Way back in 1951, country music legend Hank Williams released the classic song “Hey Good Lookin’,”which asked the following important musical questions: “Hey good lookin’, what ya got cookin’?” and “How ‘bout cookin’ something up with me?” We don’t know how the object of Hank’s romantic affections responded to these queries, but here’s what we can say for sure – if Hank Williams had owned his own wood-cooking stove, or even just a plain old wood stove for heating, he could have prepared a full-course home-cooked meal that would have impressed her to no end.
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As a vegetable gardener, you know that the quality of your soil can make or break your harvest. Vegetables need loose, light, fertile soil that holds water well without becoming sodden. Few gardeners are blessed with this soil, known as loam, occurring naturally in their garden. But with patience and a little help, you can slowly build loam soil. The regular addition of organic matter, found in manure and compost, is one of the best ways to make that ideal garden soil. But which manures are best? All livestock manures improve soil texture and drainage,
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Sure, we’ve all tried and loved Grandma’s strawberry rhubarb pie. What we didn’t know as we were spooning that delicious, tarty goodness into our mouths were the favors we were paying to our bodies. This extraordinary plant produces poisonous leaves, toxic to humans and animals alike, yet its stems are full of rich flavor and nutrients. Rhubarb is a plant often underappreciated— a plant whose versatility, flavor, and health benefits constantly remain overlooked. It’s time to pay homage to our dear old friend by exposing some facts about its nature. A Great Garden Tenant For
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Whether you are fully self sufficient, in a transitional in-between stage, or just a dabbler in do-it-yourself projects, making your own wine is a fun, relatively easy, and very satisfying endeavor. Good results are not difficult to produce, and with a little practice and familiarity with your variables, truly great results are within most folks’
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Growing rare and endangered plants is a rewarding experience that allows us gardeners to take on our role as stewards of the land. This stewardship can be taken a step even further as some gardeners choose to use their skills to help keep a rare heirloom variety or even an endangered plant species from disappearing forever. Benefits Self-Sufficiency: Rather than depending on garden centers or seed catalogues every year to grow your own food, you can harvest and re-sow native plants and heirloom varieties directly from your garden. These plants differ from hybrids by producing
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When starting a garden, the technical terms can sound a little overwhelming. Even those who have been gardening for years sometimes have to spend time in research. It can be especially confusing for those who are new to gardening, and spending an afternoon at the greenhouse can be a lot less enjoyable and when you’re trying to decipher the meanings on the plant labels. Commonly used terms when it comes to defining plants are “annuals” or “perennials.” This is a good starting place for your understanding of plants and gardening. What Are They? Annual plants
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Solar flares and a downed power grid caused by an EMP attack evoked by North Korea have been on the minds of thousands of Americans in recent months. These are events that have been coupled even more so with recent news coming out of North Korea and the NBC hit TV show “Revolution.” Sun Cycle 24 is preparing to hit its peak and NASA and NOAA scientists simply cannot agree on solar storm predictions. The Carrington Event of 1859 has been cited quite frequently when referencing the havoc a massive Earth-directed solar flare could cause.
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Black pepper is the most commonly used spice in the world and, paired with salt, is found on most tables in the U.S. The plant that it comes from, common pepper (Piper nigrum), has been cultivated in India for more than 2,000 years for culinary uses. Today, most pepper is imported from India, Sumatra, Japan, Borneo, and the Philippines. Pepper enthusiasts believe that Malabar produces the best pepper. Pepper isn’t grown commercially in the U.S. This perennial vine is hardy only in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 11b through 12, and thrives in
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Despite genetically modified crops being extremely common, especially in the United States, there is still a lot we do not know about them. Pushed to the market without proper research, testing, and oversight, it is only a matter of time before we uncover the darker side of these scientific concoctions, a discovery that could shake the world’s confidence in the safety and integrity of GMOs as a food source. In fact, it might have already happened. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently found that the most common gene sequences used in genetically modified organisms
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For most of our nation’s history, and for thousands of years before that, people have consumed raw milk from their cows, goats, and other livestock. Today however, raw milk is almost unknown, as the vast majority of Americans drink only pasteurized milk, which has been heated to kill off harmful pathogens. When properly produced, handled,
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