Ingredients and Inspiration Obligations: It’s going to feel like a bajillion degrees outside this week Lots of fresh broccoli, corn, zucchini in the fridge Green beans, kale, herbs available in the garden I teach Tuesday and Wednesday nights and volunteer at OSU most of the day Thursday – Saturday with the Labo/Ohio 4-H exchange program. Alex’s parents and my parents are on vacation right now. I agreed to take care of their gardens. Per point [...]

This week has been the essence of spring. Ohio has felt downpours of rain, blustery days so chilly Alex lit the wood stove, and sunshine that made me weak in the knees. Best of all, it is the growing season! In the spirit of Friday Five, here are spring scenes from the homestead this week: 1) Backyard hens soaked to the core during Monday’s rainstorms. It isn’t true that a chickens are so dim that [...]

A recent post of mine is eligible to win a ticket to a blog conference in Asheville North Carolina. Will you do me a favor and vote for me, @racheltayse? Thanks!! Back in the spring we dedicated one raised bed to Lillian for her own garden. She loved the idea and made an adorable sign to mark it as hers. And then we started arguing. Despite planning to grow peas, carrots, strawberries and other edibles, [...]

It is afternoon, a time when summer boredom hits hardest.  Lil is whiny and wants nothing to do with any of the ideas I suggest.  That is, until I start working on dinner and ask if she would like to make a salad. She runs to her garden and picks what is ripe and fresh.  She brings them inside, washes, and begins to chop.  Lil dices carrots finely with an adult paring knife.  I teach [...]

We’re harvesting beans, baskets of beautiful yellow and purple striped beans. These heirloom dragon tongue beans are a bush bean, meaning they do not need to be trellised.  They grow down towards the soil hiding under wide umbrella leaves. The beans can be cooked fresh.  Sadly they lose their beautiful coloration, cooking to a light yellow color.  They have a buttery taste with a crisp texture, making them delicious steamed or added to stir fries. [...]