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120 Blackberry jam from foraged fruit
My neighbors think these aren’t worth the trouble. I disagree. The blackberries in the surrounding abandoned gardens were in full swing. So I harvested what I could. And then I made jam from what we couldn’t eat fresh. Note: The video version of this post gets released on Saturday, August 24, 2024. I’m back in…
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119 Planting Potatoes in August?
Planting potatoes in August is very late where we live. Our daylight will fade quickly over the next months. I’m pretty sure we have enough potatoes in the beds I planted in spring. But I still decided to grow more as an experiment, well, two as it would turn out. Note: The video version of…
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118 Foraged food and undeserved guilt
It has finally stopped raining here in North-East Germany, and the garden is loving the much-needed reprieve. There are no fewer tasks in the garden, though, and with the good weather, I get to take care of them. August brought fruit harvests and last chances to plant. I baked yet another delicious cheesecake–with fresh plums…
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117 Summer tasks and winter greens
Summer has finally reached North-East Germany. The neighbors have shifted from complaining about rain to complaining about heat. With the summer garden looking great, I turned my attention to winter greens–while trying not to think about winter. I also dug up some potatoes and mulched some more. Note: The video version of this post gets…
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116 August garden tour
I promised your garden tour, so I guess let’s do an August garden tour. Today is August 5th and it’s looking really nice out today, so let’s do a garden tour in nice weather. Note: The video version of this post gets released on Saturday, August 10, 2024. The blueberries are looking good. They aren’t…
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115 My tomatoes are dying
When all my garden neighbors lost their tomatoes to blight, I began to worry. I trimmed the tomatoes for better air flow but it was not enough. I did what I could to help the plants. It has been a wet year, wetter than even I feared. Let’s try and save my tomatoes, shall we?…
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114 Weeds are friends?
Weeds are nature’s way of repairing the soil. So, why did I spend dozens of hours messing with the balance? Much of my time in the garden is spent weeding: weeding before making beds, weeding beds, weeding paths… I was starting to doubt this was the way to go. Note: The video version of this…
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113 Pretty flower syrups
Hiding from the rain outside, I turned our first berry harvest, mint and lavender we grew, and edible flower blossoms from the garden into syrups (or non-alcoholic cordial if you prefer). I don’t want to buy juice anymore and needed an alternative to elderflower syrup, as those are out of season. Note: The video version…
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112 Mushroom beds
Two days after I’d abandoned the mushroom beds in a bad mood, my husband joined me in the garden to help. He flew the drone while I did some weeding, and then we got to work. Three mushroom beds, more ripe white currants, and a potato harvest were waiting. Note: The video version of this…