Category Archives: Vegetables

Layering Blackcurrants

Posted on March 11, 2012 by

Spent the day propagating plants.  Back in fall, I tried my hand at ground layering, a technique that involves burying part of a plant stem to encourage the plant to root in place.  Specifically, I bent a long blackcurrant stem … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Time for Spring or Planting as an Act of Optimism

Posted on February 23, 2012 by

Rhubarb is always one of the harbingers of spring, but I can’t recall a season when it’s been this early.  Likewise the asparagus, which in a typical year emerges some time between April 9th at the earliest to Apring 19th … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruit, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Planning for Spring – Seed Savers Exchange

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

Not a lot to do in the garden lately.  I’m holding out hope that the scarily dry winter will give way to a miracle March, filled with snow and rain.  In the meantime, the catalogs have arrived in force.  Along … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Alaskan Mill, Dreams of Spring, and Seeds With Character

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

It’s shaping up to be a cold, dry winter (so far).  The garden has essentially been put to bed, and so attention turns to infrastructure. These three trees – two very tall pines (Pinus sabiniana) and a cedar – were … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit, Vegetables | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Andean Vegetables

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

The first frost arrived a couple of weeks ago, damaging the leaves of the Bolivian sunroot (also called yacón) – no surprise there.  I’ve grown this plant for years – I like the tubers, which have a subtle flavor that … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Alliums, And Lots Of ‘Em

Posted on November 22, 2011 by

Some of my favorite food plants are in the genus Allium.  Garlic is one of my favorite garden plants (read about it here, here, here, here and here), and I have it in the garden proper and the food forest. … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Great Rhubarb Divide

Posted on October 27, 2011 by

I’m especially fond of plants that are easily propagated, either by seed or division or cuttings.  Rhubarb (Rheum x hybridum) is just such a plant, and one of my fall chores – not every fall, mind you, but every 3 … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Jerusalem Artichokes – Neither from Jerusalem, nor Artichokes

Posted on October 18, 2011 by

Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunchokes, grow really well in my garden, and I’ve planted some in the food forest as well. I’ve grown them for a number of years – they don’t require much care, just a sunny … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Native Plants, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

DIY Multi-dibble

Posted on October 10, 2011 by

I’m fascinated by the range of tools created by humans to make certain jobs easier.  This beautiful gallery of Antique Farm Tools from England, Scotland and Wales includes such specialty implements as turnip hooks, beet knives, and various dibbers (also … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Adventures in Open Pollination

Posted on September 21, 2011 by

These are mustard seedlings that I’m growing to donate to the El Dorado County Master Gardener plant sale.  I have them in a little covered wagon sort of structure, over which I drape floating row cover to keep the grasshoppers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment