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Inspired by Daisy and her flock,the Tromboncino posed as the mother duck and the Zephr zuccs as the ducklings. Ready for a change from my usual selection of zucchini varieties last year (Zephyr and Costata Romanesca),I was drawn to the description of a vining form requiring a sturdy trellis for its rampant [...] Newly re-designed hoop house. If winter had arrived in November, as it often has in the past,we’d have been unprepared,crops left un-harvested and poorly protected and the detritus of our not-so-neat outdoor existence,ready to be lost under the snow. But nature was kind this year,bestowing a deliciously pleasant November with short,[...] Fresh basil with bags of frozen pesto Basil,that indispensible warm-weather herb and best friend of tomatoes has been a gardener’s favorite for years. Yet during my first 25 years, basil was no more than a jar of gray, flavorless flakes in the spice cabinet –a far cry from the verdant and evocatively fragrant summer staple we [...] A clump of garlic scallions from a bulb left in the ground the previous year. For anyone who cooks and likes zesty food,garlic is a year-round essential. Doing without just isn’t an option. Happily,garlic is absurdly easy to grow in Zone 4,so my goal is to never buy garlic,especially any shipped [...] Belgian endive grown as a root crop. Imagine a care free-crop you can grow all summer,pick in the fall and store in a closet for winter harvests of fresh,crunchy salads. It’s not a dream but a Belgian endive! I’ve just started harvesting my 2010 crop this month. It all started back in [...] Beans at various stages of maturity from scarlet runner and other pole bean varieties. Beans have me entranced. Each year I plant ever more varieties for drying and shelling. The colors,patterns and sizes,the smooth coolness clicking through my fingers,the ease with which they grow,and the tasty and nutritious meals they create,keep [...] A groundhog,outstanding in its field. Gardeners unite in observing the second of February as the start of spring! Despite the annual,mindless media babble at Ground Hog Day,the party line that pegs the start of spring to the equinox,and the persistence of the northern winter lasting many more months,spring’s initiation belongs in [...] Green tomatoes picked before frost,ripening on trays We’ll be staying close to home for Thanksgiving so can source the majority of ingredients for the feast from our 2010 harvests. As with every growing season,there were notable ups and downs but thanks to unusually good weather for plants,the successes far exceeded [...] Raspberry row BEFORE pruning Faced with a long list of seasonal garden tasks in the fall —from planting garlic to capturing leaves,to preparing the garden beds for spring —the long row of raspberries often claim attention first. Pruning raspberry canes makes them more productive and easier work around when the raspberry picking season comes [...] Transplants in peat pots ready for fall. August —the best of the summer months,when the weather more often than not cooperates for outdoor fun,the biting bugs diminish and the great season of bountiful harvests begins. But I can already feel the hours of daylight diminishing rapidly. Crickets now dominate the evening [...] | ||||||
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