harvest

28 Jan
2013
comparing home-grown and store-bought sweet potatoes for taste, color and texture

Home-grown vs. store-bought: sweet potatoes!

We gardeners claim lots of reasons for our obsession hobby. There’s the exercise and sunlight (never mind all those times we’ve hurried to finish a garden task in bad weather). There are bragging rights and the pride of feeding ourselves and others with something we grew in our own garden. ...

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7 Oct
2012
freshly-harvested sweet potato

It’s time to harvest sweet potatoes!!

67.8 pounds. That’s how many sweet potatoes I harvested from the garden yesterday. Let me tell you: 67.8 pounds is a lot of sweet potatoes. Two full boxes worth, with overflow in mixing bowls and all over the kitchen counter. Looks like I’ll be needing to stock up on sweet ...

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15 Jul
2012
blush tomato

At first blush (tomato)

It looks like I am just about ready to harvest my first ‘Blush’ tomato of the year. Isn’t it pretty? If you’re unfamiliar with this variety, there’s good reason for that. It’s only been around for a couple years, and is offered by just a tiny handful of seed companies. ...

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22 Jun
2012
three garlic heads

Summer’s arrival. Garlics’ departure.

The transformation to summer is complete: Yesterday I harvested the garlic crop. The signs of summer are everywhere: On the calendar, which tells us that Wednesday was the summer solstice. On outdoor thermometers, which registered record-breaking heat all through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast yesterday. On the computer, which I’m using ...

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13 Jun
2012
gaura blooming profusely

Monday morning garden stroll #6

Well, we’re moving in the right direction. This week’s Monday morning update is coming out on Wednesday, not Thursday. Progress! The garden along the front path is bursting right now. It’s an incredible change from this time last year, when I had just finished installing the brick path and had ...

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23 May
2012
fresh-picked chamomile flowers in a bowl

The very first chamomile harvest. Now what?

I picked some flowers today. Chamomile flowers. For tea. Supposedly. I’m honestly not exactly sure what I’m doing. Here’s what I know: Chamomile tea can be made with either Roman chamomile or German chamomile. The two plants are totally different species, but their flowers, flavors and uses are very similar. ...

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15 May
2012
homegrown frozen strawberries

Yesterday’s strawberries

Yesterday’s fresh-picked strawberries have become today’s frozen strawberries. Eventually, they’ll become some sort of homemade strawberry deliciousness: ice cream, margarita or mojito, cake topping, ice cream… Yeah, I realize I mentioned ice cream twice. Homemade strawberry ice cream deserves to be mentioned at least twice. Since I’m not sure exactly ...

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19 Mar
2012
'Dinosaur' kale flower buds look just like the flower buds on broccoli and broccoli rabe. No surprise: the three plants are distant relatives.

Kale blossoms, cooked two ways

Last week, I noticed that my ‘Dinosaur’ kale plant was about to bloom. Bummer, I thought. Bolting lettuce is bitter. Bolting chard is bitter. So, I figured, bolting kale must be bitter too. Time to pull the over-wintered beauty out of the garden and toss it into the compost heap. ...

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17 Oct
2011
The first load of clippings from the first fall cleanup in the Outlaw Garden.

Fall cleanup begins! Also, a much belated garden photo tour.

We’re halfway through October, and the garden has definitely looked better. Much, much better. And, that’s not good. If this not-allowed front yard vegetable garden is going to be a success (eg. win over doubting neighbors and nah-saying HOA folk), then this seasonal slide into funk is going to have ...

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11 Oct
2011
sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes!!

Sweet potatoes may be the perfect crop for not-allowed vegetable gardens. The plants are lovely, with long, trailing vines and purple-tinged leaves. The late-summer flowers look like pale purple morning glories (no surprise there: sweet potatoes and common, garden-variety morning glories both belong to the Ipomoea family). And, unlike many ...

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