Kitchen Garden
-
Week 13 was characterized by dealing with the heat dome that descended over the Midwest. I established a durable routine to protect the garden for what will likely be repeated heat domes in this geography. More kale for the food pantries in Week 13 and we are not close to being done with the crop.… Read more
-
Using a large language model chatbot for cooking strips away a layer of emotional attachment to food, leaving chemistry and physics behind. Sometimes a cook wants that. In the chat box, I listed all the fresh garden vegetables in the kitchen with a question of what to make with them. Within seconds, the machine responded:… Read more
-
Heavy rain that delayed planting tomatoes and peppers is now helping those crops survive the heat dome. Rain over several days deeply moistened the ground, and plant root structures have been drawing on that reservoir. Despite the heat, the garden is growing and producing vegetables. My daily heat dome process is to wake early, read… Read more
-
This Lodi apple tree was my earliest ripening variety. Once Japanese beetles discovered it, they released pheromones that drew in more of their kind and aggregated, as in the photo. The problem was made worse by a neighbor placing two Japanese beetle traps within 75 feet of my small orchard. These traps attract more than… Read more
-
I donated crates of kale and bags of garlic scapes to the food pantries this week. They get produce from the local grocery store and had a large stack of seedless grapes waiting for customers. Our pantry is small, however, anyone who is eligible, can participate. If fresh fruit and vegetables are leftover at day’s… Read more
-
Rain fell this week, so much so I didn’t have to water the garden. Pepper plants survived the stress of transplant and have begun to grow. From here on, the main garden tasks are related to pests, weeds, and harvesting produce at peak ripeness. This week began with donating five crates of kale, along with… Read more
-
After seeing the garlic crop up close—by weeding for three hours—I can say it looks quite good. Most of the leaves are still green which means it is not quite ready. It won’t be long. As summer approaches I am ready to turn the page on the garden to focus on cooking, writing, and property… Read more
-
Finally the garden is in! On Sunday I fenced and planted the final plot for the year. There are plenty of the usual tomatoes, greens, peppers, alliums, and curcurbits. Also growing are tomatillos, fennel, celeriac, huckleberries, and okra. A lot of good cooking and eating lies ahead. Week 10 was the first for donations to… Read more
-
After a restless night, I spent about six hours preparing the final garden plot. That means clearing last year’s structures, turning the soil, fertilizing, rototilling, raking, laying down ground cover, and driving the fence posts. It’s as far as I could get today. I took a nap and was achy all over. I headed to… Read more
-
My spring ritual of replenishing the shelf of vegetable broth is comforting. I enjoy lining up the quart jars on the shelf, and being able to take one from to make rice or soup. The annual process results in never running out. This year I changed the varieties of greens and the amount and mixture… Read more
You must be logged in to post a comment.