This has been a cold winter with a bit of snow. Some of the tender stuff in the garden, like the clivia, is frost damaged, but most of the plants have come through fine. Some, like the succulents and cacti, have actually seemed to thrive.
I know that spring is just around the corner because the chickens have started to lay again. That’s always a good sign. There are, of course, other indications that spring is nearly here.
Courtesy USDA/ Biopreferred Program The USDA expectsthat products containing the new certified biobased-product label will hit the market beginning in the spring or summer 2011. In an effort to raise consumer recognition of biobased products, the USDA’s BioPreferred program has implemented a product certification and labeling system. Now underway for nearly a month, the labeling […]
Photo by Judith Hausman I combined tart cranberries, oranges and golden raisins under a pretty lattice to make this cold-weather fruit pie. No, I didn’t make cherry pie for Presidents’ Day. I do adore cherries, but the only way I could have used them is if they came from very far away or if they […]
I love traipsing through an antique store, but I'm not there for the ornate decorative pieces. I love looking at the samples of fine craftsmanship—the "useables."
If you do a little of the legwork, you can reduce the amount of taxes you are paying on your farm each year.
Courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock Growing gardens in parking lots or other urban areas is not a new concept, but Joe Kovach, a horticulturist at Ohio State University, is studying ways to make it more productive. An old asphalt parking lot might not seem like a good place for a garden. But in urban areas it can be. […]
The wave of broccoli continues, and we’re eating it almost every other day. This is a good thing, as I really like broccoli.
It has been a cold, snow-covered winter—certainly not as much snow as last year, but the cover has been consistent for more than two months. It’s good for the plants, I suppose—a bit of extra insulation and some protection from the deer is never a bad thing.
Courtesy Westchester Land Trust/ Eileen Hochberg At Kitchawan Farm, a local native farmer is protecting family land by farming it. To help revive a little of the country-gentleman farming so prevalent in the northern part of my county a scant generation ago, an innovative suburban land-use program, the Westchester Land Trust, last year established a Local […]
Warm weather has arrived in Minnesota's Bluff Country. Temperatures have climbed above freezing and stayed there for several days now. It won't be long before my friend Harlan will start collecting sap from his maple trees.
