Today is the first day of spring and the garden waits for no one! Juggling a newborn can easily put a cramp in gardening productivity, but gardening isn’t just a hobby for me. It is where we get a significant part of the food that ends up on our table. The “stead” part of having a homestead means inside and out of our home is
Easy Spring Veggies
I’m keeping it simple with my spring vegetable garden this year. Baby could arrive anytime between now and the next 3-4 weeks, which means I will be down for the count come March for planting. Instead, I am planting some easy-going veggies now that can stand some neglect this spring. Lettuce & Green Onions – this is a classic companion planting combination that looks great
What & When to Grow
The time for starting seeds is upon us! Not sure what to sow this year? My advice is plant what you already buy on a regular basis from the grocery store. You are more likely to use what you grow and make a dent in your grocery budget. When I lived in Brooklyn, I unloaded our weekly groceries and took an inventory: kale, spinach, butter
Get Busy!
The growing season is not too far around the corner! Witch hazel is already blooming and my flowering quince buds are days away from opening. If we can get a handle on some garden chores now, we’ll be in good shape to maximize the harvest from our homesteads this year. When it comes to growing your own food, here is my short list of what
Raking Is Not Homework
“I can resist anything but temptation.” -Oscar Wilde This became the theme of my weekend, for better or worse. I tried hard to sit at my desk focusing on homework while Jay worked on tidying up the backyard. Have you ever seen those old psychology experiments that tested the ability of little kids to resist eating a mashmallow? It was kind of like that. Of
Simple Canned Tomatoes
The first frost of the season waits for no one! I can’t use grad school as an excuse to delay the coming cold season, so I’ve been spending some early mornings and late evenings in the kitchen processing tomatoes. When I don’t have time to make a big batch of sauce, I am canning them simply on their own. Canned tomatoes in their own sauce
Late Summer Already
How did it get to be September already? Is someone playing a trick on my calendar? Here we are in the thick of tomato and squash season. I feel like it all happened overnight! I have been volunteering intermittently at the Urban Farm between summer vacations and it is just bursting there right now. I probably consume more food while I’m working than I help
Friends in the Right Places
In addition to friends in low places, I am also fortunate to have friends in all the right places when it comes to growing food. I recently spent an afternoon at the Courthouse Garden here in Eugene, which is a re-entry program for ex-cons and also a class on urban farming through the University of Oregon. They were blessed with a huge donation of tomato
Good Haul
Oh my goodness, I am almost getting buried in the harvest this summer! The garden in our little rental house is productive, which is surprising considering how little work it has been. The broccoli has all come on at the same time and I’m barely eating it before it completely flowers. Often I get asked to help people plan their vegetable gardens and I always
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