Have you ever made homegrown dried beans? It’s a lengthy and annoying process, in my opinion. I do it every year because I just can’t stand to waste. Here’s how it goes: I try to pick fresh green beans I grow every few days. We like the little sweet ones. Beans are prolific. The...
Read more →A week ago, I shared that urban agriculture genius Will Allen is visiting Columbus. Tickets are still available to the Friday keynote and Saturday-Sunday workshop intensive. Thanks to a donation from Scotts via Slow Food Columbus, I am able to give away a ticket to the keynote address this Friday, July 15, 2011 at...
Read more →My cousin Todd, owner of Combs Landscape Design, came over to talk about our garden last week. He encouraged me to think of the backyard as a room with ‘walls’ of fence and house to be decorated with wooden panels painted by Lil. He advised us to expand the number of garden beds and...
Read more →There is nothing I love more than planning gardens. There is such anticipation in the planning: what will grow, what new things do I want to try, what do I love to eat? I casually advise friends and family, occasionally drawing up a whole plan. Last year I attempted to inspire beginning growers with...
Read more →Local folks, are you interested in growing potatoes? Last year a small group of us ordered seed potatoes together to save on shipping. This year I offer to organize a group to do the same. If you want to participate, fill out the order form below. I will accept orders until Monday February 28...
Read more →Oh, Julia Child, you dear pink tomato. Your blushing beauty covers your spicy inside, tempting gardeners for decades. Cherokee Chocolate, dark enchantress of the bunch. That Christmas colored skin of yours yields to a dark juicy flesh, dripping with sunlight transformed to sweetness. Then there’s you, Rutgers. Your pleats, your bulbous inundations, inspire a...
Read more →Summer is running away with my sanity, I think. I still haven’t recovered from waking every day at dawn on the canoe trip, so I’m lacking sleep. There are so many events, activities, plans, and parties that I can barely keep up with myself. In fact, I’m writing this post on OSU campus in...
Read more →Now that you’ve decided what to plant and where to plant, it’s time to build your beds! The most basic technique for creating a garden bed is double digging. As the name implies, double dug beds are carefully turned with a garden shovel once over the whole surface. Some peat moss and/or compost can...
Read more →There are oodles of books about starting seeds from people far more qualified than me to be dispensing advice. If you really want to know everything, I suggest searching out references at your local library. What we do here is a casual process guided mostly by the backs of the seed packets and our...
Read more →Location is the next consideration for gardens after motivation and plant selection. The ideal location will have 6 – 8 hours of sunlight a day, access to rain barrel or hose water, and convenience to the kitchen. In less than ideal locations or apartment dwellings, look for sunny spots where you can locate movable...
Read more →