Everything you need to know about how to survive winter can be learned from a chicken. They know how to fluff up their feathers and huddle next to each other for extra heat, how to linger in the warm nesting boxes before breakfast and murmur deep comforting sounds like the chants of Mongolian throat singers. […]
Resources & Tools
Kitchen Garden Designs at Kripalu Yoga Center
Creating a vegetable garden is much more than just planting seeds; it is a practice that connects us with nature and the beauty that is reflected in the food we eat. A kitchen garden combines art and food in ways that enhance the experience of growing and preparing food. I’ll be teaching a 3 day […]
The lost art of the seed catalog.
It’s been 27 years this month since we mailed the first issue of The Cook’s Garden seed catalog to home gardeners. Originally a two-page listing of lettuce and salad greens based on hard to find European seed varieties that we imported from Switzerland, France, Italy and Holland. It was a simple statement against the larger […]
Seed catalogs
Full color photographs are designed to charm the gardener with images yet can be misleading. I take time to read the copy in search of helpful information such as tips for sowing seeds, days to maturity, descriptions of height, sun or part-shade requirements. The best seed catalogs advise on what soil conditions are best for […]
Indoor Blooms
Planting paper whites for Christmas blooms are as integral to our family tradition as balsam swags and a tree. They bloom reliably exactly 4 weeks after they are set into place, so I start them the day after Thanksgiving to time them for the holiday week. I bring out a variety of pots and bowls […]
900 Tart Pans
I’ve been testing my recipes, making lists and today I finally ordered 900 tart pans. Made of oven proof paper with fluted edges, they are stylish and practical. By this afternoon, I’ll finish the label design and get those to the printer, and order ingredients for a weekend of baking. Starting a food business is […]
Dreaming of summer
No matter how early the garden is planted, the time between the last harvest and and the first sowing of seeds in the spring seems interminable. This time of year, I fill in the gaps by making a list of garden tools and other essentials that will improve the soil and my enjoyment in the […]
Artful Tarts
I’ll be the first to admit that I often get my best ideas when wandering in a kitchen store. So it’s hard to say if it was the recipe or the fluted removable tart pan, which first inspired me to try baking a tart. But this is the time of year that I fall in […]
Chard and Cheddar Custard
Every kitchen gardener plants rainbow chard, and for good reason: it is easy to grow, it is beautiful and it continues to generate greens long into the fall. While it seems the ideal plant to grow, I also hear alot of complaints this time of year that typically involve running out of ways to cook […]
Dibbers
My garden shed is the size of a chicken coop: small and efficient. The large garden tools hang from hooks around the upper beams, large nails protrude for all the bamboo hoops, and seedling trays are stacked neatly beneath the potting bench. Smaller tools, such as clippers, twine and my beloved garden dibble are tucked […]
Leeks with Wild Salmon
My kitchen garden is, once again, a blank canvas waiting next springs inspiration, with the exception of a robust stand of kale, collards and fall leeks which are only improving in flavor as the temperatures dip. Here’s what’s on tonight’s menu: Stewed Leeks with Fillet of Salmon Serves 4 Redolent with creamy butter and sharp […]
Garden Melt Down
Saying good bye to a summer garden is never easy. A hard frost typically knocks out everything by mid September, yet as mid-October approached it was time for an intervention. I dismantled the bean poles and severed the tomato vines from their hoops, and harvested leeks, onions and the last of the green peppers. My […]
