Basic Tomato Sauce

“A simple tomato sauce that has a rich tomato favour. Use this sauce on it’s own or as a base for other recipes. I used unpeeled tomatoes and puree the sauce which makes this a simple recipe to throw together.” INGREDIENTS 3 1/2 pounds or 3 to 4 cups chopped tomatoes, roughly pureed in blender… Read more »

Potato Storage Rack

Here is our new potato rack, sometimes called an orchard rack, put to good use this weekend. Historically racks like these were used to store “keeper” crops such as apples, winter squash, onions and potatoes. The drawers are slatted to ensure good air circulation, and they slide out for easy access. We made room in… Read more »

Harvest Soups

Today was another fall harvest day at our house. We dug up more potatoes, some carrots, parsnips and beets, and picked some of the last of the tomatoes (so sad). I spent the afternoon roasting vegetables for various soups and dinner. Roasting everything at once just seemed to make more sense. I made roasted garlic… Read more »

Fall Lawn Care

The weather has cooled considerably, in fact we had our first frost this morning. The day was lovely for working so I spent the day putting fall fertilizer on the lawn and reseeding bare spots. I also spread seed heavily in areas that have dense clover. While I don’t mind some clover, too much is… Read more »

Frost Here Too Soon

What happened to summer already???? We had our first frost this morning — way to early.

Extending the Harvest #1

Last April I posted about my new mini-greenhouse that we purchased to use as a cold frame to extend the harvest as far into winter as we could. While we planted some lettuce in the greenhouse this past spring, I wouldn’t really consider that pushing the harvest envelope as April is not that early to… Read more »

Geranium Rozanne – Long, Long, Blooms

Enjoyed a beautiful early fall day today — lot’s of sunshine and not too hot to work in the garden. I spent the morning deadheading and cleaning up those late summer perennial favourites including several bunches of Echinacea purpurea ‘Kim’s Knee High’, Rudbeckia and the many daylilies I have scattered throughout the garden. While doing… Read more »

Oh dear, deer!

We have seen an increase in deer damage along our back gardens over the last few weeks. Deer move most often and for the greatest distances during spring and fall. In late spring, does travel in search of fawning sites, yearlings explore their territory often with less fear than adult deer. Travel increases in fall… Read more »

Growing Pulses aka Soup Beans

Anyone following this blog knows I always have something new on the go. This year we are experimenting with growing pulses or soup beans. Unfortunately, our bean garden has had a tough go of it. A late start this spring (due to an unusually cold and wet spring) followed by stunted growth as a result… Read more »