Protecting Trees From Frost with Christmas Lights
I tried a new trick: stringing old-school C7 Christmas lights in my citrus trees to keep them warm during overnight frosts. So far, it’s working, and it’s a lot more cheerful than a pile of sheets.
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Honey-Sweetened Apricot Jam
My slow-cooker apricot butter went badly wrong, but this quick honey-sweetened apricot jam was born from the leftovers—ready in twenty minutes and eaten up in a matter of days.
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Prune Your Fruit Trees, People!
Conscientious pruning keeps trees to a manageable size and puts fruit within our reach for both thinning and eating. That usually makes for healthier trees and happier gardeners.
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Gem & Haiku: Love at Last?
As I was caring for Gem during the weeks after his rescue, I told him that when he was well, we would build him a house and get him a girl. Here’s how that went.
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Cherry Rhubarb Jam with Ginger & Honey
This week, I got to drive down to the central coast of California to spend a couple of days in Big Sur. I brought home four pounds of early-variety Brooks cherries from a roadside stand in Gilroy.
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How to Prune a Freeze-Damaged Citrus Tree
After a winter of frequent frosts and freezes, I learned the hard way that pruning too early can do more harm than good. Better to wait for late spring, once new growth reveals the true extent of the damage.
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Banana Jam & A Hollyhock Cookbook Giveaway!
Here’s a sugar-free banana jam recipe from Hollyhock: Garden to Table, a cookbook by two friends whose cooking I deeply admire. It includes two of my recipes, too!
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A Crow’s Breakfast
This morning, Carl’s breakfast was a few walnuts, shredded bok choy, and a slightly burnt almond flour pancake from my own breakfast. Carl’s favorite days are when I burn the pancakes, because otherwise I tend to hoard them for myself.
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Bergamot Honey Syrup
A couple weeks ago, I got hold of my very first bergamots. They are astonishingly fragrant. They also have an eye-opening flavor, very acidic, though not nearly as bitter as I expected.
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Garden Journal: Raspberry Shortcake Plant in a Half Wine Barrrel
When I walked into the nursery and said I’d come for a strawberry shortcake, they looked at me like I was nuts. It doesn’t really matter that I had meant to say “raspberry shortcake” because that doesn’t make sense either—unless you know about this new plant.
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Honey Sweetened Apricot Blueberry Jam
I didn’t know I was going to give up sugar and that these honey-preserved apricots could serve as the base for a year’s worth of easy, surprisingly good micro-batch jams. They could and they will.
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What’s In Your Pectin: Types and Ingredients
Pectin has been on my mind because I’m contemplating the best ways to make jam without refined sugar, and my new diet says I can’t add pectin. I don’t often use added pectin, but I don’t like losing my options.
