serious snow already ???
Our weather forecast is a little hard to believe right now. Six inches of snow are predicted for Sunday night. Its only early December. We didn’t get that much snow all winter last year. Well, we’ll see if it really comes and how long it lasts.
escarole and garden planning
Its gotten to be the time of year when I’d rather not go out to the garden. Too cold. With temperatures in the 20s and snow predicted for the coming weekend, today I picked the last of my escarole. Its been a good crop. Since I’m not gardening, it must be time for planning next year’s garden. I’ve been looking forward to this. First I’ll put together a list of what I grew this year – what did well and what did not. I need to decide what crops I…
little beets
While I’m on the theme of winter root vegetables – these are beets I pulled from my garden on Sunday. They are a lot smaller than they appear here. I’m sure they will be tasty, but next year I hope to be able to grow good sized beets. I think beets may be a crop that needs more sun than I have in my home garden, so I’ll plan to grow them in my new plot next year.beets (Beta vulgaris)
rutabagas
Here are the beautiful rutabagas! I bought these to put in my stuffing for Thanksgiving, but my guests warned me that they would ruin it. Since I’ve never tried rutabaga, I left them out and looked forward to trying them later. Well, last night I tried them. Unfortunately, just the smell of slicing and cooking them was unpleasant. It turns out that variability in a certain taste receptor gene makes some people find rutabagas (and turnips) very bitter. That’s me. My husband enjoyed them and said they taste sweet like…
winter root veggies
On of my favorite vegetable combinations for this time of year. Its a mix of carrots, parsnips and beets. I wrap the beets in foil and bake at 375 for an hour, then peel and slice the next day. Boil sliced carrots 8 minutes, adding sliced parsnips for the last 5 minutes. Then mix everything in a baking dish with herbs and olive oil and bake for a bit. Good additions are potatoes, celeriac and onions. I have a rutabaga in the fridge I will try soon too. I also…
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving Day was beautifully warm. In the 60’s, with yellow leaves falling on the outdoor table. Our tradition is to grill a turkey. The food prep is a family event, accompanied by conversation and wine. The kids run and play. Dinner is traditional fare: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, homemade breads and cranberry sauce. Then pies for dessert. This year I didn’t do much with produce from my own garden. I used lots of fresh garden sage, thyme, parsley and rosemary. But I didn’t have…
chickens???
I just assumed chickens were not allowed in my suburban town. But I have been very surprised to learn otherwise. No roosters, but chickens are OK. There’s even a chicken-owners support group (sound like its some sort of bad habit). It seems a hen needs about 4 square feet of coop space. Lets see, a flock of five ia 5 x 5 ft coop, heated I assume…. I’m excited to start learning about keeping backyard chickens. My yard is about 40 x 70 feet and if they don’t mind sharing…
lettuce seeds
There’s too much else to do these days than to spend time in the garden. The stores already have Christmas music and I need to come up with a Thanksgiving menu for 12 guests – not to mention keeping up with my paying job. My lettuce bolted this summer and out of curiosity I let it go to see what would happen. I may or may nor actually collect the seeds, but there are nice puffy seed heads in the garden now on my Romaine. S&PLactuca sativa
This is a journal of my vegetable gardens. Skippy thinks the garden is his, even though I do all the work. We're located near Boston, in USDA zone 6. I have bees, chickens, fruit trees and berry bushes, too. I use all sustainable organic methods and strive to grow all of my family's vegetables myself. -Kathy
weeks and counting until my last spring frost
My garden this week
Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!
