Arugula (Rocket) & Garlic Pesto (to the rescue when there is no basil in the garden…)
Try this fresh arugula pesto to get you through the cold weather and beyond!
Starting from Seed: Step 2 Down and Dirty – What Should You Put in Those Pots?
Don’t attempt to dig up soil from your back yard. Don’t buy topsoil. Don’t use compost or whatever you found in an old pot in the garage. Potting soil is for pots. And it is important that you use it to give your seeds the best chance to turn into thriving, healthy seedlings.
Step 3 Purchasing Seeds: How Do I Know What to Buy?
So you want to start your garden from seed this year and you don’t know what seeds to select? Let’s answer your questions: who are the best suppliers? heirlooms or hybrids? organic or conventional? and how much you should buy?
Organize Your Pantry with an Eco-friendly Home Edit! (No New Plastic)
I love the current trend of editing our living spaces and creating beautiful organization, but oh! All that PLASTIC! Here is a chic pantry redux that includes only natural materials, no new plastic and you may even have many of these items on hand. Beautiful organization can be GREEN! Let’s get started with some before pictures…
Stylish and Sturdy Organizational Boxes for the Pantry or Closet (or anywhere you need to organize!)
Here’s a quick project that will make your pantry super cute but you’ll also know you are being oh so responsible and teaching your kids to be good stewards of our planet as well. It’s easy! Let’s go…
DIY: How to add white string lights to your garden with seamless installation and removal!
This is one of my all time favorite DIY projects for the garden. String lights are so popular right now, especially for those who are trying to make their outdoor spaces more beautiful. But oh my have I seen some BAD ideas for how to do this. So many people fill small buckets with concrete only to see the poles and lights fall over in the slightest wind. Or others fill giant buckets with sand, which hold the poles up better, but are kind of ugly and very hard to move. This is an elegant and easy way to get the job done!
On Camomile and Failure…
“I’m just not a gardener…I have a brown thumb.” If you have ever said this, or if you have felt any kind of despair after a failure in the garden, this post is for YOU! All too often people imagine that I must have success with everything plant in my garden and that I don’t fail at anything after all these years. Not true! Failure is a part of gardening and farming every year – and it offers life lessons that are about more than gardening.
12 Days of Gifts for the Gardener in Your Life!
Gifts for your favorite gardener – or if YOU are the gardener, send this list to those who love you and are asking, “What can I get you?” Every year during the holiday, I struggle to think of gifts I might need in general, and then in the spring I think – shoot! I should have asked for garden stuff! Garden gifts may have to sit around for a few months until it’s time to use them, but once you need them, you’ll be so glad you don’t have to run out and buy them.
Beneficial Nematodes: A Powerful Organic Pest Control Method
There’s nothing worse for a gardener than to check on your crop and find it destroyed by pests – sometimes overnight! It’s enough to make an organic gardener run to the nearest store for some chemical pesticide. But wait – there are many other methods available that are safe and organic to help keep pests under control and keep your plants healthy and strong. Beneficial Nematodes are one of the most potent ways to protect your garden.
Saving Pepper Seeds: When You Should and Should NOT!
Saving pepper seeds should be a slam dunk, right? Just save the biggest, best pepper from your harvest and remove the seeds for next year. But wait…there is something you need to know.
Saving Bean Seeds for Cooking and Replanting
Did you grow green beans this summer in your garden? Before you yank those spent plants out and throw them on your compost pile, stop! You can save seeds for next year and you won’t have to buy them. And if you tried growing beans for storing and cooking, you’ll need to use this same technique to harvest them. It’s easy. Let’s go!
When to Harvest Butternut Squash
If you are growing butternut squash for the first time, you really need to know when to harvest it. Many first time gardeners make the mistake of treating butternut squash like zucchini, and pick them when they are full size and green.
Ugly Betty Tomato Sauce!
Are you so sad when your garden produces ugly tomatoes? Or you find tomatoes that are split, have spots or bug damage? Don’t despair! Make Ugly Betty Tomato Sauce. It’s delicious – and you’ll never have to waste a tomato again!
Saving All That Zucchini!
When the first few zucchini arrive in your garden, it’s so exciting! The season is new and you are so ready to make all your favorite zucchini recipes. But then, the zucchini keeps coming…and coming…and coming. There are a million jokes in the gardening community about gardeners trying to pawn off extra zucchini on unsuspecting neighbors. After you’ve become tired of all your tried and true zucchini recipes, what do you do with all the zucchini?
Cape Gooseberry and Thai Lime Basil Margarita!
Gooseberries are super sweet and have a flavor halfway between pineapple and lime. The Thai Lime Basil, which is easy to grow and a fantastic addition to so many recipes, really pushes this cocktail recipe from ho-hum to hey, what is this? Give it a try.
Growing Ground Cherries! (aka Dwarf Cape Gooseberries)
Gooseberries are such a fun little fruit to add to your garden. They are sweet! (think pineapple and lemon combined) And kids will love peeling back the papery outer lantern to find the sweet little skittle-sized fruit inside. Plus, they commonly re-seed themselves, so if you are lucky, plant once and have them forever!
Test Your Soil pH! (Don’t be scared. I’ll help you)
Testing your soils seems super intimidating for most home gardeners. It also feels unnecessary – until something goes wrong. When you see your plants are suddenly not thriving and you’ve done everything you think you can do, it might be that your soil is out of balance. The first thing you want to check is your soil pH.
Saving Seeds: Preparing the Garden
In order to have seeds to save from your garden for next year, there are a few things you need to do in your garden right now. Watch this quick video tutorial and then jump to the section below for a list of seeds you can save and how. Later in the fall, I’ll share specific information on each type of plant and how to save the seeds.
Blackberry Ginger Smoothie!
Let’s keep this simple. If you are headed out for ice cream on a hot summer day, take a pause. Nothing wrong with ice cream! But it you are trying to eat healthy and use the bounty of your backyard, try this cold blackberry smoothie. It could not be simpler. I won’t even bore you with a story. Let’s just make it!
Growing Blackberries!
Once you get your blackberry patch started, you’ll likely find it becomes a maintenance free source of berry goodness for years! Let’s get started…
Crispy Zucchini Fritters!
Is there a better reason to grow zucchini? I haven’t found one. I’ve been making and perfecting this recipe for years. Hope you enjoy it! …
Growing Beets (Spring and Fall)
As gardeners, it’s so easy to think of beets as a spring vegetable. The are one of the first vegetables you can plant directly in the ground. But wait! You can plant a whole other crop of beets in the fall to extend your gardening season. Let’s get started!
Yikes! Squash Vine Borers Are Killing Your Zucchini!
Here’s how to find them, fix your plants up, and prevent them next time!
Patriotic Potato Salad!
Need a showstopper to take to your next Fourth of July picnic? Look no further. Everyone will be talking about this dish! Not only is …
Tomato Cages – Tutorial Video
How do you know which tomato cages to buy? Here is the standard option, a free option, and then my recommendation for the best cages …
Garden Gazpacho!
Gazpacho is a chilled tomato soup that originated in Spain and has been popping up on American restaurant menus for the last few years. It’s full of flavor and one of the healthiest dishes you could put on your dinner table. I love that I can source virtually everything from my garden.
Growing Quinoa – Tutorial
It’s easier than you think, and beautiful in the garden!
Organic Fertilizer! It doesn’t need to be complicated…
I like to garden as organically as possible, so I rely on three forms of soil enrichment: compost, chicken poop and Alaska Liquid Fish Fertilizer. I’ve had such success with fish fertilizer that I just don’t recommend anything else anymore.
How to Grow French Fries (Just kidding – Potatoes!)
I’m obsessed with potatoes. I think my kids and I could eat them at every meal and never get tired of them. Remember that scene in Forrest Gump when Bubba starts listing every shrimp dish he can think of? That’s me…but with potatoes.
Toni’s Magic Marinade
“Mom, how do you make that marinade?”
That marinade is my special recipe I have been using to transform humble chicken breast into the tenderest, most flavorful dinner-time favorite in our house since my kids were little. I was only too happy to share it and my heart was full knowing my daughter wanted to know how I made it. It turned out she was cooking dinner for friends (including a bunch of very grateful boys) and this delicious recipe was on the menu.
Green beans. Let’s grow lots of them!
Green beans are so easy to grow – why isn’t everyone doing it? With very little effort, you’ll have green beans from June to October. Let’s get started!
Starting from Seeds: Step 1 Choose Your Containers!
Once you have decided to take the plunge and start your vegetables from seed, you’ll need a few materials. Choose the right containers that are best for YOU – your space, your available sunlight, and the kind of vegetables you want to grow.
Holiday Gifts from the Garden: DIY Herby Bread in a Flower Pot with Compound Butter and Flavored Oil
Warm, homemade bread in a terracotta pot? With compound butter? Yes, please! Need a gift for a hard-to-shop for friend or a hostess who has …
The Most Delicious Creamy Tomato Soup from the Garden
Put those late season tomatoes to good use this fall and enjoy this cozy soup on chilly evenings! No story today, folks…let’s just make the …
DIY Simple Cold Frame so You Can Grow Veggies Year Round!
A salad bar in your backyard in January? Yes please! Our garden zones have changed and we have all shifted a little bit due to …
Tomato-Garlic-Lemon Finishing Salts
Finishing salts with ingredients from your garden are so fresh and delicious. They can be used on meat or roasted vegetables as a quick seasoning, …
Gifts from the Garden: Herb & Spice Rack Refill! (I bet yours are reeeeeaaaally expired)
Quick! Run to your pantry and check the expiration dates on your herbs and spices! I’ll bet you they are out of date by A …
Tangy Salsa Verde with a Green Tomato Kick
I have tomatillos for days this time of year (late September)! Whether you bought them or grew them, give this recipe a try. It’s fresh …
Honey-Glazed, Skillet Roasted Tomato Dip with Ricotta, Thyme, and a Little Heat
Bored with the same old dips and spreads? Serve this jammy, sweet, savory, spicy recipe at your next party. Make a second batch because the …
Mixing Magic: Peach & Honey Bourbon with Lavender and a Thyme Twist
Looking to elevate your cocktail game? This Honey Peach Bourbon with Lavender and Thyme is a must-try. It’s the perfect blend of sweet, floral, and herbal notes, making it a unique and refreshing drink for any occasion. So when peach season is in full swing, don’t miss the chance top start a few bottles of this delicious treat that will ease your way into fall. Your November self will thank your August self!