Tag Archives: organic gardening

The Strange World of Food

Posted on April 26, 2020 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Here we are in the pandemic, confronted with the first view of a post-apocalyptic world. And it has partially hyped up and deeply affected our relationship to food. Way back in 2012 I wrote a blog post about how apocalyptic … Continue reading →

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Fire

Posted on July 4, 2017 by susanmsink@gmail.com

We’re big on fire here. The prairie needs it, so there is a lot of burning in spring and sometimes fall. Last week, those poplar trees that Steve cut down in late spring needed to be burned. Two piles down … Continue reading →

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August

Posted on August 24, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

It has been a beautiful August. Just like June and July. The prairie behind our house was burned very late in the season, so it is behind– or it is just different than the other prairie. The river of blue … Continue reading →

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Struggling Garden

Posted on August 10, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

This has been a tough year in general for gardening. Between chickens, rabbits, squash bugs, fungi, deluges of rain followed by heat and no rain, everything has struggled. The weeds have done extremely well. I have been operating at about … Continue reading →

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Pests and Potatoes

Posted on July 21, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

If you read any book on organic gardening, you will find a section on “pests.” And the answers for best treatment of pests are these: 1. if you have good soil, you discourage bugs and diseases; 2. if you keep … Continue reading →

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I Am a Modern Farmer

Posted on July 10, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

It is not easy to catch my husband during landscaping season, so this morning after we went on a mushroom compost expedition I had him take a few photos of me in the garden. I was able to pull up … Continue reading →

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Garden

Posted on June 5, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

My sister came to help me this week, during a challenging round of chemotherapy. Since the beginning I’ve been doing everything possible to stay healthy for a week-long conference at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, where I’m the afternoon … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer, garden, prairie | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Winter Squash

Posted on September 1, 2015 by susanmsink@gmail.com

The only actual “fail” in this year’s garden has been the winter squash. And yes, it has been an epic fail. I mean, sure, the rabbit ate the chard and celery, and we only got two eggplant (but look at … Continue reading →

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Shishito Peppers

Posted on August 17, 2015 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Last year people started talking about shishito peppers on social media. They were showing up in CSA boxes and people didn’t know what to do with them. They were getting rave reviews as appetizers, too. So this year I planted … Continue reading →

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Seasons

Posted on August 9, 2015 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Few things are harder to visualize than that a cold, snow-bound landscape, so marrow chillingly quiet and lifeless, will, within three months, be green and lush and warm, quivering with all manner of life, from birds warbling and flying through … Continue reading →

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