Are you looking for a new easy going plant to add to your landscape? What about a plant that requires zero maintenance and is completely drought tolerant? What if it also had beautiful flowers that attracted bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to your garden? What if it was edible, had medicinal uses, and produced tons of dark juicy fruits? Interested? Then take a good look at the spineless cactus. The spineless cactus is common from Mexico to Maine and has over 200 species.

Papaya Salsa 3/4 cup ripe papaya, diced 3/4 cup fresh pineapple, diced 1/2 cup mango, diced 3 tablespoons chopped red onion 1 chili pepper, serrano or jalapeno, seeded and minced (or more, if you like spicy salsa) 1 garlic clove, minced 2 teaspoons lime zest 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro Salsa: Combine all ingredients; cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. For best flavor and texture, do not make more than 2 hours before ser

This is the easiest pickle recipe ever. So fast, you can put up a couple of jars in as little as 15 minutes. Perfect for when you have a few surplus cucumbers, but not enough to merit a whole half day of canning. This recipe is very adjustable. You can use it to make chips, spears, bread and butters, or gherkins. If you have the time and want to do some serious pickling, this recipe can be sized up for a quantity batch and processed in a hot bath canner. If you don’t, you can

The calabaza squash is another one of those vegetables more commonly found in Central and South America than in the North. As a heat resistant squash, it is tolerant of our warm humid weather and has a good resistance to vine borers. I like to grow it because it is a storage squash. It can be stored fresh for weeks or even months without refrigeration if kept in a cool place like a garage. I grow it in the warmer parts of the year and then eat it in early fall when my winter

This stuff is so good. Use it as a marinade, a basting sauce, a BBQ sauce, or a dip for fried food. Also try it with cream cheese or even in a baked brie. So delicious and fresh. If you make it, do not substitute with anything canned, frozen, or whatever. The freshness is what makes it pop. Again. This is really good, I can’t explain it. Plus your kitchen will smell great. 2 Sweet Peppers (seeded and diced) 2 Ripe Mangos (peeled, seeded, and cubed) 2 Cloves Garlic (peeled and

Today my kids were sick so we didn’t do a lot. Kind of did that hole up mid-summer afternoon in the living room thing. If you live out here then you know summer is a  very warm and wet time, best saved for cold springs, water balloon fights, and home swimming pools that aren’t yet too hot to swim in. We have none of those today and we are all sick and/or bored. Bored of TV, bored of Uno, bored of Monopoly. We even tried chess for a few days. New thing. Still bored. My childre

One of the most rewarding things, about vegetable gardening is how enjoyable it makes cooking. Fresh ingredients are great, but cooking seasonally and sustainably takes cooking to a more creative level. Before mass transit and refrigeration, what you grew was what you ate. If it didn’t grow near you, and you weren’t the king, you never tasted it. If it did grow near you, but only grew once a year, you really appreciated it the month you had it. You could go all year thinking

Ok. So here is the most complicated pork sausage recipe ever. (note this is a group effort that requires the use of your husband and the husbands of several of your friends) First: Wander out in your back yard early in the morning to feed the cows and see a really big pig in the cow pen. Call all of the small children in the neighborhood to come look at the pig. Completely forget this is a wild animal who may not like kids. Next: Spend 2 weeks alternating between spotting the

I try to teach my kids frugal values. The ability to sacrifice short term gratification for the long term payoff. The fact you can have anything you want if you are willing to work and wait for it. The funny thing is, they were listening. I had no idea. They had this week off school so we have been trying to do fun things together. One thing on their list was to go “thrifting” or hitting a bunch of thrift stores in one day. They usually have a general idea of what they are l

Today was a typical Saturday around here, but maybe not typical for everyone so I though I would put it up here. First off Saturday’s are a big yard day for us, so most of it is usually spent laying out garden beds, tilling, weeding, stuff like that. Every couple of Saturdays is a road trip day to pick up hay or a run to Tractor Supply in the next town over. Today was the best kind of Saturday, a few chores to do, but but not a huge rush to do them and a lot of neighbors hang