Enjoy eating light at night March 6, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle The nutritionist Adelle Davis once said that we should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. Because of today’s schedules, most people reverse that order, grabbing a quick bite before work, a sandwich on their lunch break and a full dinner at night, when everyone is home and …
Catalogs sow seeds of success February 27, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle Winter may not be the most aerobic season for a gardener, but the index finger gets a good workout as the catalogs arrive in the mail. They’re irresistible to flip through, with their bright colors and extravagant claims of flavor and bounty. There are always several vegetable varieties that crop up as novelties in one …
Great harvests from small plots February 20, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle There are windowsills all over the world, filled with small edible plants, usually a few pots of fresh herbs. A city cook with a longer, wider sill might even sow a few flats of microgreens as well. But let’s say there’s a sunny patch of yard, as little as 10 feet by 10 feet, where …
Beet your sweet tooth February 14, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Food, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle If you have a sweet tooth, you’re in trouble. The news has finally caught up with the facts: Refined sugar is not good for you, and Americans eat way too much of it. It’s hidden in all sorts of prepared foods where you’d never expect to find it. Check the ingredients lists on cans, boxes, …
Behold the mighty dung beetle February 6, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Home & garden, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle You’ll find the dung beetle on most lists of the top helpful creatures in the garden, along with bees, earthworms, predatory wasps and mosquito-eating bats.
Spring flowers in a dark season January 30, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle As a vegetable gardener, I keep a mental scorecard that compares what I grow with what I can buy in the store. Fresh tomatoes in January? The store wins, though its thick-skinned southern imports don’t get high points for flavor. In midsummer, when my homegrown bean pods are bulging with tender, quick-cooking shell beans, I …
Home is where the hearth is January 23, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle “Your motherboard is shot,” the repairman said, shutting the door to my electric oven and gathering his tools. What a cozy word, I thought, for the complex electronic object that no longer governed my stove. “Eight years,” he explained, “is about the lifetime of this appliance. You’re lucky it made it to 10.” At moments …
Out of chaos comes order January 16, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle The post-holiday season in our household is full of quiet celebrations, which can be as joyous as the noisier ones. Aflame with the spirit of cleaning up, clearing out and simplifying, we attack cluttered desks, overstuffed closets and any area that has the feng shui of a blocked artery. Last January, in a Marie Kondo …
For the love of rosemary January 9, 2017 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle A gardener’s resolutions, as the new year begins, are modest ones. The world will not end if a lawn isn’t mowed on schedule, though it will grow better if it is. There is no crime in growing too many tomato seedlings, even though the time could be better spent. Nevertheless, a promise to do better …
Explore the kingdom of cabbages December 28, 2016 by Barbara Damrosch on Columnists, Kitchen Garden, Lifestyle The 2017 seed catalogs that started to trickle in before Thanksgiving seemed as premature as the jingly caps on checkout elves at Walmart. We were still harvesting the last of the cabbages to put into winter storage. Why would we want to think about what’s being offered for spring? Because we were curious, and because …
