healthy eating for healthy aging

Gardening

What to do with all the basil? Make pesto.

What to do with all the basil? Make pesto.

Why does basil always seem to grow best at the end of summer, just when it’s threatened by frost? Basil plants are very sensitive to cold, even if there isn’t an official frost. Once picked, fresh basil doesn’t keep all that well. After you cut 

Too much kale

Too much kale

I wrote about Too Much Cheese a few weeks ago. Now I’ve got too much kale. This time the source is my garden. I planted a lot of kale seeds and they struggled along for months. Something was chewing little holes in the leaves, but 

Spice up your life with garden fresh arugula

Spice up your life with garden fresh arugula

I can’t let the summer gardening season go by without talking about my favorite green: arugula. I grow it every year. Picking fresh arugula and making salad is one of my favorite rewards for gardening. The arugula you buy in the supermarket is most likely 

Take advantage of asparagus season

Take advantage of asparagus season

A couple of weeks ago I was chatting with a woman whose house burned down over a year ago. She lost everything, but when she went back last spring to survey the damage, she saw that her asparagus was coming up as if nothing had 

Spring is Greens Season

Spring is Greens Season

The changing seasons conjure images of yearly traditions like holidays, social events and seasonal food. For me, spring and green go together. The color green (as new plants emergy), and edible greens. Citrus fruits aren’t at their peak quality anymore. It’s too early for summer 

Corn: from garden to table

Corn: from garden to table

This year I tried growing corn. The plan was to mimic a traditional Native American technique of companion planting: corn + beans + squash. Beans are nitrogen-fixing plants and corn needs nitrogen, so it’s a good combination. We intermingled the corn and pole (climbing) beans