Author Archives: Sandy

Our new best plum

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Sandy

About eight years ago I planted a lovely Italian prune tree. I love Italian prunes and the trees are supposed to be easy to manage and fruit abundantly. After a few years, I did get a decent prune crop. And then … Continue reading →

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100 lbs of apples

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Sandy

After a lovely five days in Carlsbad, CA, we’ve returned home to find two of our apple trees in dire need of harvesting. One, the Chehalis, had super pretty fruit because I bagged it all to prevent pest damage. The other, … Continue reading →

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Share your best fruit

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Sandy

Last week, I encouraged you to eat your ugly fruit. This week, I’m going to encourage you to share your best fruit. Anyone who plants numerous fruit trees hits a point in time when it becomes tough to find enough to do … Continue reading →

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Eat your ugly fruit!

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Sandy

Organic fruit growing requires some additional work and compromise. In terms of additional work, perfect looking fruit requires manual pest control, such as I did with the nylon socks I used to cover most of my apple crop. I was a little … Continue reading →

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High summer in the garden

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Sandy

Earlier this year, after the removal of the big leaf maple, we planted an edible landscape garden, which is a mix of ornamentals and edibles heavily mulched by the big leaf maple wood chips. Some of my edibles are loving this environment. … Continue reading →

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Andrew’s carrot

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Sandy

Andrew wanted to have his own garden this year, so I let him use a half wine barrel for planting his seeds. He planted peas, carrots, and turnips and everything has done well. He’s especially happy with his carrots, the … Continue reading →

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Green beans and a new venture

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Sandy

I’ve had trouble with green beans this year. Even though I waited until the weather improved before planting, I had to replant both my pole beans and my bush beans. Birds might have been a factor, but germination seemed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening | 7 Comments

Berries & artichokes

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Sandy

Strawberry season is officially over, but the blueberries and raspberries are going strong. In fact, the raspberries are fantastic this year. We have a few different varieties of raspberries planted (I’ve lost track of exactly what we have though) and … Continue reading →

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A good energy usage report!

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Sandy

Contrary to most people, I look forward to seeing our monthly electricity and gas bill. I’m always hopeful that the numbers will show year-over-year energy reduction. Our latest bill showed great progress! At the same time, we produced 919 kWhs … Continue reading →

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Garlic & potatoes

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Sandy

My softneck garlic starting flopping over earlier in the week, so I knew it was time to harvest. Harvesting garlic is easy (just pull from the ground), but curing is an important step for long-term storage. After the garlic dries … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking & food preservation, Gardening, Livestock | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments