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Soil Blocking for Seed Starting Success!

January 28, 2024 / Michelle / 1 Comment

Soil blocks produce some of the best transplants from seed starting I’ve ever grown. This is my hands down favorite way to start tomatoes, peppers and my earliest cold hardy crops.

Soil and person using a soil blocker to start seeds

The method uses a metal ‘press’ that you fill with an oversaturated (think cement slop for the right consistency) seed starting mix. You get this mix packed into the ‘press’ and push a lever to pop out the cutest soil cubes you ever saw. And if the mix is done right, they stick together great, even though it seems like they’re defying the laws of gravity.

Best of Garden Podcasts

December 31, 2023 / Michelle / 1 Comment

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!

Chai Tea

December 5, 2023 / Michelle / 1 Comment

A favorite festive recipe is Chai Tea!

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.

I adore how I start craving this tea right around the same time I harvest my ginger each year. I’ve got an in-depth article on growing ginger in the north.

Pickled Daikon + Carrot Salad

November 14, 2023 / Michelle / 0 Comments

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.

plated food with rice, broccoli, tofu and pickled daikon + carrot relish — 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 slice of baked apple oatmeal cake and cream drizzle on a plate.

Baked Apple Oatmeal Cake (GF)

November 2, 2023 / Michelle / 1 Comment

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!

Dream of Wild Health Indigenous Farm

October 3, 2023 / Michelle / 0 Comments

Dream of Wild Health Logo

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.

Season Extension: Garden + Harvest into Winter

September 28, 2023 / Michelle / 2 Comments

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?

The Amazing Aronia Berry

September 15, 2023 / Michelle Bruhn / 1 Comment

If you love growing beautiful medicine that also attracts the pollinators, then let me introduce you to Aronia Berry, aka Chokeberry. Actually, you may have already met Aronia Berry while walking in the woods or edges of prairies in the Midwest of America.

Officially named Aronia melanocarpa, this cold hardy North American native woody shrub is worth adding to your landscape for its adaptability, form, fall color, and, of course, its fruits!

Knowing + Growing

The Aronia Berry tends to stay around 8 feet tall (depending on variety) and is much less picky about soil as it has deeper roots than the Elderberry. They are hardy to -40F or USDA Zone 3. They also don’t have any pest issues and are disease resistant.

Zucchini Fritters Two Ways (but both Gluten Free)

July 31, 2023 / Michelle / 1 Comment

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!

Shredded Zucchini ready for making Zucchini Fritters

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

July 1, 2023 / Michelle / 3 Comments

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.

Vegetable harvesting spread out in front of a garden gate

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.

Forks in the Dirt

Page 3 of 15

Soil Blocking for Seed Starting Success!

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Best of Garden Podcasts

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Chai Tea

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Pickled Daikon + Carrot Salad

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Baked Apple Oatmeal Cake (GF)

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Dream of Wild Health Indigenous Farm

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Season Extension: Garden + Harvest into Winter

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The Amazing Aronia Berry

Knowing + Growing

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Zucchini Fritters Two Ways (but both Gluten Free)

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Harvesting from Your Garden

Why Not When Wet?

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