Value of harvest as of 7/20/10: $563

A kitchen gardener's blog

Protecting Melons from Critters

July 17, 2010 - Recently I sent a morning wrapping my melons and pumpkins. No, I don't plan on giving them as gifts; I want to protect them from the critters. I used old pieces of floating row covers. These are the covers I occasionally spread over plants to protect them from insect damage. I loosely fold pieces of the covers around the fruit, so there is plenty of room to grow. Not only will it keep the cucumber beetles from chewing on the fruit, but I hope it will keep the raccoons and opossums from finding the melons. Last year they always munched on my melons a day of two before I planned on picking... MORE

Critters are Eating my Garden

July 08, 2010 - Cardinals are eating our grapes, mockingbirds the blackberries and tomatoes.
Squirrels ate all the apples and plums and are now working on the peaches.
Chipmunks are eating the cherry tomatoes.
Black swallowtail larve are munching on dill.
Skunks visit the compost pile nightly, sometimes dragging watermelon rhines out and leaving them in the lawn.
I have finally created a deer and rabbit proof barrier around the vegetable garden, so now they both happily dine on my ornamentals.

When I first started gardening, one of my goals was to attract wildlife the yard. I was thrill... MORE

Canning Summer\'s Bounty

July 27, 2009 - My garden is producing more than the four of us can eat, so I have learned to can. Last year I put up a few pickles and some pear preserves, but that was it. Canning was something I was never real interested in. I wanted to eat food fresh from the garden all year. But a few things happened that changed my views a little.

I had been reading a lot about eating locally. This got me to thinking about all the things I buy that I could can, like pickles, or jelly. Then last winter was the coldest I have experienced in my five years in Nashville. Most of my winter garden was dead ... MORE

Onions, Onions, and More Onions

July 13, 2009 - Last year I hardly harvested any onions from my garden. I made only one planting from seed in early spring, and most of those died in a late freeze. This year I was determined to have a large onion harvest, so I made several plantings. Last fall I planted the tops of the walking onions, from the year before. In late February, I planted leek slips. A few weeks later I seeded a patch of scallions. In March I seeded two types of storage onions, a purple variety called Mars and an Italian one called Parma. Then in April I planted yellow and purple onions sets. Last week I started harvestin... MORE

Garlic: How to braid it

July 06, 2009 - I love growing garlic! It's the prefect plant; simple to grow and pest free. Put the cloves in the ground in October and harvest the bulbs in late June. If cured and stored properly it will last for a year. I like to braid my garlic for storage. It looks great hanging on my kitchen wall, where I can easily snip off bulbs as needed.

I wanted to describe the braiding process here, but then decided video would be better. So with the help of my son, we made this short movie. While it's far from Hollywood quality, I hope you will find it helpful.