Tuesday, July 8, 2008

And the winners are...


Congratulations to Lucy for being named one of this year's winners in the Star Tribune (Minneapolis St. Paul) Beautiful Garden Contest. Over 100 gardens (gardeners) were nominated and Lucy was named one of the 6 winners. This is a fitting award for a garden (Lucy's Apple Valley garden) that is celebrating it's 35 year of growth. Congratulation Lucy...you deserve it!!!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Lesson Learned

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Horseradish Magic


Even though the horseradish is more of a fall harvest root...someone just asked for my recipe, so I'm sharing it with you now...keep it in mind when fall comes around...
  • All you need is a blender, vinegar and horseradish roots.
  • Scrub the roots well, cut them into inch size pieces.
  • Pour half a cup of vinegar in the blender.
  • Add a few pieces of horseradish and blend to the desired consistency.
  • Keep on adding the roots to the blender.
  • If the sauce gets too thick, add a little more vinegar.
Enjoy!

Speaking of horseradishes...here's an interesting lesson I learned a while ago when I happened to harvested some roots. After cutting the crowns of the horseradish plant I threw them into the compost. After winter turned to spring, I found that the horseradish crowns didn't decompose but actually began to grow new roots. So the next time I harvested the horseradish roots I just stuck the crown in the soil and low and beyold....MORE HORSERADISH!!!

I've found that the same works for watercrest, kale, and even colard greens. This works especially well in a low lying wet soil. It seems that in the springtime anything will start forming a roots. The same doesn't seem to work so well come fall.

So give it a try...plant-harvest-and replant!

How about a birch tree?


My daughter is looking to replace her crab apple tree (apparently her dog LOVES to eat and get sick off the tasty treats). As a replacement, she's deciding between a white and a river birch. My advice is to go with the river birch. I've found that in Minnesota's climate, white birch have a hard time getting though the seasons. The river birch is hardier and less susceptible to disease and decay.