Kitchen Garden
Gardening, Farming, Cooking, Recipes, Local Food, Everything that goes into meal production.
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Tomato seedlings were in the ground on Wednesday. Every one of them survived until Thursday. So far I don’t need to use the extras I held in reserve. They need mulching, although I didn’t have the energy for it. Once mulched, I’ll install a tall fence to keep deer from easy access. I harvested a… Read more
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The Tuesday forecast was for rain… all day. Before it began, I got out in the garden to measure tomato rows and inspect the leafy green vegetables. Little white moths have been busy laying eggs, so once the rain finishes, I’ll apply DiPel to take care of the coming caterpillar hatchlings that love greens as… Read more
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The weather has been fabulous the last week or so. Mostly clear skies, moderate ambient temperatures, and normal relative humidity. Each day I begin a little earlier and work until just before I drop. That means about six hours. It is beginning to look like a garden. Instead of working straight through on a single… Read more
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On Friday I dug into the garden plot that was fallow last year. Tall weeds took it over and died, leaving a soft place for wildlife and two feral cats to bed down and sleep protected from trouble. As I moved the weeds aside and pulled up the plastic, my feet sank into the soft,… Read more
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When the repair shop returned the John Deere yard tractor, the right rear tire would not hold air. I removed it and ran it across the lakes to the tire shop. The diagnosis came back air was escaping through the sidewall due to rubber deterioration and the tire needed to be replaced. According to the… Read more
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Taking time from writing my autobiography is not a clean break. While I’m digging in a garden plot or walking on the trail, my mind is consumed by how to pull everything together and bring the work to a close. Up to the time we moved back to Iowa in 1993, a chronological narrative seemed… Read more
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After several days of rain, Friday was a clear day for gardening. The cruciferous vegetable plot is fully planted, the next large plot is cleared, and I cut weeds so I can access the compost bins more easily. I lit the first burn pile of the season. The plot with the burn pile needs mowing… Read more
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It was raining Monday morning so I drove to Monticello to pick up two 50-pound bags of garden fertilizer. It’s the same locally composted chicken manure I’ve been using since working on the farms, called Healthy Grow 2-4-3. I tried other types of fertilizer and the granulated format makes application easy. I don’t do the… Read more
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