Andalusian Gazpacho or Stuff That Dreams are Made Of© As I have said many times we love Spain and the last time we went we stayed at about 10 different hotels during the 14 days we were there. Most times we did breakfast and dinner at these hotels, usually taking lunch or our mid-day meal wherever we... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Strawberry Season is Here, Yahoo!© I love strawberries and when we lived in Florida we would go strawberry picking on some of the U-pick farms. Now, basically, one can have strawberries any time of the year as long as one wants to pay for them. But by mid-April strawberries start... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Do You Ever Wonder What’s in What We Eat? © We all know there are things we should eat and things we should not. I have often wondered why the things we should not eat taste so good. I remember when our grandson, Andrew, who was 6 years old at the time, came to visit us in Kentucky with... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

I Never Met a Radish I Didn’t Like© 2008 is my 73rd year on this planet and during that time I have been a constant explorer, searcher, learner and taster of new things including but not limited to food. Among my food search were radishes. As a child coming from a mixed heritage... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Put Some Blue in Your Vegetable Garden© Sometime in the 1700's the Blue Hubbard Squash arrived in Marblehead, MA from South America via the West Indies. These are pretty big squash and I have found that the best way, for me at least, is to put them in a big plastic bag and drop them... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Any Melon Worth Its Salt© When I was a kid growing up that was a famous slogan for Morton Salt and may still well be. A big treat for us in the summer was watermelon, cantaloupe and honey dew melon. Nothing else came into our little world. I like them still and until... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

You Say Tomatoes and I Say Toe Mat Oes© A garden without tomatoes is never really a garden. It is the main staple of a garden. When one gets out of the business of having a garden there is always the patio tomato plant or the container of tomatoes. In the fall of 2003 I decided I... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Aubergine a Lovely Sounding Word for Egg Plant© I never could cozy up to an egg plant or most of the meals cooked containing egg plant. Though it is a perennial it is not very hardy, thus it is usually called or treated as an annual. Considered a vegetable by many it basically is a berry that... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

It’s Show Time at the Farmer’s Market© When our late son, Fred, worked with me in the real estate investment field and we were going to make a presentation he would rub his hands together and say, "O.k. Ma, It's Show Time!" A good friend of mine, who is the widow, of a famous circus... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gourd Patch© I must have been out of the room when the DNA for gourd planting was passed out. I have spent the last 7 years planting gourds for the simple reason that I want to paint on them. I know a lot about planting gourds, but the birds know more. So... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Grow Yourself a Chef’s Salad© I really enjoy a blend of greens in a salad and as the gas prices rise and the produce rises accordingly basically anyone can grow a "salad bowl" of lettuces or greens. All greens need to be grown in reasonably moist fertile soil and I like to... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Peppers or Capsicum? Who Cares Just Plant Them© Peppers are mysterious because they add so much to our lives and most people do not realize it. We have pepper, the kind that people associate with salt, we have green and red bell peppers, with an occasional yellow one, we find in the supper... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Peonies, a Gardener’s Perennial Treasure© There are two main types of Peonies and both types produce the buds for the following year's flowers in the fall. One is the tree peony which really is small shrubs with woody stems and these lose their leaves in the fall just like many trees do.... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

The Beauty of Self-Sowing Flowers© Those of us who live in zones six, seven and eight have the best of all worlds as far as I am concerned. We have longer autumns or fall season that allows many annual's seed to ripen and drop thus often giving them an opportunity to self-sow for... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Bring on the Drought Resistant Vegetables© The summer of 2007 in our part of Kentucky was really a drought ridden summer. We would go about 15 to 20 days between even a drizzle of rain and when it came it barely did much for the soil or the plants. With global warming I think this may... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Cockscomb Plant: Enter the Exotic Cockscombs© You want brilliant colors, you want exotic, you want dwarf flowers, you want tall flowers, you want outside flowers, you want a good cutting flower for inside, you want long lasting flowers, you want dried flowers, you want scarlet, yellow, pink... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Why Not Add the Plumed or Wheat Celosia to Your Garden? © I love the different, the exotic, the unusual especially when it comes to flowers and especially when they will grow in practically any kind of soil even poor, sandy or rocky soil and that includes the wheat celosia or spiked cockscomb with its... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me© If you live in Illinois you may well be saying those words. The Shoo-Fly plant is of the nightshade family and its Latin name is Nicandra physalodes. This annual is sometimes called The Apple of Peru. Why? I don't know as it sure does not look... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

A Weed by Any Other Name is Not Necessarily a Weed© We have heard it called jimson weed, ditch weed, mad hatter, loco weed, Korean morning glory, Jamestown weed, thorn apple, angel's trumpet, devil's trumpet, devil's snare, stink weed, devil's seed, crazy tea, malpitte and even zombie cucumber as... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

That’s Not a Morning Glory, That’s a Cardinal Climber Plant! © The Cardinal Climber Plant falls in the category of being an annual and it is a climbing vine that even does well in a hanging container creating a very eye pleasing display as it wends its way up the hanging straps decorating it with lots of... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

How to Plant Cantaloupe for Profit© This season I planted 4 cantaloupe plants and 4 watermelon plants and 4 other melon plants that I somehow lost the label of somewhere between the Amish nursery and the trunk of my car. Regardless, the only one who will profit from these 12 plants... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

How Can I Keep Squirrels From Eating My Tomatoes? © Walt Disney and other cartoonists may have thought squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits are cute by giving them adorable names and big eyes. However, a rodent by any other name is still a rodent as far as I am concerned. I have never encouraged... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Planting a Florida Garden© A trip down to Florida this past week brought to mind the 14 years we lived in Florida, basically in zone 10. When I was working full time at my totally time consuming career of real estate investments, I did not have a Florida garden, but I... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

Gardening Zones for Vermont© When Bridget sent out the list for articles she wanted one of them included "Gardening Zones for Vermont". Well, I thought, how can someone get a minimum of 350 words out of the following words "Zone three and four or three B or four A and B or... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)

How to Stop Dandelions from Growing in Your Yard © Call the Dandelion police! Is there a 911 number for it? My word! How we have become so brainwashed about having pristine manicured lawns that give us either the grand manor look or the country club look. Personally I happen to like... ( added 1 year 63 days ago.)