Recent content by Teka

I have fallen in love with sycamores. Their bark in winter. The fascinating way they leaf out from the ground up..... I am trying to germinate seeds now, with little success. Sorry to hear that they have problems! My husband thinks only of the messy leaf litter he recalls from his...

I had a Weber smoker/grill but gor a Traeger a year and a half ago. Will not go back! Maybe it's because I work. Maybe because my hubbie is not so great with complicated instructions. We use the Traeger constantly for meats, veggies and other. Great for jerky/drying as it will maintain a low...

Almost 70 degrees last weekend. Tonight, a snowstorm expecting to bring 3-4".... That's Lower Slower Delaware.

In Delaware, I grow Brown Turkey figs -- sometimes they get frozen to the ground and the crop is sparse the next year, but they always come back. In milder years, we have 2 crops and last year had a ton of figs. The older they get, the more they can withstand the cold. I have a Hardy Chicago I...

I use winter sowing every year! I start tomatos, peppers, eggplants, coles, herbs, flowers, and more in the gallon jugs. Last year was the first time I had a failure -- sort of. Everything was up as typical, but we had a cold snap after a few really warm days, and the tender plants that had lept...

A while back, I was "let go" because the bank I was working for needed to downsize -- they'd built a new gym at my facility... The lying worm that did my job at the office where the big wigs lived got to keep the job because he was the "breadwinner of the family".... Too bad I'd signed that...

With the a warm weather, I am having great winter garden -- daikon, collards, kales, chard, Chinese cabbage, Brussels sprouts, turnips, parsnips, celery, and so on.... It will probably snap cold as soon as I say this, but I moved some lettuce plants out to the garden from the greenhouse.... It...

I still have Connecticut field pumpkins in the garage fridge -- but the local grocery store had leftover Halloween pumpkins for $1.50 -- so I used one for my Thanksgiving pies. Not sure if it was supposed to be a pie pumpkin, probably not -- but the results were great. We are thinking of...

My thoughts are with you. I hope you get some rain. We are into a many-year drought locally and had a dry summer with more recent respite with rain. I pray for a slow-moving hurricame to help us, but know you guys are in far worse shape.

REST IN PEACE Whitey Beloved chicken and Mother Hen Have you ever experienced a great hen?? We raised a group of poults and one of them rose to be the head of the pecking order not buy force but by intelligence. She was white and my (then) young son named her Whitet. She has ruled...

Hierlooms are not new -- they are just hot right now because people are tired of commercially-designed tomatos with zero tasre! If you grow for a commercial market such as a farmer's market or produce stand, PAY ATTENTION because this will make your product more desirable HENCE more pricey...

I haven't tried it with turkey bacon, but sure that would do it. But, no meat would also be great. I sometimes toast the pecans before I add them, this would give the crunch of the bacon without the animal fat.

My husband always insists on planting one or two Early Girl hybrids -- they do what he expects and make a good amount of tomatos, then they're done. My heirlooms carry the load. I grow a dozen or so varieties in any given year, depending on "winter sow'n" success and new ones that I spot in...

I am crazy about sycamores! I know they must make seedlings, but haven't found any around here. Does anyone have seedlings to sell or give away? Or, any tips on propagating? I put some seed balls in the freezer for the suggested month, then planted witout any success....

You don't need the scentsy thing. Put a drop of essential oil (or mist your pefume) on the glass globe of your light. When it is turned on, the oil vaporizes and scents. I do this in the bathroom when we have lots of guests coming.