Get that ragweed!

If you don’t know what you’re looking at, ragweed is a pretty plant. Elegant lacy leaves. Demure spires of nearly invisible flowers. Spewing pollen. But this is one of my few no-tolerance plants. What really infuriates me about ragweed is that it flowers at the same time as one of the great bee-feeders — goldenrod […]

This is not a sunflower

I’m confident now that the various mystery plants are not sunflowers. They’re spreading wide, not tall. The leaves are round, not heart-shaped. They don’t have the deep lobes and frills of watermelon leaves. (Too bad!) That leaves squash or cucumber on the list of possibilities.

Going to Blues N Brews

I’ll be at Blues N Brews all day tomorrow. It’s the tenth one, an outdoor beer festival with live blues bands all day. I’ve steadily gotten more involved with it in the last few years, helping make sure there’s some cask ale in the mix. This year, I’ve also been Twittering as @BluesNBrews, and their […]

Is there a pear in there?

I wasn’t the only one eager to pick peaches yesterday. This morning, several peaches were hanging in the bottom of the netting, so I figured it was time to pick them all, ripe or not. Two were chewed up and gross, four were slightly bitten, but six peaches were pristine. They even all smell like […]

In which I dare to pick a peach

Two peaches! So round, so pretty, so fragrant. You can tell which one is really ripe by the beak mark in the shoulder. But I haven’t dared to eat them yet.

I got nothing but a green bee

Never mind the rain, here’s a green bee, Clad from head to tail in a green sheen. And here’s where I give up on Finding a rhyme for Agapostemon.

What do you do with a quart of salsa?

One of the miracles of holding a barbeque with your writing friends is that, no matter how much everyone eats, somehow you end up with more food in the fridge than you did when you started cooking. This is great, because after you put away the leftover chicken and ribs, the leathery brisket, the spinach, […]

I think I know how to properly smoke a chicken now

Today I made my third smoked chicken. Every time, I’m amazed at how steady the smokenator holds the temperature, between 225 and 250 F. Not only was it easier than ever, but it was done on time! Four hours flat from lighting the charcoal to taking this picture. I actually got to eat while it […]

I think my compost has plenty of fungal organisms

Looks like my compost tumblers have gotten past the stage where I open them up and check to see if it’s composting. If it’s dry, I add water. If it’s stinky, I add leaves. If it’s full of mushrooms, I jump back and say, Wow! You never know what you’re going to find!

Half a pear does not equal one

About a month ago, there were so many pears ripening, I wondered if I would be able to eat them all before they got too ripe. Now, look what I’m finding on my pear tree! Half-eaten pears, and drops on the ground with teeth marks all over. I feel lucky if I find a drop […]