I’ll be honest – I don’t know if there’s anything quite as irritating as fire ants. When I’m working in my garden, I want to be focused on pulling weeds and making sure my plants are well-cared for. I don’t want to be worried about ants crawling around and stinging me! Fire ants are common …
Growing up, whenever I caught a cold, my mom would reach for the echinacea tea. She always said it was one of the best natural treatments for a cold or flu, and once I got older, I found that this was absolutely the case. Echinacea has a million uses in the kitchen and the medicine …
Whether it’s dill pickles that have your heart, or a dill sauce on crispy grilled salmon, rest assured that dill is an easy herb to grow. With a little bit of sunlight and plenty of water, dill can easily be grown from seed. It matures quickly, and can be enjoyed during successive harvests throughout the …
This year, one of my main gardening goals was to learn how to plant, grow, and harvest fennel – along with a number of other culinary herbs. I’ll be honest, the fennel has taken a bit of time to really get going! Some of my other herbs (especially the lemon balm) have done quite well, …
Nothing says spring quite like the appearance of fragrant pink chive blossoms in the herb garden. If you’ve planted chives just once, you will likely find that they keep coming back, year after year, these plants are hardy, easy to grow perennials that tolerate cool, rainy weather with grace. If you’re looking for guidance on …
Gardening should be easy, right? You plant a few seeds, water them on a regular basis, and just wait for the harvest to pour in. Unfortunately, if you’re new to gardening, things aren’t always quite that simple. While the basic practices of gardening will more or less become second nature to you over time, there …
35 Mistakes You’re Likely to Make in Your First Garden Read More »
We often think of herb gardens as sunny little patches outside the kitchen window, and many common herbs are grown in full sun. But there are plenty of herbs – some common and some not so common- that will grow wonderfully in the shade. If you want a delightful herb garden but don’t have much …
There’s nothing quite like the fresh, savory taste of eggplant parmesan. Or perhaps you prefer eggplant hot off the grill? Whatever your preferences might be, growing your own eggplant is a great way to spruce up your landscaping and to become more self-sufficient. This plant grows easily, and looks gorgeous in containers, border edges, raised …
Did you know that carrots weren’t always orange? In fact, the current culinary craze for purple carrots is simply going back to roots (pardon the pun), because it was only in the 17th Century, in a tribute to William of Orange, that Dutch growers apparently developed the orange carrot, and the color has since become …
Stevia is an herb grown for its sweet, sweet flavor without the calories of sugar. Chewing on a stevia leaf will release a flavor that can be 30 to 40 times the sweetness of white sugar. Extract of this plant is often used in place of sugar, especially in low calorie or diabetic recipes. Leaves …
