Search Results for: label/fruit

187 results

Another way to deal with prickly pear stickers

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Gardening
9 Comments
One of those “farm uses” could be burning off prickly pear spines . . Image via BoingBoing I’m drowning in prickly pear fruit which means a lot of nasty thorns in the kitchen and an angry Mrs. Homegrown. Previously I burned them off over our stove, but inevitably a few stickers would find their way to the kitchen sponge. Now I’ve got a new technique for removing stickers thanks to Norman of Silver City New Mexic...

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A Review of Masanobu Fukuoka’s Sowing Seeds in the Desert

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Miscellaneous, Permaculture, Reviews
4 Comments
...the landscape most effectively regardless of whether those plants are native or not in order to achieve what Fukuoka calls a “second Genesis.” As he puts it, I would mix the seeds of all plants–forest trees, fruit trees, perennials, vegetables, grasses and legumes–as well as ferns, osses, and lichens, and sow them all at once across the desert. Nativists will cringe at this suggestion but to me it makes a lot of sense. Fuk...

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Tomatoes in December

Mr. Homegrown
Gardening, Tomatoes
8 Comments
It ain’t pretty but I’m not complaining. Note to self: the tomatoes that sprout on their own are always the healthiest. The cherry tomato above has reseeded itself for at least 12 years. Sometimes its offspring survive the winter and grow as a perennial. Our climate sort of permits this but occasionally a cold night will kill tomatoes off. And each year the fruit declines in quality. This summer I transplanted two tomato se...

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Hay Boxes or Fireless Cookers

Mrs. Homegrown
Appropriate Technology, Food, Preparedness, Water and Power
26 Comments
...box is made of. Then you need to choose an insulating material. Early 20th century options, as per old books: Hay or straw, cut fine Sawdust Wool (they mention this is the best material) Southern moss Ground cork (it seems fruit used to be shipped in this!) Softwood shavings (“excelsior”) Contemporary recycled options: Styrofoam or foam. Carving a pot-shaped hole into a block that fit your chest would be the best, but scraps cou...

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Chill Hour Calculator for California

Mr. Homegrown
Fruit Trees, Gardening
8 Comments
...urs between November 1 through end of February. If you know of a similar resource for other states/countries leave a link in the comments. As cool (so to speak) as this tool is, what constitutes a chill hour and what kinds of fruit will grow in a particular climate is a complex question. For more on this debate see a provocative article on the Dave Wilson Nursery website, “Chill Out“....

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Plantain!

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Foraging, Gardening, Water and Power, Water Conservation
RLeave a comment
...tree. It’s exactly what we’d like to see more of–folks growing food instead of lawns and everyone sharing the abundance. While there’s a lot of banana trees in Los Angeles they tend not to yield edible fruit since our climate is not quite hot and humid enough. But plantains, judging from the delicious taste of the ones we fried up, are a different story. They do require a lot of water to grow, but greywater expert Art Ludw...

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Farmers Markets: Buyer Beware

Mr. Homegrown
Thoughtstylings
20 Comments
...of lying about pesticide use, also not surprising. A farmer who runs an orchard visited us before this report came out and backed up what NBC later reported. She warned me never to buy from stands at farmers markets where the fruit is all the same size and looks too perfect. It’s a sign they just took the truck to a downtown wholesale warehouse and loaded it up.She also said that many farmers will mix their own produce with wholesale produc...

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Citified Parched Corn

Mrs. Homegrown
Food, Food Preservation, How-to, Recipes
7 Comments
Dried corn on the left, parched corn with peas and blueberries on right I was thinking about trail food, and wishing for a portable snack which was not based on nuts and chocolate chips (though there’s nothing wrong with that!) or too sugary, like dried fruit or energy bars. Then I recalled parched corn. Parched corn–dried corn which has been roasted–is one of those legendary Native American foods, like pemmican, which you hear...

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Don’t store your cucumbers in the fridge

Mrs. Homegrown
Food
29 Comments
...ore than 3 days at temperatures lower than 50F/10C. Signs of cold injury are wateriness, pitting on the outside and accelerated decay Another factoid: Cucumbers are sensitive to ethylene gas, which is put off by some ripening fruits and vegetables. So for longest storage, don’t keep your cukes near melons, tomatoes or bananas. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are also damaged by cold, so keep these on your counter as well.  I’ve highli...

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Summer 2010 Tomato Report

Mr. Homegrown
Food, Gardening
14 Comments
...to. It’s flavorful and amazing both fresh and made into sauce. Craig concurs that this is a must grow variety. Napoli. A paste variety with a short bushy growth pattern. Like San Marzanos this vine cranks out a ton of fruit. Did not taste great fresh but made the best canned tomatoes I’ve ever grown–I’m guessing this variety is bred for canning. St. Pierre: not much to say about it. O.K., but not all that exciting. Yel...

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