As an avid gardener and garden writer, let me tell you, I’ve listened to a lot of garden podcasts… and some are better than others.
I’ve also had the joy of being interviewed by over a dozen podcast hosts (you’ll see some of their names below).
There’s something soothing about listening to others who’ve ‘been there and done that’. I love listening as I work with my hands or out on walks. If you’re not a podcast listener, I have to say (even as a lover of the written word) you are missing out!
This will not only warm your body and soul, but makes your home smell like the holidays along the way… once I start making this Hygge season has officially arrived on our homestead.
Simple and completely able to tailor to your tastes, this recipe lets you add more or less of ingredients as you like.
One of my all-time favorite condiments has always been the slightly sweet, slightly vinegary and always crunchy pickled daikon + carrot ‘salad’. This is typical in Vietnamese dishes like Banh Mi and rice noodle salads. I’m also known to just eat this straight out of the jar.
A typical quick dinner, with pickled veggies playing an important supporting role!
I feel so lucky to have grown up around the Twin Cities where I’ve been able to savor all the flavors of the metro area. Growing up more on the east side of the metro, on the outskirts of St. Paul, I always had ample Vietnamese options. My dad used to work at the state capitol, and I would beg him to bring me to lunch at The Lagoon, an old school Vietnamese restaurant that used to be tucked in right there on University Avenue.
A little crisp on the top layer, dense and perfectly spiced with chunks of warm apple throughout… This baked apple oatmeal recipe is so easy, uses a single bowl and can feel like a hearty breakfast or delicious dessert depending on how you dress it up!
I love the ‘idea’ of baked oatmeal but so many recipes can fall apart and feel like a good attempt gone wrong. This recipe teeters between baked oatmeal and oat cake/muffins, but I’m 100% comfortable with rocking the oat boat like this- because these are absolutely delicious!
Seeds and centuries of gardening knowledge feed a community at Dream of Wild Health farm.
Inspired by the people it serves and centuries of gardening knowledge, Dream of Wild Health embodies working with nature. One of the oldest, continually operating Native American nonprofits in the Twin Cities, Dream of Wild Health’s intertribal working and teaching farm brings together the best of seed saving, Earth-focused farming practices and youth development. In short, this farm is flourishing.
One last harvest deep into winter from all my veggies grown under cover
Fall temps can quite literally cool our northern garden jets once fall hits its stride and apple season arrives. But for those of us that enjoy those frost sweetened crops and don’t mind gardening into the cool of autumn, Season Extension opens another mini-season of gardening and harvesting!
For those just getting started on season extension, you may be wondering why we bother with this extra work?
For me the reason is clear – by keeping plants alive in the ground, it allows them to hold onto their nutrients, compared to if we harvested at the first sign of frost. Food loses around 30% of its nutrients within three days of harvest…
Practicing season extension can add weeks or even months of harvesting FRESH FOOD from your garden. And isn’t harvesting healthy food one of our main goals?
Zucchini Fritters are a healthy ‘fast food favorite’ in our home every summer! We all know how fast those zucchini can grow… so if you want a healthy + savory take on the good old pancake (and use up cups of shredded zucchini all at once)- Zucchini Fritters are for you!
I love the two different versions of this recipe equally, it just depends on what flavors I’m craving more, and if I happen to have some potatoes around as to which I make.
You can use a variety of zucchini in this recipe, and even summer squash too, just be aware of the different moisture content in each variety. Patty Pan are one of the ‘meatiest’ and dense/driest types, while Fordhook + Golden varieties tend to be wetter. If you shred the zucchini and can see extra water in the bowl, squeeze some out so you don’t have too thin of fritters.
More information on Growing Zucchini + More Ways to enjoy them on another post A Zillion Ways to Zucchini.
Harvesting from your garden is the moment we’ve all been waiting for!
You’ve probably heard it’s best to harvest from your garden in the morning. Maybe you’ve also heard not to harvest from your garden when wet… These can seem contradictory especially on damp, dewy mornings. But there’s more behind the ‘not wet and not wilted’ reasoning.
I’m sharing some best practices to harvest lots of delicious and nutritious food to make your garden healthier and more productive.
Why Not When Wet?
We should generally hold off harvesting from our gardens until plants are dried off because when we open a wound on a plant from harvesting by cutting or breaking off we’re leaving an entrance on the plant for diseases.
Fungal and bacterial diseases (blight, powdery mildew, rust, etc.) multiply while the leaves are wet. So, the chance of them getting directly into a wound is greater with a wet plant as well. This timing also makes it harder for the plant to fend off the diseases in general.
Let’s get you growing Joi Choi! This is the Pak Choi (aka Bak Choy) everyone can (and should) grow.
There are few veggies that bring me as much JOI in the garden and on my plate as this veggie, so I’m declaring myself a founding member of the Joi Choi Fan Club! She’s as delicious as she is beautiful!
This has consistently been one of the easiest veggies to grow. It is ready also one of the fastest maturing early spring veggies, ready to harvest within 30 days of transplanting in all but the coldest spring weather. This means I can usually get at least three successions of Joi Choi in each season in my zone 4 gardens.
It is way more heat tolerant than other Pak Choi I’ve tried. Meaning it keeps growing a lot longer, and therefore bigger before it bolts. I mean look at those Thick stalks! All that stem equals weights of close to 2 lbs. per average plant if harvested all at once. Last fall I harvested a single Joi Choi that was over 4 lbs heavy and still tender and crisp in October!
Nothing ushers in summer like fresh-picked strawberries and red-stained fingers, shirts, faces… so let’s get you growing strawberries too!
To save that fleeting, sweet taste of summer we’ve got tips and tricks and the reasons why growing homegrown or grabbing all the local berries you can is worth it. I promise, your winter self will thank your summer self.
Strawberries are one of our little homestead’s most anticipated foods—by every member of our family. So, we spend some time prepping and loving on the gardens so they produce to their fullest.
Grow Great Berries
Growing strawberries is as close to instant gratification as you can get with a perennial fruit. I recommend planting bare root plant, as you have more options for variety. They’re also less expensive than potted plants, and the plants seem to do better in the long run. The catch is you want to plant them in late May, before the heat of summer comes on too strong. You’ll soak the roots for an hour or two before planting. During the first growing season, plan to pinch off the first few buds that form, but let the next rounds of flowers mature to pick fruit later in the season.
