An ode to edamame: my homegrown, protein-rich popcorn replacement
I do not care what you say; the BEST snack food in the world is edamame. Green, healthy, savory, salty — steamed soybeans have the popability of potato chips, and it’s so easy to drop a ton of money on frozen packs of them at the grocery.
Growing my own edamame not only broke free of the frozen food aisle, but inspired a consuming love for these tiny green beans and all their furry hardiness.
Fill a foyer with plants
Carol-san shared her photos of a smart use of space: her home has a less-than functional space in this passageway. Happily, she’s made the best of it by greening up the space with lots of indirect-light-loving plants.
8 hard truths about city gardening for newbies
I’m gonna give y’all some city vegetable gardening tips that might help you save some cash and beef up your summer dinner menu at the same time. You see what I did there? Food pun!
Let’s look at some truths.
Mapping your garden to plan for a better harvest
We moved into our homestead back in 2006 when it was just a blank canvas of lawn, with a couple old rose bushes here and there. After six years of major landscape changes, it’s about time I got around to making a decent planting plan of the homestead. Using AutoCAD and Illustrator, I came up with a pretty rad (and full-color!) homesteading map.
Windowfarm: how I built a self-watering vertical garden
I’m using my big windows to power a hydroponic garden I hacked together with plastic bottles and a few supplies from Amazon. It is automated, and takes care of the hard stuff for me.
Gardening preparation check in: have your garden dreams dried up yet?
Yo, hopeful gardeners! Check in! How’s everything looking with your starter seedlings?
If you haven’t already, it’s a good time to look at your babies and see who’s past the germination deadline without showing any green. Some of my seeds have a very long germination time (10-14 days) but once two weeks is up and I haven’t seen any proto-leaves, those little things are quickly replaced with new seeds.
This year I’m planting a bigger variety of plants than I ever have before. I’ve started most of them already (all that I had toilet paper rolls for!) because I have a feeling we’re in for a warm spring. I don’t think I’m going to have to worry about frost as late as I have in years past — so I’m kind of starting all my stuff at once. If I’m wrong, well…then I’ll just start again. I’ve been late in planting seeds in the past, and everything turned out all right, so if I end up starting something late because I THOUGHT it was already covered, it’s not the end of the world.
How buying heirloom seeds defends our habitat from invasion
IN THIS POST: Where do seeds come from? Why are seed banks important? Where can I buy heirloom seeds in my area?
Gothic garden planning: 5 black blooms worth braving the sun for
As I dove into garden-planning season, I came across this breathtaking flower: the Black Parrot tulip. Now, I know it’s too late to plant tulips, but that doesn’t stop me from fantasizing about these.
Happily, the Black Parrot led me down a rabbit hole of other dark plants — the kind of vegetation that might convince even the palest of goths to slather on sunscreen and get into the garden.