Kitchen Gardening

Flowering Friday – Rosemary

June 1, 2012 Austin
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Flowering Friday – Purple Sage

May 25, 2012 Austin

What I know about purple (Silverado) sage: It’s native to this area and very drought-tolerant. When other plants withered last summer, our two sages soldiered on. Deer don’t eat it. Yes! These gorgeous flowers are spurred by… rain. Not the season or any other natural signal. It’s like they’re celebrating the bounty with a fireworks [...]

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Lemon Buds

May 22, 2012 Austin

At our house in California, we had a Meyer Lemon tree in the back yard that was so prolific we were overwhelmed with fruit. Here in Texas, it freezes occasionally, meaning citrus has to be planted in pots and brought inside when freezing temperatures loom. Despite the challenges, I’ve been wanting to bring Meyer Lemons [...]

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2 Acres = Self-Sufficiency Potential

March 16, 2012 Current Affairs

One Block Off the Grid

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Gardening As A Subversive Activity

November 20, 2011 Food & Drink
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School-To-Cafeteria Inspiration

September 27, 2011 Austin

I feel so lucky that we found an amazing preschool for Rory when we moved to Central Texas. This school has become the center of what we consider our “community” here — so much so that I’m already dreading Rory’s graduation to kindergarten, as we won’t have the excuse to see all the wonderful school [...]

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Tomatoes!

July 12, 2011 Food & Drink

There is no feeling like that of being overwhelmed with freshly-picked garden-fresh produce. It’s something you want to revel in — that sensation of abundance, the freshness, the deliciousness — but, before long, what sets in is panic. What in the world am I going to do with all this squash, all these cucumbers, 20 [...]

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Food Preservation: Yellow Squash Edition

June 15, 2011 Food & Drink

When thinking about canning, I have to resist my first impulse to think of it as a grandmotherly-type activity. Even seeing things in Mason jars makes me think “old lady.” Yet, canning, like knitting and making your own cheese, is what all the hip young people are doing these days. Right? Seriously, though, with the [...]

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My Dad’s Harvest

June 13, 2011 Kitchen Gardening

We go to my Dad’s place in E. Texas quite regularly, and, the past couple of months, we’ve settled into a routine. As soon as we wake up on Saturday, often before breakfast, we head out to the half-acre he’s plowed into a garden. At first, it was readying the area, or putting plants or [...]

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The Ugly Peach

May 26, 2011 Food & Drink

This may just be the ugliest peach in the world. But, underneath that fuzzy grizzled exterior is the peachiest flavor you could ever possibly encounter. It was grown, not in California like most of the peaches consumed in the United States, but, instead in Stonewall, Texas, a burg with a population of 469 best known [...]

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