Are We Beyond the Last Frost? Is it Safe to Plant?

After several warm days and moderate nights, we had a weekend of cooler weather that included a drop down below 30 degrees F.

Some years, such as in 2011, 2012, and 2013, our last frost has occurred before the end of March, and it is possible that the warm weather forecast for the upcoming week will seduce gardeners who remember those warm years into setting out tender transplants, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and tomatillos.

Indoor Seedlings for the Summer Garden

I started seeds for the summer garden in a flat indoors, back in early February. Many of the seeds germinated and have grown, but it always is amazing to me that each kind of seed has its own schedule.

Mostly tomato plants, started in February.

Time to Plant Potatoes and Peas

The quietest starting "bang" I know is the unfolding of the trout lily flowers in my back yard. Their blooming is my signal that it's time to plant potatoes and peas. Once those crops are in the ground, the new planting season rolls out before me. In years when the weather cooperates, all goes smoothly, but usually the gardening proceeds in little bursts.

This past weekend, with Joe's help, the potatoes and peas were planted. Next weekend, if the forecast rain isn't too abundant, I will be planting little patches of carrots, beets, lettuces, and spinach.

Growing Hominy Corn at Home

Hominy is one of those foods that doesn't make it into the cover-photos of many fancy food magazines. It may have a better chance than chitlins, but not by a whole lot. I know, though, that hominy is delicious, which is saying a lot about a food I've only ever eaten canned.

It never occurred to me to try to grow the right kind of corn and make my own hominy until this past week, when I was reading at Indian Country Today, in an article written by Anna Jefferson, about an heirloom corn being grown out for seed at Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, for the Osage Nation.