The Importance of Fertilizer (and How to Mix Your Own)

When I first began vegetable gardening twenty years ago, I knew that I wanted to be organic. I didn’t want to hurt the earth—or myself—with synthetic chemicals. I wanted to grow plants the way nature did: with nothing but dirt, water, and sun. I dug a little composted steer manure into my beds (a 40-lb….

Freezing Strawberries

Strawberry season is in high gear, and we’re getting an abundant harvest from the patch we planted last spring: in one week, 30 lbs. from 30 plants (15 Surecrop and 15 Earligow). And in spite of giving them away right and left, we still have more than we can eat. I used to make strawberry…

Radishes: Easter Egg vs. French Breakfast

I grow a lot of radishes. My husband, who’s not keen on too many vegetables, loves them. As does his father, who regularly sits down to an entire bowl, which he eats plain except for a sprinkling of salt. So every spring I make sure to put in a healthy radish patch, just to make sure…

Spring Snapshot: Strawberries, Flowering Turnips, Winter Rye

The spring garden looks so green and vibrant that I couldn’t resist sharing the snapshot below. I took this picture around 5:30 this evening, as I was puttering about in the garden, watering seeds here, weeding a little there, checking up on the growth of my strawberries. That’s what you see in the foreground here, happily…