Author: Celeste Longacre

Potatoes like to go into a cool soil. It is said that it is time to plant the potatoes when the dandelions begin to bloom. I like to “green” the potatoes for a week or two before planting. This is accomplished by placing them, right side up, in a bright, but not sunny, location. You…

For those of you who live where the frost is done, it’s time to begin thinking about planting. That’s certainly not true for those of us who live in the north; our time is just around the corner, but not yet. For the southern gardeners, the first three days of April are excellent days to…

Planting veggies inside in order to transplant them outside when in season is tricky. For one thing, you definitely need a greenhouse or a truly southern window (or grow lights) for them to be able to get enough Sun. if you are new to gardening, let the nurseries do it for you. However, if you…

Nearly all traditional cultures valued organ meats. They were often the first parts eaten of any animals that they ate because of their ability to build reserves of strength and vitality. Unfortunately, in today’s world, we have lost the flavor for these things and they are exceptionally difficult to find. Consider, though, that these meats…

Garlic isn’t really like most of the crops. It actually never stops growing. Planted in the fall, it will begin its process immediately, continue under the snow and grow until it is ready to harvest in July. It is actually one of the easier things to grow as it has few diseases and insects don’t…

My kale crop this year is particularly abundant. Because of this, I have decided to put some in the freezer to add to my bone broth soups during the winter. When I cook it for eating, I pull the leaves off of the stems, but, for the freezer, I leave them on. It’s fairly simple….

I know that I have written about purslane before, but I thought that it deserved a second look. This is a “weed” that appears every year in my garden in spite of the fact that I have never planted it. It comes up everywhere. Most people with gardens will recognize it as one of the…

As I write this, it is snowing. And, it is laying on the ground. Our garden still has a foot or two of old snow in many places…and it’s April 6th! Yet, as soon as the snow is gone and the soil can be worked, it will be time to get many crops started in…

While winter isn’t quite through with us, spring really is right around the corner. Days are getting longer, bitter cold has lost its grip and garden catalogs fill our mailboxes. Soon we’ll be involved with our spring cleaning, readying the lawn furniture and digging out the hoses. If you haven’t plotted the garden plan or…

Turmeric has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine. This traditional Indian methodology uses plants for most of its healing and turmeric is often prescribed. Some recent research is now indicating that this particular spice may have been the “gold” given to the Christ child along with myrrh and frankincense by the Wise Men. It is…

Farm stands and gardens are bountiful at this time of year. Harvests are flowing and farmers sell their produce at bargain prices. This is a great time to take advantage and get some things into the freezer. The veggies are truly fresh and, if you buy locally, you know where they come from. All vegetables…

For all of the things that I do in the summer, freezing corn is the biggest bang for the buck. It doesn’t take very long, it is reasonably priced and I get to enjoy beautiful sweet corn all year long. I don’t grow corn myself as it is important to have a big “stand” to…

French onion soup is a perennial favorite. It’s rich, hardy and delicious. Ideally, the flavors are complex and well mixed—this occurs better if it is made the day before it is eaten. My mother, who was of French descent, swore that real French onion soup was made with turkey stock. Most chefs use beef stock….

Much of the garlic powder in the supermarket comes from China and its safety is uncertain. This is a great time of year to make your own. Farmers may give you a discount for a large purchase—it’s a good idea to ask. If you grow your own, even better. After the garlic has been harvested…

Cutworms are my least favorite insect. I despise them more than mosquitoes, black flies or deer flies (a close second). They live under the soil during the day. Then they come up at night and take one bite of a plant right where that plant goes into the ground, killing it. Back down into the…

As winter’s snows melt and birds begin their territorial morning songs, it’s time to get planting. Many plants need to wait until the soil and air truly warm up, but there are also others that don’t care. A complete list is available to you for free from this website at your request. I have already…

My friend, Jackie Caserta, told me that she had come across a very interesting idea about sowing seeds. A woman by the name of Trudi Davidoff claims that she sows many seeds outside in the winter. She says that they do better than any that she starts inside to later transplant into the garden. So…

Seed catalogs are wonderful fonts of information and inspiration. Often, beautiful color pictures make the mouth water with anticipation and details are given about planting specifics and variety differences. And, they are free! There are dozens—if not hundreds—of seed catalogs available. Companies like to entice consumers with platitudes like “easy to grow” or “award winner.”…

Yesterday, around 6:30 AM, I went down to the chicken coop to open their door. It had been a very cold night so I shut the door to keep them warm. I thought that they would be ready to go out soon as their light had been on since 4 AM. When I opened the…

We live in a lovely hand-made house that my husband, Bob, built. It’s an octagon with additions and it sits up on Sona tubes so that the air can blow under it in the summer. For the winter, Bob puts leaves under the edges and seals it off with insulation and steel strips. This keeps…

Leafy greens are really good for us. They are high in vitamins and minerals and provide lots of fiber as well. So it might be wise for us to save the greens when putting the beets in the root cellar. Last year was the first time that I saved my beet greens. The days that…

I put my beets into the root cellar a different way this year. Last year, I had a problem getting the sand to dry and its wetness caused the beets and carrots to rot. Very disappointing. Never had happened before. The place I got my sand used to let me into their lot; I waited…

I have almost never met a potato that I didn’t like; baked, fried, mashed or in salads. So I plant a couple of beds of different kinds. This is the “harvest the Kennebec’s day.”

I was supposed to teach a canning class yesterday but not enough people signed up for it. I suspect that the weather was too nice—a beautiful late summer day. Since I had already ordered a box of organic tomatoes from my local farm, I decided to make some tomato juice.

Typically, the second week of August is when I plant my wintering-over lettuce and spinach. If you live in the south, you might want to wait until the middle of September, but those of us who live in the north can do it now.

Most of us know that growing some of our own food provides us with fantastically healthy and delicious food. Nothing can compare to the exquisiteness of a truly ripe tomato or cantaloupe. Eating fresh produce also promotes healthy cells and vigorous bodies.