January 18, 2020

a new look

This is the new look for Skippy’s blog! I’ve switched to WordPress. It’s going to be an ongoing project to transfer all my photos into the new format, but I will keep at it. I started this blog in 2006 (14 years ago) and have 3345 posts (that’s 239 a year, almost 1 every day). Over 4 million people have looked at this blog. It is so much fun for me to write this – almost as much fun as being out in the garden!

January 18, 2020

herbs on my window sill

These are the herbs I started the day after Thanksgiving, so it’s taken about two months to grow to this size. Cilantro, dill, thyme, and basil. (There’s also a pot of summer savory at the end that I started last summer.) I started these herbs under lights in the garage where its pretty chilly (about 50F). Now that they’re out on the kitchen window sill it’s warmer for them, but there’s not much sunlight coming in through the window yet. Still, I think they’re looking pretty good. The basil has…

January 2, 2020

a new plan for a new year

I am very excited about my new garden plan for my Community Garden plot. I have a plan to grow a great mix of plants that are all Companions. I’ll grow them intermixed rather than in patches so they have the benefit of being near their companions. I was a bit concerned as I started to plan this year because my crop choices are quite limited this year. Community Gardens often have particular plants pests that make growing some crops very difficult, or impossible. At my Community Garden, bean beetles…

December 30, 2019

tasty compact vegetables to grow

See my post at the National Garden Bureau! It’s all about Tasty Compact Vegetable Seeds to Grow. These are old and new varieties that I discovered while on my California tour of vegetable breeders with the AAS and NGB last summer.

December 3, 2019

snowy day

We have a foot of snow on the ground now, very early for us. It’s still coming down. Very pretty.

December 3, 2019

getting the garden ready for snow

Last Sunday morning, before the Big Snow Storm hit, I spend a couple hours in my vegetable garden getting things set. My husband removed the plastic outer layer from my winter tunnel and then taped on a cross bar onto the top of the hoops for extra support. I opened up the lower fabric cover to check the greens. I wanted to harvest the heads of lettuce at the edges of the bed. These tend to get chilly and freeze. I picked a nice bucket full. Some pretty heads for…

November 29, 2019

black friday seed planting

Everyone’s at the mall and I’m planting seeds! I planted seeds for some herbs that I plan to grow on my kitchen window sill in February and March. I also planted arugula that I plan to grow in the garage under lights to add to our winter salads. I have not planted at this time of year before – so don’t take my word for it that this will work! But I love to experiment. Photo two days later: the arugula is up. Why do I always plant arugula so…

November 28, 2019

my honey bee order is in

I just ordered a package of bees for April 17. I didn’t keep any honey bees last year and I missed having all those pollinators in the vegetable garden. It’s nice to think ahead to spring before winter even starts.

November 22, 2019

crispy pickled peppers

I harvested a lot of peppers the day before our first frost. (100!!) Bell peppers, cayenne, Tex Mex, Shishito, even some heatless Habanero’s called Habanada. We’ve been working our way through eating them fresh, but we weren’t making much of a dent. Time for pickles! I’ve made pickled peppers a few times, but never liked the way they end up mushy – not at all crispy like store bought ones. So I tried out a new method – I made fresh pickles. Fresh pickles aren’t processed in…

November 18, 2019

cold weather makes super sweet carrots!

Baby carrots! I harvested them last week and I’m amazed how delicious they are. Really really sweet and very crisp. I wonder if the frosts and cold weather improve their flavor. …. Internet search …. Yes, it does! I didn’t know that. “In order to defend itself against the cold, [carrots have] developed all these amazing physiological responses, including increasing the sugar content. Increasing the sugar content helps defend against ice crystal formation, which can do all kinds of terrible things to cells like dehydrate them, crush them, rupture them.…

weeks and counting until my last spring frost