The Wild Way Out

09/13/2023

It’s ground cherry season!
So often people tell me they’ve seen ground cherries growing in the wild. While it’s theoretically possible since ground cherries are native to the Midwest, it’s far more likely to be nightshade, the first picture on the left.
The fruits look similar, with their lantern covered berries. But the taste is quite different. Those hard, green berries from wild nightshades are bitter and literally toxic.

08/12/2022

08/12/2022

PEARS!!!

08/10/2022

Market in recent weeks

06/17/2022

The most beautiful spinach I've grown in over a decade.
Bloomsdale Longstanding is variety well loved by home gardeners for its thick, savoyed leaves and sweet, rich flavor. Because it grows in a rosette shape, close to the ground, it must hand harvested. This succulent variety of spinach is usually very difficult to buy because it's very time consuming to individually pluck each leaf. But having well harvested leaves makes Bloomsdale Longstanding the best variety I've ever had for salads.

06/10/2017

It's official! I now intentionally cultivate weeds.
After pulling all the poison ivy from a patch of milkweed, I trimmed the grass and watered the patch. I hope the monarch butterflies appreciate it

12/28/2016

I shall name him Crowfirstus.
I've never heard a rooster crow so young. They're just over 6 weeks.

10/09/2016

The latest in fall chicken fashion!

02/29/2016

I lost Brown last night. She was acting like she couldn't lay an egg yesterday. I gave her a warm soak and some calcium. She passed something weird and seemed to perk up. She went to bed early. I went out early to check on her and she was all ready gone.
She was a good bird. I hope I have some of her eggs left and can hatch her babies