Pocahontas County Fare

We went to the first annual Highland County Old Time Fiddlers' Convention last weekend, and left our cherry trees unattended. When we...

I planted a little patch of lettuce in early February. Most years, such early plantings are unsuccessful--they sprout and freeze, or get w...

Garden seeds came in the mail today, and, because the ground is bare and workable, I raked some damp soil loose and planted beets and radish...

2011 was a sadly inauspicious year for trees on our ridge. The stag-horn sumac trees did not fare well in the summer, and this happened i...

This week the USDA Agricultural Research Service released its new Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Strangely, I discovered this, not through the ...

I've never sprouted onion seeds before, and I didn't expect them to be so curly and cute. I hope these will give us better success t...

A little iambic pentameter for the New Year: May the New Year be like a garden fair With flowers of joy, and free from weeds of care; Goo...

Our garden had mixed success this year, but one crop I was very pleased with was the Black Hungarian Peppers I ordered from Seed Savers E...

Most springs, the daffodils surprise me, but this year, I've been waiting for them. The potatoes in the kitchen are also anxious to g...

As the weather gets really really cold, I'm daydreaming about starting this year's garden. The Internet makes this a particularly ha...

I picked the last cabbage from our garden for cole slaw last week. These red cabbages made small but tasty heads. It was the vivid color t...

Ever since I moved to Pocahontas County, people have been telling me about the old-time apple variety "Wolf River." This was once...

This spring's cool, wet weather caused many of our garden seeds to rot in the ground. We replanted, but had some space left over. These...

Lycopersicomancy: Divination through tomatoes. It stands to reason that someone who tries to read messages in Tater Bug markings and mous...

We're still picking cherries, but my eye is wandering to other fruit trees in the yard. These peaches are tiny but delicious, provided ...

Our cherry trees are having a big year. In the nine summers we've lived here, this has only happened once before, in 2006. That year ...

Potatoes bloom often enough, but this year's planting of Kennebecs is sending up large, handsome flower stalks. If only more of them ha...

My tomato seeds have sprouted, and have joined the broccoli and red cabbage seedlings on the windowsill. This year, I tried two varieties t...

The broccoli seeds I planted Tuesday had already sprouted yesterday morning. I used to get very frustrated by the process of starting seeds...

The warm weather and the school vacation have given me the chance I needed to start seeds for our garden. Last year, I ordered heirloom gar...