Potato Fruit

Did you know potato plants can produce fruit? My Adirondack Blues are covered with small green fruit that look like unripe grape tomatoes. What is going on here? Is the fruit edible and are my potato tubers OK?

Two Days of Fun and Learning on the URI Master Gardener Garden Tour

This past weekend, my gardens were part of the 2015 URI Master Gardener Garden Tour. For six hours each day, myself and two other Master Gardeners, lead guided tours around both my edible landscape and backyard traditional vegetable garden. It was a really fun and interesting couple of days.

Welcome URI Master Gardener Garden Tour Attendees!

Welcome Garden Tour attendees! If you have found your way here through the Tour Guidebook I hope that you will find the time to visit my garden during the two day tour.

If you visit, you will find two gardens. In the front I have an edible landscape consisting of edible flowers, herbs, berries and vegetables designed to be an attractive and productive entry to my home. In the back I have a traditional vegetable and fruit garden.



Below are links to resources on this blog that will support your visit to my garden.

Unusual edibles in my edible landscape and how to eat them!

Edible nasturtium seeds

This post is part of the educational element of the 2015 URI Master Gardener Garden Tour, which my gardens are a part of! The Tour is happening June 20 - 21 and you can find out all the information plus where to buy tickets, HERE.

One of the greatest joys of designing my edible landscape has been discovering new and unusual edible plants and using them in my cooking. Below is a list of plants I currently have in my garden that you may not know are edible, along with how to eat them, and links to recipes using these plants on my blog.

 

Ten Tips for Growing Edibles in Small Spaces

 This post is part of the educational element of the 2015 URI Master Gardener Garden Tour, which my gardens are a part of. The tour is happening June 20 - 21 and you can find out all the information plus where to buy tickets, HERE.

The one thing growing food in a small urban space forces you do is be creative! Over the years I've learned (often the hard way) some tricks to maximize my growing space. How many of these have you tried?

New Additions to my Edible Landscape in 2015

I'm working hard to get my garden ready for the upcoming URI Master Gardener Garden Tour on June 20 and 21. If you live in Rhode Island, it's not too late to get tickets. Click HERE for ticket sale locations.

I've added quite a few new plants to my edible landscape this year, including flowers, vegetables, herbs, and berries. I like to take photos of my plants in all stages of their growth. I find this especially helpful when they are seedlings and I'm trying to weed! It's interesting to see how the garden changes over time and how the weather can either speed up or slow down growth from year to year.

Raw Milk Yogurt Tutorial

This recipe has only two ingredients, but I struggled for a long time to find a method for making raw milk yogurt that I was happy with. Simple can be tricky!  There are many ways to keep the milk at the right temperature for the cultures to work their magic and I tried them all. In the end, investing in a good quality thermos which is big enough to hold over four cups of milk has been a great investment and produces the most consistent results. This yogurt is so thick and creamy. Drizzle on a little maple syrup or honey if you want for some added sweetness.

2015 URI Master Gardener Garden Tour and new radio podcasts

I am excited to be one of the gardens on the 2015 URI Master Gardener Garden Tour! If you live in Rhode Island, you are probably aware of the bi-yearly tour that includes gardens from all over the state. This year, the tour consists of thirty-four gardens. Some of them are public, designed and maintained by Master Gardeners, but most of them are the private gardens of URI Master Gardeners. This tour is such a wonderful opportunity to get inspiration, ask questions and see creative solutions to gardening problems!

My Edible Landscape: Second year perennials bloom!

My front yard edible landscape is now in its second year. It's been interesting to see how the garden has reestablished itself compared to last year when every plant was young and fragile. The fun with last year's virgin soil was very few weeds and the plants only grew where I seeded or planted. This year, much weeding and transplanting of self-seeding annuals has happened but the joy is coming from seeing the blossoming of the perennials.