Hello, Friends of CobraHead,
Due to a nasty summer cold I didn't spend much time in the garden during the last couple of weeks. Needless to say, it's overgrown. I'm happy to report that I kicked the bug, now it's time to clean up the garden. Amidst the growth I discovered a crop of molohkhia, also known as Egyptian Spinach, which I'd forgotten about and that's ready to harvest. I'll post a recipe soon. I also have so many hot peppers that I purchased a dehydrator to preserve them.
Other spring and early summer crops have finished producing and are ready to be removed. I had an abundance of cucumbers this year, but the vines have now finished producing. I'm still getting a few sungold tomatoes, but the rest of the tomato varieties are spent. Surprisingly, the vegetation on the pole beans still looks lush and they have started to flower again. I may get another flush of beans if the temperatures don't get too high and cause blossom drop.
I'm gearing up for my fall garden and write more about my planning for it in the post below. Noel's Wisconsin garden looks great and you can see the highlights in his entry. Also, Judy shares a recipe for kohlrabi pancakes. Like potato pancakes, but lighter and more delicate.
Have you finished your vegetable planting for this season or are you just gearing up? Drop me a line at Geoff@cobrahead.com
Happy gardening,
Geoff
|
|
 | Anneliese next to Mammoth Sunflowers
|
Even though Noel's taste in music tends towards blues and jazz, his garden is rocking this year.
|
 | | Kohlrabi Pancakes |
Kohlrabi PancakesKohlrabi is one of our favorite crunchy summertime veggies. We usually eat it raw and sprinkled with salt, but it also makes a great pancake, similar to a potato pancake but more delicate. See the recipe here.
|
 | | Okra in Geoff's Garden |
Fall Gardening in AustinGeoff shares a few techniques to prepare for his fall gardening. Plan now to be ready for peak planting time. See his tips here.
|
|
If you like our newsletter and our products or if you have some suggestions, we'd love to hear from you.
If
you have gardening friends or if you know potential gardeners who might
be interested in CobraHead and what we have to say about gardening and
eating, please to them.
It is the mission of CobraHead to help people grow their own
food and to provide exceptional products and services to all gardeners. We
try hard to "walk the walk" when
it comes to issues of sustainability and in deciding what is best for
ourselves and the environment as we grow our little company. We've chosen to make our tools locally,
here in Wisconsin,
and we think that bigger is not necessarily better. Gardening might just be earth's
great hope, and in any case it's a great hobby.
|
|
Thank you,
Noel, Judy, Geoff and Anneliese
The CobraHead Team |
|
|
|
|
|
 | | Color at the UMN Landscape Arboretum |
It finally rained last week and I wasn't here to enjoy it. Judy and I were in Minnesota exhibiting for CobraHead at the Upper Midwest Master Gardener Conference at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, Minnesota. As happens often at trade shows, you don't get to see much of your surroundings. I only walked a very tiny portion of the grounds, but it's obvious this is a spectacular arboretum and public garden.
Master Gardeners are a volunteer organization run by the county extensions in conjunction with the State University Agricultural Schools. Master Gardeners are required to attend learning sessions in horticulture and to do volunteer work (usually in public gardens, community gardens, etc.). If you want more information on Master Gardeners in your state or province, here is the list of programs:
http://www.extension.org/pages/9925/state-and-provincial-master-gardener-programs:-extension-and-affiliated-program-listings
We've actively promoted our tools to Master Gardeners since we started our company, hoping that these better than average gardeners would know a good thing when they saw it. Our efforts have been well rewarded and we have to say that Master Gardeners have been instrumental in spreading the word about our products.
The drought across the nation is in the news and Wisconsin has not been spared. It's really heartbreaking to see the local corn fields with cornstalks two feet tall or with large completely burned out areas. The losses are going to be staggering. I've maintained a good garden by watering, but most farmers rely on naturally occurring rainfall and that has not been there. The recent rains will not do much to save many of the crops.
I talk extensively of what's happening right now in the garden, in the blog post cited. I'm expecting a most bountiful harvest. Home gardeners do have an advantage when food prices go up, which they certainly will this year. We're going to make an effort to put up more food than we have in the past few past years. And of course, nothing is as good as the food you grow yourself.
We'd like to remind all our readers that we love to grow our own food and to help others do the same. We post articles about food growing and cooking with home grown food on our website blog, and we almost always have a discussion or several going on about food and growing on our Facebook page. You can help us spread the word by forwarding this newsletter to a friend and if you have any gardening questions, drop us a note. If we can't help you we'll find someone who can.
Thanks for reading our newsletter.
Noel and the CobraHead Team
|
|
