A gardener doesn't have to be perfect.
It seems only yesterday that I was reveling over the first tomato of the season. And now I’m harvesting so fast there is hardly time for anything else. Some of the raised beds are empty and ready for another planting of lettuce, spinach, beets, and bunching onions.
One cherry pie in four years? Sometimes it’s the price we pay for our green thumb addictions. But when you plant a tree the reasons are many. We wanted to plant an orchard, of sorts, and we started with a cherry and a plum. If you’re only interested in the end result of the fancy pie, you can jump to The Prize Pie. If you are interested in the four-year journey, read on!
Continue reading “Making Cherry Pie Filling from Scratch: The Four Year Journey”
It’s the beginning of August and the bounty from the garden has included root vegetables such as beets, onions, and carrots; and leafy greens such as lettuce and Swiss chard. By now we are expecting to wander out to the garden and be able to pull the next mature onion or tear off the next leaves of lettuce. Almost as if by this time in the summer we are taking their production for granted. Yet we still are awaiting the crown jewel, the ripening of the fruit we’ve so lovingly protected from harsh winds and cold. We are approaching tomato season.
Gardening is about raising something that doesn’t harass you. It doesn’t cry to be changed like our kids did when they were babies. It doesn’t whine to be fed like our dogs do. In their own quiet way, plants look pitiful, brown, and wilted when they need attention. They die just as quietly. No fanfare, no fancy burial ceremonies. The only real pressure on you to raising plants is the pressure you put on yourself.
Continue reading “Choosing Your First Houseplant”
What do you do when it’s time to harvest multiple vegetables at once? You have two choices: figure out how to preserve them and use them later, or combine them into one dish. We had never heard of adding roasted fennel and beets together and wow was it a nice dish.
One of my favorite tools is the Hori Hori knife. It is fantastic. I use it for so many things, digging out dandelion roots, opening up bags of potting soil, hacking through stubborn roots. But I use it mostly for planting. Continue reading “Hori-Hori Knife: The Quintessential Planting Tool”
Welcome to The Negligent Gardener.
I’ve been growing and killing plants for decades. In fact, I’ve been told that I am negligent with my plants which is the reason that my husband told me years ago that I should be called The Negligent Gardener. And a community was born…
Our gardens can bring us joy in all months of the year and the month of June may be considered one of the best. Each vegetable garden gives us hope that we will have nourishment from the fruits of our labor. Each plant has the potential to give us spiritual fulfillment that results from our personal efforts of fostering life where there was none before.