• Allium Family, Asian Edibles, Aster/Lettuce Family, Backyard Chickens, Beet Family, Carrot Family, Classes, Community Events, Compost & Amendments, Cover Crops, Crucifer/Cole/Brassica Family, Edible Greens, Education, Eliza, Garden Design, Garden Tour, Grain/Cereal Family, Hugelkultur, Intensive Space Gardening, Irrigation, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Legume Family, Local Eggs, Local Food, Local Permaculture Sites, Microclimates, Permaculture, Permaculture Projects, Root Crops, Soil & Fertility, Winter Growing

How to Manage a Winter Garden

The best thing about winter salads is how easy it is to obtain a harvest. Cold months mean chores don’t have to be done in the heat, plus the pests and diseases are mostly dormant. You can’t beat the satisfaction of walking into the kitchen on a gray day carrying an armload of vibrant produce! Winter gardening at Appalachian Feet…

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How to Make Venison Sausage and Kale Quiche with a Side of Lemon-Ginger Beet Salad

While I think that there is a wide variety of reasons why we garden, arguably the biggest one is to have fresh homegrown food. I really enjoy cooking, and the appeal of growing my own quality ingredients was what got me started on the path to being a gardener. We didn’t keep a garden this winter so our own ingredients have…

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• Edible Greens, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Medicinal Plants, Native Plants, Ornamental Edibles, Permaculture, Soil & Fertility, Wild Foraged Food

How to Get Excited About Poke Sallet (Native Options for Permaculture Nutrient Accumulators)

That may be the wordiest title I ever came up with on this blog. The short of it is, “can poke sallet be highly desirable in the garden?” Poke sallet (as in pokeweed, pokeberries, polk salad, or any of the other myriad common names and spellings you want to label Phytolacca americana) is a plant native to the southeastern US….

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How to Grow Sweet Salad Turnips (with Recipes)

If you’ve never eaten a salad turnip, and you probably haven’t, it’s unlikely you think they sound very exciting. Back when the Organic Growers School was Saturday only, they did an experimental Sunday session in Burnsville, NC. Among skills like how to build hoop houses and grow through the winter, I mostly remember taste-testing the ‘Hakurei’ turnips that Patryk Battle…

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How to Set Garden Goals & Go to the Organic Growers School

Fer is hosting a garden goals blog carnival at My Little Garden in Japan and oh my gosh, do I ever have a lot to do this year! I’ve included info about the Organic Growers School in March since it always heralds my spring planning. For the last three seasons I’ve jumped from garden to garden, so I haven’t been…

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• Achocha, Beneficial Insects, Canning, Catalogs/Nurseries/Sources, Cucurbit/Gourd Family, Edible Flowers, Edible Greens, Heirlooms, Intensive Space Gardening, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Miscellaneous Crops, Ornamental Edibles, Plant in Spring, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Lunch, Recipes - Sides, Ripe in Fall, Ripe in Summer, South/Central American Edibles, Summer Salad Greens, Unusual Vegetables, Vining Edibles

How to Grow and Use Achocha/Caigua (a Problem-Free Cucumber Substitute), with Recipes

Organic gardening often produces healthier, more easily grown vegetables and fruits than the same crops grown with “conventional” methods. There are, however, a few crops that have a pouty reputation for organic growers. The cucurbit family claims most of these weak-kneed plants. I count on summer squash and cucumbers to be riddled with squash vine borer, cucumber worms, and fungal…

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• Crucifer/Cole/Brassica Family, Edible Greens, Garden Design, Garden DIY, Kale, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Ornamental Edibles, Plant in Fall, Plant in Spring, Shade/Part Sun Edibles, Things to Do, Winter Growing

How to Make Living Flower Pots (Ornamental Edible Gardening)

We took my daughter to the Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Garden in Columbia, SC last week. By that, I mean we spent 90% of our time at the zoo before running around the Botanical Garden for the last 10% like our pants were on fire. This is what happens to a gardener when the people with her are more interested…

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How to Grow and Use Amaranth Greens (w/Recipes & Sources)

You can have leafy summer salads in the hot southeast! Though “heat resistant” lettuce only gets you so far into the season before bitterness and bolting set in, you don’t have to go without greens until fall. Amaranth greens are by far my favorite lettuce substitute. The first time I tasted it I was trying too hard to compare it…

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How to Grow Peas as Quick Harvest Greens (and Use Up Old Seed Packets)

I am a seed hoarder. I still have packets from 2000 in my seed box because they might germinate whenever I get around to planting them. I don’t like to take risks with my vegetables though, so I make sure to have a fresh seed supply. Peas are not great seeds to save, the older they get the less vigor…

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How to (Easily) Grow Celery at Home (w/Recipes)

It’s not just tasty and easy — it’s pretty! For those of you who like to dress up your flower beds with some well-placed ornamental edibles (or who want show-stopping potagers) this is an oft-overlooked plant you can’t be without. For those of you who like to eat — it’s celery! Of course you should grow it. I don’t know…

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How to Make Homegrown Sun-dried Tomato, Feta, & Caramelized Onion Tart w/Arugula

My friends and I pull out all the stops for our annual pie party competition and this year I liked my tomato tart entry enough that I’ve made it several times since November. It is becoming a quick potluck favorite.  I make it either as a large tart or as mini tartlets. It’s delicious! The recipe calls for soaking the…

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How to Get Local Food in the Winter

This is similar to a post I published in August, but I think winter food buying bears special mention. Just a handful of years ago if I didn’t plant enough food for my family over the winter my only option was to buy hard, bland produce shipped from around the globe to my conventional supermarket. Not this year. I didn’t…

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How to Get Over “August Slump” and Grow Through the Winter

Many gardeners hit the tail end of summer at a drag. For some, it is irrigation, weeds, and disease that have taken a toll on their enthusiasm. Others feel they will pave the garden over with concrete before they have to find a use for one more tomato, zucchini, or cucumber! This year my August Slump was due to increasing…

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