The strawberry dilemma of a few weeks ago was solved this Wednesday when we got another six quarts of berries from our Wayward Seed fruit CSA.  I was thrilled!! In the span of a few hours on Thursday, I made three quarts of berries into jam. Many people bemoan jam making, but it really is quite simple. Over the last few years I have developed a recipe using honey instead of refined sugar for the [...]

Oh goodness.  We went on vacation for a week and a half and the garden GREW! It was green stuff everywhere, and most of it didn’t belong.  The grass was almost a foot high! We threw out the peas (they were past the sweet stage by the time we came home) and transplanted some tomatoes in their place. The strawberry bed needed major work.  Can you even see the strawberries in this picture? An hour [...]

I have always loved shellfish. Both sides of my family originated in New England, so maybe it runs in the blood. Growing up my family regularly visited the northeast coast every summer to see relatives and relax on the beach. At a young age I had already begun digging up razor clams and quahogs on the sand flats of Cape Cod Bay. I loved the clam chowder we could make from quahogs, but the razor [...]

For yesterday’s Father’s Day extravaganza, I was supposed to bring chocolate sauce to top ice cream sundaes.  I forgot to tell Alex when he was at the store.  We could have gone out again, but I decided instead to try making chocolate sauce. After one try, I’m convinced I’ll never buy it again. Chocolate sauce is easy to make and delicious!  Plus, when you make it yourself, you have possibilities: finish with bourbon or vanilla, [...]

For years, Alex’s grandmother lived in Marion, Massachusetts near Buzzard’s Bay.  When visiting, Alex and his family always admired the Great Hill estate around the corner from her house.  About 10 years ago, Great Hill began producing artisan blue cheese. When I knew we were coming to Marion to visit, I contacted the good folks at Great Hill.  Though they don’t have regular tours, Tim, the owner,  invited me to see the cheese making operation. [...]

Every year we go strawberry picking.  Usually we eat a third fresh or in baked goods, freeze a third, and make the rest into jam. This year, our little garden patch has produced well enough to satisfy our out of hand desires and I even froze about a pint. We tried to pick twice in central Ohio but the weather was awful once and the patch was picked over the other time.  Then we left [...]

No matter which way you plant them, seeds grow with leaves up and roots underground.  Climbers like ivy, always reach for the top of a tree. Green beans always climb up their support, never down.  This one in my garden was heading down a support but changed direction and is now growing right back up on top of itself. It’s an effect called gravitropism, or tropism. The plant hormone auxin causes plants to repspond to [...]