According to the National Honey Board, September is National Honey month. Who knew? I’ve only recently discovered the many joys and variations of this liquid gold at the farmers market where “the honey guy” as I call him, patiently drips out samples of different honeys onto tiny spoons and explains the nuances of each flower’s sweet nectar. Buckwheat, clover, cranberry blossom, wildflower and apple are just a few of the honeys collected from hives around the area. Buckwheat is my personal favorite, dark and intense with just a hint of molasses-like flavor.  I like it on my oatmeal and I’ve …

There is a children’s book titled Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day in which the main character, as you can guess, is having a not so great day.  Well, I feel a bit like this year was my garden’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.  Blame the cool spring, the rain, the weeds that got out of control, the heat that kept me from venturing out of my air conditioning to work…. At this point, I’ve begun to refer to my little patch of community earth as a ‘survival garden,’ as in, whatever has survived my neglect, I will pick and eat! And a few things have done well…

August is winding down, the kids are back in school and another summer is basically just a memory in the making. Like that melancholy feeling I always get after finishing a really good book, I find myself a bit low this time of year.  I know that my days in the garden are numbered before fall turns to winter, and that makes me sad.  Another year, another summer of dreams - some of which came to fruition (the okra did great!) and some which did not (another bad year for our tomatoes, sigh).  Another school year is starting and my youngest is now a sophomore in high school. I am one step closer…

When I was growing up, sweet corn was as much a part of summer as swimming at the lake, playing kick the can until the street lights came on, or catching fireflies in glass jars. Knee high by the fourth of July, we waited in anticipation for those first ears of the local good stuff – corn that was like a different vegetable entirely from the canned or frozen corn we’d eaten all winter. “Roastin’ ears” as my mother still calls them, fresh from the farm stand and picked that morning, were as sweet as honey. My dad could eat six ears in one sitting, followed by a plate of home-grown tomatoes and…

I love zucchini. However, I hate to admit that I have trouble growing zucchini in my garden. It’s supposed to be one of those vegetables that overtakes the garden and mass reproduces like invading aliens.  There are jokes about people leaving baskets of zucchini on neighbors’ doorsteps, ringing the bell and then running like crazy for fear of being identified.  But not me!  I start out every year, planting so many that my fellow gardeners and family beg for me to stop.  But every year, no matter how many I plant, something always goes awry. What am I doing wrong? Last year I identified squash…

I was excited as usual to receive my box of organic fruits and vegetables this week from a local produce deliverer, and as I unpacked the contents, oohing and aahing over the blueberries, peaches and plums, I got down to the green stuff. Kale, yum, I know what to do with that, but what’s this? Dandelion greens? Wait a minute, aren’t those weeds?  OK, I guess I knew you can eat them, it’s just that I never have. As I pondered my dilemma (I hate to waste food and I felt compelled to do something with these good-for-you greens) I told my neighbor and walking buddy (unenthusiastically I might add…

I was wandering around the community garden at Covenant Village the other day, chatting up the gardeners as I sometimes do, when I noticed some beautiful green foliage with purple stems. “What is that?” I asked the woman cultivating her raised bed. “Oh, that’s purple kohlrabi,” she replied. “It’s doing well this year.” And indeed it was. I was captivated by the sheer beauty of the plant, and although I had heard of kohlrabi, I didn’t know much about it or how it grows.  And so, home to my computer I went. Let me share what I learned. A favored vegetable in Europe, kohlrabi has been around …

The strawberries are coming, the strawberries are coming! They’re showing up at local farmers markets and grocery stores and a sweet season it is indeed. Although strawberries are available all year round, there is nothing like the taste of local berries in season. I just received my first box of organic produce from Delivery Produce and there, nestled in the middle of the box was a pint of the beautiful red berries. They were not large like the ones you sometimes find at the grocery (and that look like they are on steroids) but oh were they sweet! Strawberries will be in season locally until…

This has been a miserable spring for gardening.  I rushed to get out and plant back in April and then the cool weather seemed to keep the little seeds from having any desire to emerge. However the weeds apparently enjoyed the cool, depressing days. They are happily taking over my garden rows, making it hard to spot the tiny leeks and beets that are finally making their way in the world.  Luckily, the hardy French Mesclun mix I planted braved the misery and has grown nicely. It is now ready for the table. Lettuce give thanks! Coming off Memorial Day weekend--a mix of torrential downpours and …

Kale is stupendous!  Kale is beautiful, kale is in season …wait, no it’s not. I just planted kale seeds in my garden.  I was so excited, I love kale!  And it’s a cool weather crop, right?  It’s cool, right? Now, however, after some research, I realize I should have planted it last October, covered it with straw, and I could have been picking and eating it all winter (although I don’t know about that with the snow this year!) Oh well, such is the life of a home gardener – always learning. Apparently the kale season is truly December through February, but you can find it at the market pretty …

I’m way behind in my garden planting, but due to the wretched April weather this year, I can’t blame myself too much.  I also know that I always get this way right about now, panicking that I’m not getting seeds into the ground fast enough and feeling like I’m missing a boat that is slowing leaving the harbor. But relax, I tell myself. I did get some lettuce and leek seeds in, there’s still plenty of time, and, thank goodness for rhubarb! The ‘Pie Plant’, as it is sometimes called, rhubarb is a hardy perennial that comes back year after year, unfurling its large, ruffled, triangular shaped …

A garden is loss. And renewal. And growth and change and seasons, some longer than others. As I yank the dead stalks of last year’s Brussels sprouts from the ground, my heart is heavy and I am saddened by the recent, sudden loss of our beloved Australian Shepherd, Tessie. Anyone who knows me knows that I would have to mention her. She was so full of energy and life, like the garden in mid-summer, full and lush and always calling for attention. The summer garden calls for vegetables to be picked, weeds to be pulled, watering to be done. With Tessie it was walks to be taken, treats to be given…

Spring rewards us for our endurance. I guess it’s sort of like that good feeling you get after spin class. (OK, I haven’t been to spin class for ages, but I remember.) As exhausted by winter as I am by the end of it, I can’t imagine spring seeming quite so sweet if I lived in a milder climate.  I mean really, how can one truly appreciate those first warm days and the complete and utter freshness of an April morning living in Florida or Arizona? Our local gardens come back to life about now, too, and tender lettuce and spinach salads may begin to appear on the table.  I was shocked on my first…

There I was at Trader Joes when I spotted them. They practically jumped out at me, in fact. Did I hear their tiny little leaf voices calling out, pick me, pick me!? Buy me, they seemed to whisper. Snip me, pinch me, use me up and then….plant what’s left of me in your garden and I will repay you all summer long! So I scooped up several of the little potted herbs and placed them gently in my cart. Basil, thyme, parsley and rosemary – I could feel my spirit lift as I inhaled their sweet, earthy bouquet.  How happy they will be joining the sage, oregano and chives in my garden when the weather is…

When I opened my back door on the morning of March 1to let my dogs out, I heard birds chattering for the first time. That forgotten revelry reminded me that, even though the temperature was still in the 30s, spring was literally just around the corner. The days since have been dreary, the temperature still cold. The weariness I feel matches the drab outdoors, but to quote Emily Dickinson, Hope is the thing with feathers/that perches in the soul.  My soul is hopeful each day for a little more sunshine and a little warmer weather. The sun will shine a little brighter, the days will grow a …

A friend of mine recently overcame her allergy to avocados, and there was a flurry of avocado discussion on her Facebook page.  It got me thinking about the luscious green fruit (which is considered more of a vegetable because of the way we generally use it) and all of its amazing health benefits. One powerful little avocado contains more than 20 essential vitamins and minerals. Vitamin E, B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, vitamin K (essential for blood clotting and bone health), potassium, magnesium, copper and zinc are just a few, as well as carotenoid antioxidants. Avocadoes also have zero …

My garden lies buried under 19 (or is it 20?) inches of snow after Chicago’s Blizzard of 2011. I’m inside, looking out.  Recovering from recent knee surgery, I feel like a tiny seed in its shell (mine being the house), trapped and biding my time until I can emerge and start growing (or going) again.  Resting, waiting, and re-reading Ruth Reichl’s wonderful memoir, Tender at the Bone, and wishing I had her book Comfort Me With Apples on hand, my mind turns to…carrots. A picture taken last fall of two carrots that grew entwined hangs over my desk and I remember also, that Valentine’s day is …

My gardening buddy Beth has been getting organic fruits and vegetables delivered for years.  I’ve thought about it, but, like a lot of things in my life, never actually got around to doing it. Last fall, however, a young girl out canvassing the area for Organics Delivered knocked on my door and I signed up to start receiving produce from them. Every two weeks they fill a reusable tub with enough delicious, organic fruits and vegetables to feed our family of four. When the bin arrives, it’s like opening a surprise package. It’s always exciting to see what’s inside.  This time we received …

It’s January. The holidays are over. The kid and the husband are back in school and back to work, respectively. I’m like a kid on the first day of summer! I’ve got the house to myself. I’m going to clean and organize—I’m going to get it right this year, for sure. I’ll start by organizing my seed catalogues. I’ve thrown out last year’s, but wait, the new ones are arriving, new recipes and story ideas are popping up and clips are collecting.  I thought I was organized and here I go again, unraveling. Ask me in February how that project is going. Right now, I’m going to clean out the freezer of …

New Year's Eve is fast approaching and with it, the end of holiday festivities. I like to refer to my New Year's Resolutions as 'directional goals'. I take this opportunity to regroup, to think about what has worked and what hasn't over the past year and to plant new creative seeds for the coming year. To quote Henry David Thoreau, "I have great faith in a seed.  Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders." I hope you'll be planting seeds for the New Year too. And I hope you'll be celebrating the New Year—I will be, toasting it with pomegranates and prosecco! …