George McGovern, prairie politician
Senator George McGovern, one of the first politicians I covered as a reporter, has died. We last saw him just weeks ago at his 90th birthday party, a celebration at the Newseum that was an ode to a...
View ArticleHerbs, a love affair
Watching the tall trees in our backyard sway in the 60 mph winds of Hurricane Sandy (love the name, not the destruction) was a lesson in the laws of nature. As gardeners and horticulturists, we are at...
View ArticleThe sweetest thing
Two “firsts” for December. 1) My beautiful pink clematis is still blooming on the lamp post in the front yard. 2) We pulled the last carrots from the garden. The carrots, planted in late August,...
View ArticleJingle Bells, Jingle Bells, to the fiscal cliff
There isn’t much holiday cheer in Washington these days. Just endless talk about the fiscal cliff. The knuckleheads who run your government, from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other, are doing...
View ArticleJingle Bells, Jingle Bells, to the fiscal cliff
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, to the fiscal cliff.
View Article6 things you need to know about guns in the USA
Keep it simple stupid: Here are six things you need to know about guns in the USA, with sources: There are 310 million guns in private hands in the US, almost one for every American. (Congressional...
View ArticleGurney’s, Jung, Territorial, Etc.
The seed catalogs began to arrive with the winter solstice. Never mind the wind and cold, I’ll curl up with the seed catalogs and daydream about the 2013 garden. Pick just one out of the pile. The...
View ArticleA lesson in labeling
Keeping two young carnivores happy can be a challenge. So I stocked up on protein before my sons came home for the holidays. Tonight I pulled out four gorgeous New York strip steaks from WholeFoods, a...
View ArticleBorscht!
Carole and I had the best intentions. We were going to work up a sweat power-walking around the National Arboretum, admiring the early spring daffodils and hyacinths. We were thwarted outside the...
View ArticleA generational shift
“Sold!” The auctioneer’s voice boomed. Land that had been in my family for 70 years changed hands last week, from three generations of Johnsons to the new owner, a Peterson who grew up down the road....
View ArticleYou can take the boy off the farm…
We never had much luck growing seedlings. Wrong equipment, wrong soil, wrong timing, whatever. For Christmas I bought CRR a 4-foot-long grow light contraption. Our furnace room hasn’t looked the same...
View ArticleThe Long Wait Begins
Oh my aching back. That’s a sure sign that Garden 2013 is underway. The Black Seeded Simpson and Mesclun lettuce went in first, along with Teton spinach. The first lettuce should be on our dinner...
View ArticleA Gardening Competition
Do you remember the fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk”? It was running in the back of my brain as we planted our Super Vegetables. I don’t think our grafted tomatoes and peppers will grow sky-high,...
View ArticleA New Chapter
Guest post from CRR, aka Charles Raasch, on a change in scenery: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 So, this is that time. I’ve decided to...
View ArticleHorseradish: Love It or Hate It, or Both
It started out innocently. On the weekend of our son’s graduation from Penn State two years ago, we moseyed around a native plant sale on the outskirts of the university. I picked up a 4-inch pot of...
View ArticleThe Best Darned Pie in the World
I was headed for Capitol Hill, in a rush, as is everyone who has business with Congress. As I walked up the escalator (like I said, everyone is in a faux-hurry in Washington), I almost tumbled into the...
View ArticleWWJD (What Would Jefferson Do?)
When Thomas Jefferson first visited England, a British nobleman sniffed that TJ looked like “a tall large-boned farmer.” Which is exactly what he was. As a young man, Jefferson carved Monticello out of...
View ArticleMemorial Day: We Must Never Forget
Sixteen million Americans served in World War II. My father was one of them, plucked fresh out of high school into the Navy. The Navy liked boys from the wide-open prairie because they weren’t bothered...
View ArticleSalad Days
My two sons circled the garden, sampling a leaf of lettuce here, a bit of spinach there. They plucked every pea from the vines, eating them on the spot. Savoring produce picked straight from the earth...
View ArticleMystery Plant Revealed (what is this thing?)
UPDATE: Here is the mystery plant. If you can guess what it is, we’ll share whatever…”it”…produces this summer! mystery veg Previous: I hadn’t visited the garden in about 10 days. CRR was there every...
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