Share my passion for all things gardening!
‘Tis the season for picking Italian plums, isn’t it? In addition to drying them, making jam or tarts, they are awesome in spiced plum butter. We made it for the first time last year and discovered a fabulous, can’t-eat-just-one appetizer to make with it. Take a pita cracker, top with some Cambozola or other creamy cheese with a bit of […]
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My husband, Bill, and I grow three kinds of grapes: ‘Canadice’, ‘Glenora’ and ‘Vanessa’. The first to ripen is ‘Glenora’. Sometimes we use the grapes for jelly and oftentimes we make grape juice. Doing the latter is very simple, especially if you have a steamer/juicer. Step by step: 1. Pick the grape clusters, leaving them on the stems. 2. Wash […]
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I’ve been growing celery for several years now and just love how flavorful it is. The only down side is that there’s always more than we can keep up with but we certainly don’t to waste it. What’s the answer? Preserving it, of course! Today, I’m going to show you how to freeze celery. If you’re wondering why you’d want […]
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Every year, we grow a nice patch of Swiss chard. We love how tasty it is and how it doesn’t bolt to seed in the heat like spinach can. But there’s always more than we can eat at any given time. Bill and I have come up with a great method for preserving it. I wanted to show you how […]
Read moreIf you’re like me, you’ve probably been scurrying around in your garden lately, trying to pick and preserve as much of the harvest as possible. After all, it’s hard to know how much longer our weather will hold, right? Today, I’ve picked most of our sweet peppers. Preserving peppers can be tricky because, unlike tomatoes that you can turn into […]
Read moreI just posted a video about curing winter squash and pumpkins before storing them on my Facebook page and YouTube channel. One thing you might be wondering about is the ideal conditions for storing them after the curing process.
Read moreThese blackberries have been frozen individually. Are you growing berries in your garden? We grow strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. While I enjoy making jams and jellies, it’s nice to freeze some of the berries for those winter fruit cobblers and crisps, too. Freezing blueberries is a piece of cake: you just pick them, wash them lightly, pop them into […]
Read moreEvery year I grow a lot of green beans. I usually only grow pole beans (‘Italian Snap’) but am also growing bush beans (‘French filet’ style beans) which have been really productive. I have to admit that I’m a bit of a chicken when it comes to canning low-acid vegetables, which beans are. That’s because of the risk of botulism […]
Read moreThe veggies are ready to go into the oven for tomato sauce! Boy, are we in the middle of tomato-harvesting season and I’ll bet you are, too. We primarily grow paste tomatoes for making sauces and catsup. However, we don’t always have the time or inclination to break out all of the canning gear. Today, I picked our first big […]
Read moreDo you have any pumpkins left over from your garden? There is nothing finer than a homemade pumpkin pie. Especially when you fill it with the yummy goodness of your very own, homegrown pumpkins. Even if you didn’t grow any, you can easily find pie pumpkins, also known as sugar pumpkins, at the grocery store. You would think that turning […]
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