Simple Cast Iron Seasoning Technique
I’m partial to cast iron cookware. I also use stainless-clad aluminum pots and pans for soups and blanching vegetables and making oatmeal, but my daily-use pans are a set of five Lodge Cast Iron Skillets. I say ‘set’ like I went down one day to my local Williams-Sonoma and got a deal for buying the…
It’s Called Gleaning. No Relation To Glee.
I have a friend, the Shoreline Fruit Lady. Today is her birthday, so in her honor I thought I’d talk about one of her favorite things: gleaning. Fruit Lady is a neighborhood gleaner. She walks around her ‘hood with kids in tow and if she notices a big overgrown plum or apple tree in someone’s…
Be A Very Lazy Garden Planner
When I look out the window right now my garden has big bare patches that trick me into thinking I have far more room for fruit trees than I really do. When the rain is coming down and my infant is asleep, I like to stare out to the garden, imagining a wonderland of edible…
Why The Hell Do I Put Myself Through This?
There are those days. Those days start at midnight when your 7 year old wakes you up because she has explosively vomited a four egg-and-cheese omelette down the side of her bed and the putrid mess has leached so far past the sheets that it has permeated the very springs of the mattress itself. You…
What We Look Forward To
Well, last week didn’t really feel like it in the Pacific Northwest, what with the intermittent hail and occasional snow flurry, but spring is fighting the good fight. President’s Day weekend was the traditional time to put your peas in the ground, though in my area the soil was still a bit cold. Did you sow peas outside? Did…
Turn Your Old Wire Hangers Into Garden Staples!
If you or a housemate work off the farm at one of those jobs that require clean, starched shirts, you probably have a lot of dry-cleaner’s wire hangers kicking around the house. We return our wire hangers to our dry cleaners for re-use (better for the earth and helpful to the small business owners who…
Heat Lovers in A Cool Clime: Tomato Dreams and Tomato Delusions
Forget sugarplums – at this time of year it’s visions of big, juicy, vine-ripe tomatoes that dance in the gardener’s head. Tomatoes are the quintessential garden edible. The tomato is so culturally ubiquitous – so representative of summer itself – that people not in possession of gardening gloves, a shovel, or the slightest desire to…
Curry Roasted Squash Seeds
Inside that tasty, tasty beast of a Sugar Hubbard squash was a whole other garden gift: squash seeds! Now I don’t bother to pick through and roast the seeds from every squash I harvest, but when you have a big squash you have some big, tasty seeds. So especially on your large winter squashes (squashi?),…
Don’t Be An Urban Homesteader Asshole
You ripped up your front lawn to plant kale and a heritage quince tree. You adopted as many chickens as your town will allow. You make your own bread, jam, cheese, pickles, yogurt and beer. Worms eat your garbage, beekeeping supplies are on the way and you’re wondering if the neighbors would notice a dwarf…
Seed Starting 101: Up-Potting
If you are new to growing seedlings, you might want the entire Seed Starting 101 series: Seed Starting 101: Key Components To Healthy Seedlings Seed Starting 101: A Step-By-Step Visual Guide To Growing Seedlings At Home Seed Starting 101: Up-Potting (this post) Occasionally your seedlings will outgrow their containers before you are ready to move…