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Latest blog posts from Rainy Day Gardening

Literary Gardening
I'm reading an article in Computers in Libraries (trade pub for librarian computer geeks) about Hennepin County Library's BookSpace, a site designed to match readers and books (readers advisory in library jargon). Being something of a book nerd, I decided to try out the site. While browsing...
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Published 4 weeks ago

Profitable gardening?
No, I haven't discovered a money tree that produces real money. If I had, I'd be lounging on a beach somewhere in the tropics instead of tapping out a blog post on my lunch break. But J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly has demonstrated that vegetable gardening can have some financial benefits. He...
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Published 4 weeks ago

What to do with a Load of Tomatoes, Part 1: Spaghetti Sauce
The tomato harvest was late here in the Northwest, but when it came, it really came! As I mentioned in my last couple of posts, I'm inundated with tomatoes. So, let's take a look at things you can do with too many tomatoes, besides throw them at people you don't like.Last weekend's project here...
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Published a month ago

How to Peel Fresh Tomatoes for Cooking
Keeping with the tomato theme, since I still have tons of the silly things, let's talk about how to prepare fresh tomatoes for use in recipes. First, put a large pot of water on to boil. While the water is heating, rinse your tomatoes and remove the stems. If you're going to use your tomatoes...
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Published a month ago

How to Store and Use Fresh Tomatoes
These days most people who cook with tomatoes used canned ones from the grocery store, but since this is a gardening blog, let's talk about using fresh ones instead. First, what do you do with a zillion fresh tomatoes? Soon I'll post some recipes for spaghetti sauce and tomato soup, but for now...
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Published 2 months ago

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
No, I'm not dead. I've just been a lazy slob all summer and dealing with some family issues that drew my attention away from both gardening and this blog. But I'm getting back into the swing of things, just in time for the end of the tomato harvest. Even if I lived in a tiny apartment with...
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Published 2 months ago

Lettuce Rest, I'm Feeling Beet.
Remember how my "Growing Challenge" plant for the year was mesclun lettuce (or, as I prefer to call it because I'm a substance abuse librarian, "mescaline lettuce," bah ha ha!)? Remember how I was all excited because everybody said lettuce was really easy to grow and did extremely well here in...
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Published 5 months ago

Spontaneity in the garden
I've always loved the casual, untamed look of an old-fashioned cottage garden, so I tend to let my plants kind of do what they want (OK, I let them do what they want because I'm too lazy to prune and deadhead, but I prefer to think of myself as having a "style" instead of just being a slacker)....
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Published 5 months ago

Garden update
I can't believe I haven't posted since April! I've been so busy gardening, I've had little time to write about it. Since it's been so long, an update is in order.It finally feels like spring here in Portland, now that it's almost summer. Once the cold weather finally ended, my garden...
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Published 6 months ago

The Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral
Today your intrepid Washington correspondent was on assignment at the National Cathedral. This incredibly gorgeous gothic cathedral is surrounded by the incredibly gorgeous Bishop's Garden.According to an interpretive sign, "The overall inspiration for the Bishop's Garden is a 14th century...
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Published 7 months ago

Pretty pictures from Washington, DC
I haven't had much time to post lately, because I've been in Washington, DC, since Wednesday. I'm here for a library conference, because the ad revenue from this blog isn't enough to allow me to quit my day job (so start clicking on those ads! I want more time to garden). When I left Portland,...
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Published 7 months ago

Strawberry rhubarb cobbler - yum
We had snow and hail here in Portland today! Ugh. Last night I moved 8 flats of tomato and pepper seedlings from my unheated greenhouse to my dining room to protect them from the hard freeze forecast for this weekend. On my way back from the greenhouse, I noticed the rhubarb, along with a few...
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Published 7 months ago