By thegardenergal on June 8, 2011
I’m so excited to share this news – those roasted cauliflower leaves were AWESOME. My husband even liked them and said he would eat them again, and when a man says that about a “new” vegetable dish, well, that’s something big! Continue reading »
Posted in Conservation, Country Lifestyle, Dieting and weight loss, Ecology, Gardening, Green living, I recommend these..., Kansas, Kansas farm life, Recipes, Reducing sodium intake, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on June 7, 2011
I’m not arguing for or against climate change – that’s a big issue and I’m not qualified. Yesterday, however, I was working in the garden just before the temperature hit 100 degrees for the fourth or fifth consecutive day, much, MUCH too early in the year for that to be happening in my area, and maybe it was a heat-fueled hallucination, but even after I came in and cooled off, I began to wonder… what if this is the new normal? What if the average dates of last frost are all wrong, and what if the temperature trend stays this way with much hotter temperatures much earlier in the year? Specifically, what does it mean to me, an individual organic gardener trying to feed my family? Continue reading »
Posted in Conservation, Country Lifestyle, Dieting and weight loss, Ecology, Gardening, Green living, Kansas, Kansas farm life, Kansas weather, Recipes, Reducing sodium intake, Tips, Tricks and How-tos
By thegardenergal on May 15, 2011
A few days ago, I blogged about my obsession with pesto. Yes, I am a pesto purist… I prefer original, classic pesto made with fresh basil, however… my basil is only a couple of inches tall and there’s enough to make about 3 teaspoons of pesto right now. While I wait impatiently, I am going to try something new and different today. I am going to make pesto with cilantro! Continue reading »
Posted in Conservation, Country Lifestyle, Dieting and weight loss, Ecology, Gardening, Green living, Herbs, Homesteading, I recommend these..., Kansas, Kansas farm life, Recipes, Reducing sodium intake, 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 5, 2011
It seems like we hear more and more news about E. coli contamination in our food, and it really bothers me when it’s in foods that people can easily grow at home. Even if you have livestock and an open sewage disposal system like a septic lagoon, unless you invite strangers to poop on your crops, and as long as you pay attention to food safety, you’ll be fine! Continue reading »
Posted in Country Lifestyle, Ecology, Gardening, Green living, Homesteading, I recommend these..., Kansas, Kansas farm life, Recipes, 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
By thegardenergal on August 26, 2010
Well, this post is a little late because, at the moment, I actually have NO cucumbers, but trust me, a few weeks ago, I was literally up to my knees (or higher) in cucumbers. Continue reading »
Posted in Gardening, Green living, I recommend these..., Kansas, Recipes, Reducing sodium intake, Tips, Tricks and How-tos