What is it? Garlic scapes are the magical-wand-like flower shoots of the garlic plant. They emerge in late spring and contain a small bud that will become a flower if left on the plant. Many farmers, including me, prefer to cut the scapes away. The theory is that instead of the garlic spending energy...
Read more →There is nothing like homegrown fruit. Last year we enjoyed warm raspberries off the vine and perfectly sweet strawberries along with two (yes, just two) Italian plums. The anticipation for this year’s fruit starts with tiny flower buds and bitty baby fruit that are revealing themselves now. Here are some of the fruitlets we...
Read more →This week has been all about flowers here. When we returned to Ohio, everything was in bloom! Along with all others who marvel at plants and science, we had to trek to the Ohio State University campus to view the largest flower in the world. Rarely coaxed to bloom in a greenhouse, a Titan...
Read more →Please vote for this post to win a conference ticket. Simply click on @racheltayse is this poll. Thanks! Hounds in the Kitchen is growing not unlike the edible garden in our backyard. I planted seeds in education, writing, and speaking from this blog. Some have borne fruit already. Some activities seem to reseed themselves,...
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 →I realize that is has been an obscenely long time since I posted a garden update. It’s not that we haven’t been gardening, but that our hands are so frequently covered in dirt that I haven’t updated. Here’s what’s going on: Peas were a complete failure this year. Boo!! We ate several meals of...
Read more →Just after the second set of pea leaves appeared, birds started eating them. I blame sparrows, the possibly invasive species that seem to swarm our neighborhood in the spring. So, bird netting is on the peas. Last year we lost strawberries to the squirrels. Even with Alex’s not exactly legit squirrel hunting, they still...
Read more →No flower is more welcomed in my garden than the first buds of our fruit trees and bushes. With the warmth of the past few days, the peach trees in the treeyard bloomed. I spotted a strawberry flower in the bed yesterday. These beautiful flowers will soon develop into sweet nutritious fruit. The dwarf...
Read more →Every year the months between November and April are a waiting game: will the indoor plants make it through the winter? In addition to some non edible plants, this year I potted several herbs growing outdoors in mid November. My hope is that we can use them in cooking throughout the winter. In the...
Read more →It has been a long time since I entered a What’s Growing post. The end of the summer was so busy that I ran out of time to photograph and post on a weekly basis. I hope to be more disciplined next year not only to share with other Columbus gardeners, but to keep...
Read more →