Tag Archives: farming

August and Everything After

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Benjamin

August surprised us this year in our part of the Ohio River Valley. Mild temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s (F) are unusual during what we usually refer to as the “dog days of summer.” Felt much like late September. … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged backyard, bugs, climate, compost, farming, flower garden, flower gardening, garden, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, peonies, peony, snakes, summer, tomato, vegetable, vegetable garden, weather | 38 Comments

Summer Betwixt 2 Slices of Bread

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Benjamin

Ben’s Southern Summer Tomato Sandwich This sandwich is almost too simple. But also easy to screw up. Ingredients are the key to this southern sandwich’s culinary mysticism. You need: White bread. Soft, white bread. The kind of white bread everyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged black krim, farming, flower garden, heirloom, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, recipe, south, southern, tomato, tomato sandwich, vegetable, vegetable garden | 39 Comments

Wordless Wednesday-Our Backyard Owl and His Brave Neighbor

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Benjamin

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, birding, birdwatching, farming, gardening, great horned owl, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, owl | 10 Comments

The Nostalgia of Cleome

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Benjamin

A friend gave me a few seeds from her Cleome hassleriana several years ago. We planted the seeds, enjoyed the flowers, saved the seeds and continued burying them in the soil at a couple of different homesteads, spreading the joy … Continue reading →

Posted in Flower Gardening, Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, cleome, Cleome hassleriana, compost, farming, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, flowers, garden, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, Kentucky, nostalgia, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, propagate, seed, seed saving | 32 Comments

Our Accidental Hanging Dahlia Experiment

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Benjamin

It started with a couple of seed heads, lying forgotten on top of the soil in a flower pot in the garage. I’d brought the pot into the garage before a hard freeze last winter, placed it in a corner … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, dahlia, farming, flower, flower garden, flowers, gardening, gardening tips, Kentucky, Ohio, organic gardening, propagate, serendipity | 12 Comments

We Seek the Black Krim

Posted on July 25, 2014 by Benjamin

It’s our first year planting the heirloom variety tomato, Black Krim. We’re excited! The one pictured is just starting to ripen and we’re curious how long it will be before it develops that lovely deep, dark crimson. We’ve had a … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening | Tagged backyard, black krim, farming, flower garden, garden, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, propagate, tomato, vegetable, vegetable garden | 12 Comments

Daisies, Coneflowers & Bees (Oh, My)

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Benjamin

July means the Purple Coneflowers and Daisies are competing for the lavish attention of the bees in our neighborhood. So far it seems the coneflowers are winning. There’s a symphony of bees constantly hovering on and around our stand of Echinacea … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, bees, Carpenter Bees, coneflower, daisies, daisy, Echinacea purpurea, farming, flower, flower garden, flower gardening, flowers, garden, gardening, gardening tips, june beetle, june bug, Kentucky, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, summer | Leave a comment

Peony, Heritage Edition

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Benjamin

We were a bit worried about our peony making an appearance this year. An exceptionally cold winter with hard freezes and a surprise snowfall in late spring did not seem to bode well. But this may be the showiest this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, farming, flower, flower garden, flowers, garden, gardening, iris, irises, Kentucky, landscape, Ohio River Valley, peonies, peony | 2 Comments

Tomato Hornworm (Parasitized edition)

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Benjamin

Some days you know just aren’t gonna go your way…if you’re a tomato hornworm, and you wake up one morning all bedazzled with little white decorations, chances are, the day will not end well. These little adornments will hatch and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, Uncategorized | Tagged backyard, biological controls, braconid, braconid wasp, bugs, caterpillars, farming, flower gardening, garden, garden pests, gardening, gardening tips, heirloom tomato, Kentucky, Ohio River Valley, organic gardening, tomato, Tomato Hornworm, vegetable garden, wasp | 2 Comments

First Day of Spring

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Benjamin

The Vernal Equinox has finally arrived so today the amount of daylight is equal to the amount of darkness…or something like that. More importantly, it means spring is here. We may still have some cold temperatures and perhaps even snow … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged birding, birds, farming, garden, gardening, hydrangeas, petunias, spring, vernal equinox | 2 Comments