After a spring devoid of garden success (sparrows ate the peas, springs crops like radishes bolted too quickly, lettuces were slow to grow), I welcome summer. Warmer temperatures and less torrential rain will surely help our sustainable garden grow. Grapes, tomatoes, and peppers bend with fruit and hope for autumn harvest. Greens and herbs...
Read more →The formidable Joan Dye Gussow finished the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) conference with a speech that included a personal history of the food movement and rabble rousing call to action. “We are well overdue in this country for a revolution!” she incited. I happen to agree though I am not the...
Read more →A carefully dried tomato can carry the taste of summer’s sweet abundance through many seasons. Dried tomatoes provide a distinct chewy texture and richness to pan sauces and stews. They can be eaten as is for a quick burst of vitamin C. Making your own during is not hard at all. Equipment Dried tomatoes...
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 →In Canning Week 2010 day 3, I share a bit about canning vegetables. View a lesson on pectin and recipe for peach jam from earlier in the week. Tomorrow I’ll discuss pickles. The massive harvests are starting, and they aren’t limited to sweet fruits. Something has to be done with mountains of tomatoes, corn,...
Read more →Dear chickens, I know our tomatoes are delicious. Or rather, I would know, if you didn’t keep hen-pecking them before they are fully ripe. Gardeners should never count their eggs before they hatch with regards to tomatoes, and I did initially believe the dogs or squirrels were stealing the fruit. I was walking on...
Read more →Rising temperatures find home cooks looking for low-heat meal options. Gazpacho is a refreshing choice that requires only the use of your blender. This version was made with what I had on hand during late spring: last year’s home canned home grown tomatoes, garlic scapes, fresh cilantro, and store bought jalapeno. Later in the...
Read more →Many of our plants have set flowers and baby vegetables are beginning to appear! This is an exciting time to be a gardener. All the work starting the seeds, prepping the soil, planting the seedlings, and weeding are starting to pay off. There is anxiety too. I am struggling to keep something (a squirrel...
Read more →After you have made tomato sandwiches, salads, stews, and more, it is tempting to just toss the rest of you CSA or home garden tomato harvest in the compost heap. Preserving tomatos is not that hard and you will thank yourself in the fall for putting up farm fresh goodness. Here are a few...
Read more →