I feel like I have been “all melamine – all the time” the past couple of posts, sorry. (Melamine, oh thy name is Legion and Melamine Toxic Tsunami) Its been a fast moving story and its relevant to all of us who eat food. Its my hope that, as a scientist, I can help people...

I have been looking forward to doing this project for several years. I have distinct memories of when I was a child in Iowa, down in our basement in the bathroom we always hid in when the tornado sirens went off several times a summer. In that bathroom, near the shower, was an antique crock...

I am going to tease you today. This is one image from a post I working on and hope to get up this weekend. In the mean time, can you name all the organisms you see in the shot...

I do not do this usually but I had to recommend this site!! www.CanningUSA.com This site is so informative and charming! If you want to put up some of your beautiful organic garden foods but are somewhat hesitant about canning method and recipes (we all are in the beginning!) then try this site. Basically, you...

(Asparagus fronds) Can I tell you about a secret thing I learned recently? We planted asparagus last year and this spring we have been sampling a few spears from the 1st year growth. The production quantity is meager in the first year so its sampling, by definition. (Grilled asparagus) No, thats not the secret. (Asparagus...

What are your plans for eating locally this year? We are currently planting our seeds indoors to get a head start on our very short growing season. See more about our garden at our Humble Garden blog. The kids, an important part of my garden, are helping out with every part of this activity. We...

If you have come here by way of Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger Birthday Giveaway, you will find details on my prize at this post – “ProBlogger Birthday Bash event: Nikas Peppermint Marshmallow Puff Pastries“. Growing eggplants can be a speculative enterprise. I planted two types, purple and Turkish eggplants. The purples seem to go into suspended...

It seems to be the nature of pumpkins and squash and that sort of plant to grow abundant vines and millions of tall stalks with blossoms bursting forth at the ends. Without looking up some resource on the physiology and morphology of these types of plants, I am guessing that these tall blossoms, that never...

(Recipe is included below) I have had the joy and luxury of being able to put in a garden this year and tend it from germination through to a clamoring jungle of vegetable being. Because it is in raised beds and because it is organic, I managed all my weeds by picking each, one by...

That, ladies and gentlemen, is not an ancient Egyptian scarab, who they diefied as “Khepri (“he who has come into being”), the god of the rising sun. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to...