My 2020 Proven Winners Review
My 2020 Proven Winners Review. What luck! In the spring of 2019, Proven Winners sent me several plants (okay, a boatload of plants) to try out in my garden. These new hybrids will be offered to the...
View ArticleMarch 2020 Garden Chores
What do I do for my garden in March? Well, if the ground is frozen and covered with a foot of snow, I simply mix up a double martini and wait for better weather. Otherwise, I get down and dirty with...
View ArticleMid-March Garden Tour
Yesterday, because Avery the Pooch required a walk, and because I needed some exercise too (we’re on lock-down here), I decided to wander the property behind my house with both dog and video camera in...
View ArticleApril 2020 Garden Chores
Well, hello there, April! Here in New York’s Hudson Valley (zone 5-b), lawns are greening, birds are mating, and dwarf yellow daffodils are trumpeting the arrival of spring. Shall we have a look at the...
View ArticleKitchen Garden Makeover: New Raised Beds
How are your timber-framed veggie beds holding up? Mine, after more than a decade of faithful service, finally succumbed to the deteriorating effects of sun, rain, snow and ice. I recently tossed out...
View ArticleMay 2020 Kitchen and Garden Chores
May 2020 Kitchen and Garden Chores. Take a tip from the nesting robins – May isn’t the month to snooze! Garden work we accomplish now will determine our success for the remainder of the growing season....
View ArticleHow to Freeze Strawberries
Hip, hip hooray– strawberry season has arrived in New York’s Hudson Valley. I picked up 7 1/2 pounds of perfectly ripe, locally grown berries the other day, and promptly set about freezing them. The...
View ArticleWatch: How to Prune Tomato Plants
Why go to the trouble of pruning your indeterminate tomato plants? Well, if you grow tomatoes in the same environment that I do, meaning in a hot and humid climate and in the tight confines of a raised...
View ArticleWhat Are You Doing In Your Garden To Deal With Food Shortages?
Back in March, 2012, I wrote a short piece titled “What Would You Plant in Your “Subsistence Garden?” The question generated a flood of thoughtful comments. To my surprise, yesterday a new voice popped...
View ArticleWoodchuck (Groundhog) Repellents That Work
I’ll get right to the point. About a month ago, Woody the Woodchuck discovered my (fenced in) Kitchen Garden. What a destructive brute! Broccoli? Gone. Brussels sprouts? Mostly gone. Woody also...
View ArticleHow to Harvest, Cure and Store Butternut Squash
I’m dreaming of luscious soups, sauces, and savory side-dishes today. Why? Because my butternut squash is begging to be harvested! Here’s how to pick, cure, and store this powerhouse of fiber and beta...
View ArticleMarch 2021 House and Garden Chores
Happy first day of March, everyone! The gardens here at Clover Hill are an absolute mess just now, with some areas squishy and thawed, and other places frozen beneath snow. We won’t be opening the pool...
View ArticleMid-March 2021 Garden Walk
In mid-March, when the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and spring seems a not-too-distant certainty, I like to steal a few moments in the great outdoors. Would you like to see what I see as I...
View ArticleYour Veggie Garden Report: July 2021
How’s your veggie patch coming along? Any troubles to report? My own Kitchen Garden, above, is struggling to grow in the extreme weather that has so far defined the summer of 2021. Oy vey. Here’s my...
View ArticleHow to Cure Onions for Winter Storage
I usually harvest my “keeper” onions in mid-August. Of course, before the bulbs go into winter storage, I first let them “cure” outdoors in warmth and air. Well-cured onions retain their good eating...
View ArticleHow to Dry Parsley in the Oven
Last updated on September 13th, 2021 Got a bevy of beautiful parsley in your garden? You might like to dry it for winter culinary use. Dried low and slow, this culinary staple usually retains much of...
View Article2021 Kitchen Garden Report (Yours and Mine)
How’d your vegetable garden perform during the summer of 2021? Did it produce for you the harvest of your dreams? Thanks to a too-cold, too-hot summer, my own kitchen garden was (and still is) a...
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