Gardening That Grows With Me
I experimented with quite a few different garden design software packages. Many of them were very cumbersome or too limited for what I wanted. I eventually found that it was easier to use an Excel spreadsheet by treating it like graph paper and combining this with the many autoshape tools in Excel. The end result… Read more »
Who would have thought you could make jelly out of something you usually dump down the sink but this is an amazing way to use the water you boil beets in. The first time I made this jelly I cooked the beets the way I usually do, with the skins on. While I cleaned the… Read more »
I love peaches and the best are Southern Ontario peaches picked during the peak of the season (well okay, any local peaches from your local farmer’s market probably taste just as good). I’ve been expanding my repertoire of jams and jellies each year and this year peach jam was on the list. I honestly think… Read more »
Rhubarb is the first produce we see out of our garden every year. Maybe that’s why I look forward to it so much and love almost everything baked with rhubarb. This is a muffin recipe my kids just love and they are happy to take one in their lunch every day for the couple weeks I… Read more »
Do you like your’s hot or cold? Sweet or tart? Whatever the choice, there is nothing better than fresh made rhubarb sauce. Here is our recipe, made with brown sugar in place of some of the white sugar for a slightly richer flavour. Ingredients 8 cups chopped rhubarb (1 inch in size) 1/2 granulated sugar… Read more »
Given what they charge for crème brûlée in restaurants I always thought it was hard to make. Then I discovered this recipe for rhubarb crème brûlée in a Foodland Ontario flyer provided by one of our local farm stands and was so surprised at how easy it was. It turned out so well, we made it twice in… Read more »
The lusher our garden becomes, the more wildlife we see. Birds, rabbits, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, even garter snakes are now common place in our yard. Isn’t that great you say? Well perhaps, but couldn’t they be better house guests? I mean if the deer love my red begonias so much they want a closer look,… Read more »
I know it’s still officially spring and that peonies, irises & weigela are technically spring blooming plants, but I always think of June as the promise of summer to come. The blooms are bigger, brighter and more intense than the early spring blossoms. I’m enjoying finishing up my summer planters, adding even more colour to… Read more »
I’ve got a pretty good green thumb when it comes to outdoor plants and the vegetable garden. On top of that I love to experiment. We’ve grown our own sweet potatoes, celery, kidney beans, black beans and even pak choi one year. But for the life of me I can’t grow cauliflower. OK, I’ve only… Read more »
Spring may have arrived late this year but it has been almost picture perfect. For the past several years, unseasonably warm weather in April and early May meant that most plants began to leaf out and put on blooms early, only to be damaged by late spring frost. Almost every year I lose something, either… Read more »