Starting Our Winter Kitchen Garden

by Wholylocal | Nov 4, 2015 | In My Backyard, Organic Garden

[foogallery id=”996″] Homegrown compost and seeds — a good mix for the Florida winter vegetable garden. We’ve already harvested cucumbers and radishes. The winter garden feast begins!

Fungus Among Us

by | Oct 4, 2014 | In My Backyard

[foogallery id=”869″] Last week’s rains persuaded our backyard’s underground mycelia to bear fruit.  Mushrooms popped up in the mulch pile, the compost pile, the dirt pile…everywhere! So, what are mushrooms? Here’s a quick...

The Tiny Mole

by | Sep 8, 2014 | In My Backyard

Today, Tim found a tiny mole in our backyard. I have never seen a real mole before. I mistakenly imagined them being as big as beavers, based on my reading of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: “Moles were Talking Beasts that were smart, intelligent and...

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

by | May 9, 2014 | Food and Nutrition, In My Backyard

[foogallery id=”890″] Tim has fond memories of his NuNu pan-frying zucchini blossoms when he was growing up. This year, we have two prolific zucchini plants in our spring garden. Today, we picked some blossoms. Sue washed them to get the ants out. Then,...

The Bees Came a’Buzzin

by | Apr 9, 2014 | In My Backyard

We love honey! Why not get it from our backyard? We bought a beehive starter kit from Dadant & Sons, and ordered a bee nuc from Mountain Sweet Honey. Tim assembled the hive in February and we patiently awaited the arrival of the bees, due in late March. Today, the...

Nutritious Cruciferous

by | Apr 9, 2014 | Food and Nutrition, In My Backyard

[foogallery id=”897″] Our winter brassicas — broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage — provide plenty of vitamin C, folate, carotenoids, and other beneficial compounds, as well as abundant fiber. We make slaws and raw salads because cooking breaks...