How to Grow Rhubarb As I sit here looking out my kitchen window, it is absolutely pouring outside. Ten minutes ago, it was sunshine and blue skies. Welcome to winter/spring in the Pacific Northwest, right? I love it, rain included. In one corner of our little backyard garden, our four rhubarb plants do too. Rhubarb thrives in our cool climate, growing like gangbusters. The plants go dormant in the winter, then start poking through the soil in early spring. I love watching them unfurl their leaves, growing into huge green plants in a matter of weeks. Other than an occasional scoop of compost or mulch and plenty of water, they are perfectly happy Keep Reading
Garlic — A how-to guide to growing your own
Garlic is one of the absolute easiest things to grow in your garden. If you're convinced you don't have a green thumb, just give it a try. With minimal effort, you can get the immense satisfaction of seeing something you put in the dirt grow into something so useful. Plant in the fall (September/October) and basically stay hands-off until mid-summer. Literally, you can almost ignore it and garlic will still pop up out of the ground. #gardeningpro #winning Click over to this post to find out the (minimal) steps it takes to grow your very own garlic. Looking for recipe ideas using your homegrown garlic? Keep Reading
The Truth About CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture)
If you expected a scandalous tell-all post on local agriculture, I'm sorry to disappoint. This post is just featuring the beautiful invention known as CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture. My personal experience with CSA's is pretty limited, so I'm hoping you, the FLNW community, will add your own experiences in the comment section. What is a CSA? Again, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Local farmers offer individuals a share of their harvest. Members pay at the beginning of the season and receive weekly boxes of fresh produce for a set amount of time. What can I expect in my box? The standard is seasonal vegetables. However, Keep Reading
Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic-Butter Sauce recipe
Simple Asparagus Recipe As you know, one way to significantly reduce your grocery bill each month is to create your menu plans around produce that is currently in season for your area. This is a bit trickier when you can buy cantaloupe in December, squash in July, and strawberries in February. Crazy. Keep in mind that "in season" and "available" are two totally different ideas. Most produce sold in the U.S. has traveled an average of 1,500 miles before hitting grocery stores. In order to accomplish this, growers pick the fruit before it's technically ripe, making it easier to ship. Of course, some produce (like celery or bananas or potatoes) Keep Reading
Planting tips for vegetable seeds and starts
Planting tips for vegetable seeds and starts Putting in a garden or planting a few small containers can be intimidating. No one wants to invest the time and money into a garden, only to be rewarded with seeds that don't come up or plants that shrivel up. If you are going to do this, you want to do it right. I totally get that. I grew up watching my grandpa grow a huge commercial garden. Acres of tomatoes and melons. I had a deep appreciation for thumping watermelons and picking cucumbers. When I was a kid, I learned by being my dad's sidekick in the garden. I loved the whole process -- planning the layout, choosing the seeds, planting, watering, Keep Reading
Basic bean soup (gluten-free, dairy-free recipe)
Basic Bean Soup When I was first learning my way around the kitchen and figuring out how to cook real meals for real people, I steered as far away from soup as possible. For some dumb reason, making soup seemed really difficult. Maybe it had something to do with all those different ingredients swirled together in one pot. Where do you start? I was totally intimidated. After a few years of giving soup the silent treatment, though, I finally decided to figure it out. I quickly discovered that making soup is actually one of the easiest kitchen skills! Heat some olive oil, add meat if you want, saute a bunch of vegetables, add seasonings, cover with Keep Reading
How to Compost at Home
How to compost at home I love keeping a backyard compost bin. It's like magic. You dump in a bunch of waste, wave your wand/shovel, and voila! Out comes beautiful, rich soil loaded with beneficial nutrients and packed with earthworms. I think of it like frugal fertilizer; plants are crazy about it. Compost improves the soil's structure and moisture retention, while slowly releasing into the soil to boost the plant's growth and ability to fight diseases. However, if there was an award for World's Laziest Composter, I would be in serious medal contention. I love the results of a backyard compost bin, but I don't have the time or desire to make Keep Reading
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 30
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- …
- 86
- Next Page »