Tag Archives: garden

Hard to Believe

We went to WalMart today to get more canning jars. The first thing we saw was a beautiful pumpkin display. Halloween is the next holiday, after all. As we walked further we came upon THE most disgusting sight ever: Christmas Trees for sale! It’s October, for goodness sake!

Planning to make a hasty retreat we grabbed the jars, put them in the cart and headed for the door. Great intentions. But then we took a little detour. An expensive, little detour I might add. (more…)

Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, garden | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pumpkins, Cabbage and Tomatoes

S6300911No this is not a recipe! It is an homage to our Garden and to the change of season.

It really is fall. The days are shorter and cooler and the light has changed. We expect the first frost sometime between the middle of October to the middle of November. Between now and then it is about harvesting and preserving. (more…)

Posted in fresh veggies, fruit, garden, soup, tomatoes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Garden Update–July, 2012

wateringWe got the water bill. It was a bit of a shock. I know we live in the desert, but still. . . Good thing that summer electric and gas are so low, or I would be singing major blues!

My back knows that we use a fair amount of water – I have to lug the hose around everyday; sometimes twice a day to water. Great exercise, but kind of a pain.  I am lusting after an irrigation system. I hear that an irrigation system really cuts down on the amount of water you use.  Hmmm! (more…)

Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Drowning. . .

S6300735

A ONE MORNING HARVEST

OMG we are drowning in tomatoes! This is one morning and we are getting that much again in the evening.

Do you feel sorry for me?  I sincerely, hope not!  We have great food and our neighbors and friends love us since we keep giving tomatoes away.

Last year, our first year in this very harsh environment, we had lots of tomato troubles:  diseases, fungi and pests .  Because we got here in May, we rushed to get the garden in. Unfortunately, we did not do a good job of tracking which varieties were the best producers, the most disease resistant or the best tasting. (more…)

Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden, tomatoes | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Beef of Vegetables???

kaleOver the weekend I spent a couple of hours surfing the net. I was on a mission:  finding some good kale recipes. Almost immediately I saw an amazing article title: Kale, the Beef of Vegetables. Of all the odd titles I have stumbled across recently, this has to top the list!

My first thought. of course, was, “no wonder I don’t particularly like it!” Then I cracked up (I do tend to amuse myself, easily). Look, I’m really, really, really trying to eat it and like it. Damn it!  It is so good for my body that I should at least eat it and hopefully, learn to like it!

When I finally quit laughing at myself, I settled down and read the article.  It was yet one more in a long series of articles extolling the virtues and benefits of kale.  Did you know that it is full of : (more…)

Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When A Plan Starts to Come Together!

Small plants coming up in garden in a pool

Planting a garden is a small act in creating a long term plan.  You plant seeds, water, watch and wait.  And then one day you see a little shoot of green poking up the dirt. This is my very favorite part or gardening!

The miracle of life and growth always makes me happy!  I walk around with a big grin on my face all day. There is nothing like a little miracle to remind me how wonderful life is and how grateful I am just to be alive. (more…)

Posted in fresh veggies, garden, menu, plant based diet, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Our Garden — another kind of adventure in feeding ourselves!

Let’s just say we do NOT live in a gardener’s paradise.  We are on granite, desert mountaintop.  Our soil is rocky and dry.  We live close to wild life – rabbits, deer, coyotes and javelina use our side yard as a race way and eat everything in sight.  And then there are small rodents and the birds!

Most gardener’s here either have securely fenced yards or have built raised beds (a big planter and filled it with soil).  Some have both.  They work great but are more or less permanent and expensive to build. David and I moved here last year. At the time we were not sure that we would be staying here permanently, so we leased a house for a year.  Turns out we love it here, but now we need some time to find the place we want to buy. The point of all that is that we are renting and do not want to go to the time and expense of building a big fence or even raised beds. (more…)

Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, fresh veggies, garden, tomatoes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment