By thegardenergal on June 9, 2011
Had I not been craving grits for breakfast this morning, I would have surely missed out on the unusual sensation of having Pickle Crisp run down over my arm and leg (and a cat), beginning a mystery and a 30-minute unscheduled cleaning job. Oh, lucky me! Continue reading »
Posted in Country Lifestyle, Ecology, Green living, Homesteading, Kansas, Kansas farm life, Preserving the harvest, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on May 9, 2011
This past Saturday, I overheard a conversation among gardeners in which the female participant was very excited that her male friend was growing beets. I cringed when I heard the word beets, because I don’t eat them and, unless starving, wouldn’t. My husband gags at the mention of beets. More about that in a minute. I recalled another such conversation I overheard once wherein a man was announcing proudly that he had planted his entire, quite sizable spring garden with only swiss chard. It made me wonder if people think I’m strange because of my long-term love affair with Brussels sprouts. Continue reading »
Posted in Conservation, Country Lifestyle, Ecology, Gardening, Green living, Homesteading, I recommend these..., Kansas, Kansas farm life, Preserving the harvest, Recipes, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on May 7, 2011
After I posted about using basil to repel flies, my mouth has been watering all day at the thought of fresh pesto. Oooo… fresh pesto on a thin slice of homemade bread. Yeah, baby… that’s what I want. Sadly, my basil is only about an inch tall right now. I’ll have to wait awhile, but once it’s tall enough to start harvesting, here’s what I’m going to do with it. Continue reading »
Posted in Country Lifestyle, Ecology, Gardening, Green living, Herbs, Homesteading, I recommend these..., Kansas, Kansas farm life, Preserving the harvest, Recipes, Reducing sodium intake
By thegardenergal on May 1, 2011
Where I live, salsa is popular, and it has come to my attention that a lot of people struggle with when to plant the cilantro so that it is at its peak when the tomatoes and peppers and onions are at their peak. All I’ve got say about that is… it isn’t easy, and it’s more luck than skill. Continue reading »
Posted in Country Lifestyle, Gardening, Herbs, Homesteading, I recommend these..., Kansas, Kansas farm life, Preserving the harvest, Reducing sodium intake, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on April 21, 2011
We had a pretty hard freeze about 2 weeks after I planted my potatoes, and I was worried that they might not survive. They hadn’t broken ground yet, so I knew that they should be okay, but I was worried for another reason. They were cheap. Really cheap. I should have known better than to worry. Continue reading »
Posted in Gardening, I recommend these..., Kansas, Preserving the harvest, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on September 3, 2010
…dehydrated pears. Wow! Amazing! Fantastic! I don’t even know enough superlatives to describe these wondrous little nibbles of nirvana. Continue reading »
Posted in Gardening, Green living, I recommend these..., Kansas, Preserving the harvest, Recipes, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on September 1, 2010
A few days ago, someone who I follow on Twitter, and that person has a food-oriented website that is generally very good, tweeted that to make peeling garlic easier, one should microwave it for 10 seconds which allegedly will make the peel slip right off with ease. That is, unless, of course, it blows up in the microwave. 
Continue reading »
Posted in I recommend these..., Kansas, Preserving the harvest, Recipes, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on August 27, 2010
Today, I have a million things to do, and I’m starting with the easy stuff first. If you are a regular reader, you may recall that I planted a BUNCH of onions (and by that, I actually mean many, many bunches of onions) in the spring. Continue reading »
Posted in Gardening, Green living, I recommend these..., Kansas, Preserving the harvest, Recipes, Tips, Tricks and How-tos