Growing up in Muncie, Indiana, the Ball family name dominated the landscape of my life: building names, the university and hospital, local industry, and, of course, our end-of-summer canning season all bore the Ball name. My parents have always maintained a large garden and a variety of fruit trees, and August and September meant pulling [...]
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Adventures in Gardening
If you have been following along with our story, you will recall that Harrison put together a mini greenhouse several weeks ago, and there was much rejoicing. We immediately seeded the ground with some cold-weather crops–radishes, various types of lettuce, and some spinach. We watered and waited patiently and were thrilled when a huge flush [...]
A Picnic from My Mother’s Pantry
I am planning a gourmet picnic with family this weekend, so today I started on a few packable goodies using some of the amazing stuff my mother has preserved (as well as, you guessed it–more tomatoes!). I always feel a little giddy with the sheer quantity of great ingredients I have on hand when I [...]
The Fine Art of Foraging
Foraging is a lost art for the most part, and it does require some specialized regional knowledge of edible wild plants. When we first moved to the affluent Boulder County area we would sneak around harvesting sand plums, crab apples, choke cherries and other delectable goodies along fence rows. Eventually we realized that these were [...]
Okra Deserves Your Love. Do Not Disrespect the Okra.
Okra: “I don’t get it, Dr. Phil, people just seem to avoid me. I try really hard, but they just don’t like me.” Dr. Phil: “Okra, you got to get real! How do you expect people to like you when you act like a slimebag? Get real! Get real!” Okra: “Good point, Dr. Phil. Good [...]
My Father’s Garden: Pineapple Tomatillos (a.k.a. Ground Cherries)
Yesterday I flew in to Indiana to visit my folks, and stepping out of the airport was like stepping directly into a hot bowl of soup. If you are thirsty here you can put a green tea bag in your mouth and just suck in a lungful of that hot, moist air. Instant tea. So [...]
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