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How to Make Tomato Juice from Your Own Garden Tomatoes, Then Turn it Into a Bloody Mary
Read MoreEvery home gardener grows tomatoes for good reason. Stores often sell tomato varieties that ship well and look pristine with taste as an afterthought. They arrive at the store after a long journey in a refrigerated truck that turns their flesh mealy and their true taste undeveloped. A tomato from the garden however, has a […]
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Grow, Harvest and Cook With Amaranth
Read MoreAmaranth is an ancient grain with a history steeped in the Aztec Empire. The Conquistadores attempted to eradicate the plant. However, due to the perseverance of subversive farmers and of the plant itself, amaranth survives today. Read about amaranth’s history here. Although not a grass like the true grains, amaranth seed is often considered a […]
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The Conquest of a Plant: A Brief History of Amaranth
Read MoreColonization raises many weapons at the targeted. First, there are swords and guns, weapons that kill. Then, there are more insidious slower working weapons. Weapons that alienate people from skills that their ancestors have passed down for centuries. Weapons that make people forget what plants provide medicine and which ones poison. These weapons aim to […]
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Grow Your Own Basil Cocktail
Read MoreAn ancient myth held that if left under a pot, basil would turn into a scorpion. Medieval legends claimed that a patch of basil sprouted where Jesus’ blood fell during his crucifixion. As a medicinal herb, basil has been used as an antidote to venomous bites. While courting women, men have worn a necklace of […]
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Inviting in the Bugs: 11 Plants to Increase Garden Diversity
Read MoreThe Good, the bad and the ugly. Gardeners talk about bugs like they are characters in a Western; ladybugs in a white hat, aphids in black. Ecology, however, is much more complicated. Earwigs, often considered ‘bad bugs,’ are predators and scavengers. They eat the fallen detritus in our gardens providing a valuable nutrient recycling service. […]
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What I’m Reading: Insects and Gardens
Read MoreWe do not see most of the interactions in our gardens: ladybugs and ants wage war, aphids give virgin births and wasps lay their eggs on the backs of caterpillars. When we see evidence of the little creatures carrying out these interactions, a chewed leaf or sickly plant, we are culturally trained to intervene. We bring […]
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What Are Garlic Scapes? Grow and Cook With This Garden Delicacy
Read MoreGarlic scapes are a rare delicacy. In spring they briefly appear at farmer’s markets then disappear. You may have come across them at the farmer’s market, wondered what they were, and moved on. Garlic scapes have the crisp crunchiness of green beans with a mild garlic flavor. The best way to acquire garlic scapes is […]
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Eat Your Flowers: 10 Easy to Grow Edible Flowers
Read MoreFlowers are not there for our enjoyment. Think of them as that lit up “liquor” sign down the street; bright, inviting, the promise of something good. But, this promise is for pollinators, not us. Interestingly, however, the colors, shapes and smells that bees find attractive are also appealing to us. And so we admire flowers but […]
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10 Children’s Gardening Books That Will Inspire a Love for the Garden
Read MoreChildren’s gardening books elegantly teach, entertain and inspire. I have learned more from the books below than from some of the lengthiest garden tomes. All of the children’s books listed here teach about gardening. But, they also teach about acceptance, social activism, persistence, urban renewal, family and pride. 1. The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss […]
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