Food Gardening

Homemade Garden Grape Jam, Welch’s Take Note!

Garden Grape Jam in Mason Jar

Of all the jams, preserves and marmalade that I attempt in the kitchen, the one that provides me with the most personal sense of accomplishment is the Garden Grape Jam. The reason is very simple, whereas all of the other fruits are source from east Texas, the grapes used in making this jam come entirely …

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Figs, the Easy to Grow Fruit Tree

Black Italian Fig Ripening on the tree

Before there was Fig Newtons (recently renamed Newtons), there were fresh, dried and candied figs. Unfortunately, most Americans have never eaten a fresh fig and that is unfortunate. Common Fig trees (Ficus carica) have been cultivated for thousands of years are one of the easiest fruit trees to grow whether in a garden or as …

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Homemade Peach Jam, Perfection in a Mason Jar

Homemade Canned Peach Jam

What to do with all of the peaches that were picked last week? Before the peaches were even picked, I knew that in addition to enjoying them fresh, I would be making a batch of Peach Jam. I have been making fruit jams for the past few years and the beginning of the canning season …

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“Pick Your Own” Fruit Orchards…A Fun Time

Fresh Peaches

Before being a Locavore was cool and consuming locally sourced food products was considered politically and environmentally correct, there was a time in American culture where harvesting fruit from your own fruit trees, picking fruit from an orchard or growing your own vegetables in a victory  / backyard garden was considered the norm and not …

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Man Versus Bird: Growing Tomatoes In Houston

Tomatoe Pecked by a Bird

My backyard is in an older suburb of Katy, TX with mature trees and must be paradise for birds. I hear and see birds every day, all year long. There are Blue Jays, Cardinals, Finches, migratory Hummingbirds Chickadees (my personal favorite), Doves, Mockingbirds, Woodpeckers and an occasional Hawk to name a few. I enjoy watching …

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