Seed Starting Tips By Sandy Swegel If truth be told, growing seeds and especially food is really just a hobby for me. I do it quite earnestly and often obsessively, but it’s not like I’m not going to eat if I don’t grow my own food. That has not always been true for my ancestors […]
How to Be Grateful for Delicious Food By Sandy Swegel One cannot but be overwhelmed by gratitude at holiday tables made with so much scrumptious food. In this age of “spiritual, not religious,” it can be hard to say “Grace” in a way that includes everyone. Yet gratitude leaps from us as we stand before […]
Decorate for Fall with Delicious Foods by Sandy Swegel Thanksgiving week is almost upon us with endless opportunities for creative and artistic expression. Besides the creative recipes you’re cooking, you also get to decorate your table and your home with the many gifts from nature and use your food as art. A walk down the […]
How to Save Your Squash by Sandy Swegel Eww…Yet another bug thriving this year and ruining my food. Most of us have experienced our squashes suffering from powdery mildew that coats the leaves white, but knowledgeable gardeners are perplexed here in Colorado by squash that suddenly completely wilts and dies. Turns out if the squash is […]
Is There Still Time to Plant Seeds? by Sandy Swegel Is it time? Is it too late? Can I still plant seeds? These are the questions I heard this week. In our Zone 5 area, garden centers are already starting to discount plants and seasonal workers will get laid off by the 4th of July. […]
Give Plants the Attention They Deserve by Sandy Swegel One of my favorite things to do is spend other people’s money. Or better said, to go shopping with them and encourage them to buy the cool things they want to buy. I always covet plants and yet I know I don’t have the time or […]
How to Help Your Plants Stay Productive by Sandy Swegel I’ve been watching my neighbor Tory’s vegetable garden with great interest this year. She worked as a farm intern (ie. Full-time farming, almost no money) the last couple of years and has brought farm techniques to her home garden. Yesterday as we enjoyed the latest […]
Elderflower Recipes by Sandy Swegel My favorite foraging is for the elder plant…both the elderflowers now and the elderberries later in summer. I adore elderberries in jam or sauce and that’s my primary use for the berries (in addition to a medicinal elixir.) But once I knew the location of sufficient elderberry bushes and trees that I could […]
What to do When You Are Overwhelmed by Weeds by Sandy Swegel Our friend and blog reader CJ recently sent us some great suggestions about tackling weeds when you are absolutely overwhelmed by weeds on your property. She has a large hilly country property that is atop a mesa so weed seeds fly in from […]
Irrigation Checklist by Sandy Swegel For gardeners in dry climates, irrigation is a necessary evil. Irrigation makes growing possible, but it can be a royal pain trying to keep it intact and actually watering the plants it is intended to water. You will have fewer problems with your irrigation (and thus fewer dying plants) if […]
