How To Freeze Fruits and Vegetables

February 1, 2013

...reak them out of a solid mass. To do this you’ll individually quick freeze IQF them. To IQF: Wash, blanch (veggies) and cool . Spread in one layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for four to six hours. Pack in sealed containers or in freezer bags. Label with date to avoid freezer mystery bag phenomenon. Now when the zombie apocalypse arrives and everything goes Beyond Thunderdome, freezing will not be the best option (unless, like Tina...

Read…

021 The Queen of Quince

Mr. Homegrown

October 15, 2014

Food, Food Preservation, Fruit Trees, Gardening, Podcasts

4 Comments

...uince coring tool (a.k.a. The Fresno Armenian Cooking Widget) Buy it here. Medicinal quince seed tea You can find out much more about quince on Barbara’s website: queenofquince.com. You can connect with Team Quince on Facebook and on Twitter: @gotquince If you’d like to plant a quince tree check out the selection of bare root trees at Bay Laurel Nursery. Order soon as they sell out. If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast pleas...

Read…

How to Cook Broadleaf Plantain

Mrs. Homegrown

November 19, 2012

Food, Foraging, Preparedness, Recipes

1 Comment

...ious, it is also bitter and heavily veined, so I prefer to collect it as a medicinal herb. I infuse it into oil that I put into salves and creams and I use it as a fresh poultice on itchy bites and hives. But eating it? Meh. I’ll put baby leaves in a salad. Erik has sprinkled the leaves on pizzas--and I’ll eat anything on a pizza. The seeds can be collected and used in seedy applications. But all in all, the flavor and tough texture of plantain le...

Read…

When You Can’t Stop Bringing Up Fungi in Casual Conversations

Mr. Homegrown

February 23, 2022

Gardening, Mushrooms

3 Comments

...posting reports in apps like iNaturalist. When Siegel was asked about the medicinal benefits of certain mushrooms he responded by saying that, “there’s a lot of snake oil out there.” Amen to that. I have to say I’ve become increasingly frustrated with some in the mycology sphere who are more interested in self promotion than in exploring the fungal world in all its majesty and complexity. Comrades, we need better science popularizers! I also had...

Read…

020 Emily Green on the Mow and Blow Landscape Paradigm

Mr. Homegrown

October 8, 2014

Gardening, Podcasts

6 Comments

...dependent. She blogs at Chance of Rain. Writing in the Los Angeles Times in 2011 Emily says, What would you do if a neighbor came to you and asked, “For 20 minutes every week, may I turn on your vacuum cleaner, smoke detector and garbage disposal and run them all at once?” Holding that thought, consider if the neighbor added, “Ah, may I also blow noxious dust your way for those same 20 minutes?” Imagine that not just one neighbor on the street ask...

Read…