Have I mentioned my crush on Alton Brown?  He’s the creator of "Good Eats" on the Food Network, sort of a cooking version of Bill Nye, the Science Guy.  Mix science, food history, gadget physics, and a little cooking with fast-paced educated humor and you’ve got MY attention.  Anyway. Monday night’s show was about carrots, and besides all the neat info about how beta-carotene is helpful to the rods in your eyes, I was particularly interested in the medieval data on carrots.  How carrot cake is a direct decendant, via WWII Blitz England, of medieval carrot puddings.  Because carrots have … Continue reading Carrots

Mercy, this is a busy spring.  Between garb construction, teaching spinning classes, and Gulf Wars prep, I’ve hardly thought about my garden all month, and I really need to be planting.  NOW. So far, I have set out flats of the standard early spring veg.  However, there’s some bare-root plants that I really want, and I’ve started buying potted plants too, in support of a new little nursery shop called Gaia’s Garden, that’s run by a horticulturist.  (Check that out in Internet Explorer – the Firefox version is not as pretty.)  Brought home two types of lavender, chamomile and thyme … Continue reading Garden Planning – Feb 2007

I am hardly the first blogger to recommend Michael Pollan’s long article in the New York Times.  He’s the author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, supposedly one of last year’s best books. But his article, and I assume his book (that I haven’t yet read), reinforces one of my major motivations for ‘playing’ with the SCA:  Critical thinking about modern life. "Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are. Any traditional diet will do: … Continue reading Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

From the Old Farmer’s Almanac daily Q&A page: What exactly was a Victory Garden during World War II?To help the war effort, citizens were asked by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard to plant vegetables wherever they could find a plot of land to do so. By 1945, the year the war ended, an estimated 20 million victory gardens had sprouted in sidewalk boulevards, town squares, and odd parcels of land in the cities and out in the country. These gardens were producing 40 percent of the vegetables grown in the United States at that time. The term "victory … Continue reading Victory Gardens

Just started flats of: BEET – Detroit Dark Red, American Seed BROCCOLI – Di Cicco, Bountiful Gardens BROCCOLI – Early Purple Sprouting, Bountiful Gardens BROCCOLI – Nine Star Perennial PSB, white florets, from Jamie CARROT – Chantenay, American Seed CARROT – Danvers Half Long, American Seed CARROT – Nantes Half Long, Sean Conway Heirloom CHARD – Pertpetual Spinach, Bountiful Gardens CORN MACHE – Sean Conway Heirloom LETTUCE – Black Seeded Simpson, American Seed LETTUCE – Grand Rapids, American Seed ONION – White Lisbon Bunching, American Seed SPINACH – Bloomsdale, Walmart brand TURNIP – Purple Top White Globe, American Seed TURNIP … Continue reading Winter Planting

O’Toole’s Herb Farm is in Madison, Florida, a stone’s throw from Tallahassee. JUST BECAUSE HERBAL FESTIVAL, February 3, 2007 Our 5th Just Because Herbal Festival will be held on February 3, 2007.  This date, the first Saturday in February, was chosen from an ancient Celtic cross-over date between winter solstice and spring equinox which has been celebrated for thousands of years.  Days start to lengthen, renewal and rebirth are in the air.  A joyous time to be had by all.  This year’s will be filled to the brim with educational and fun mini-workshops.  Concurrent sessions will be going all day … Continue reading O’Toole’s Herb Farm