Where Master Gardeners share their knowledge.
With the shorter days and snow on the ground, hearty soups and stews are often on the menu. A good stock is the foundation of these recipes as well as the base for many sauces and gravies. If you hunt game meat, or know someone who does, don’t let those wonderful bones go to waste. Making your own stock from moose, caribou, or beef is surprisingly simple. A wild game stock can be used in any recipe that calls for chicken or beef stock or even water. You will need Read More …
I used to be so angry when summer ended and I would have so many green (unripe) tomatoes. Now I accept, and embrace the bounty of green fruit. I will share with you some tips of ripening these green tomatoes, and then recipes for the ones that never turn. The Ripening There are a few different options to ripen a tomato. You could cut your whole plant down, with tomatoes still attached, and hang in your garage or crawl space. Another option is to pick all your green tomatoes and Read More …
RAISED BY CITY PEOPLE Raised by Amsterdam Dutch parents in Seattle, I grew up in a landscape surrounded by flowers. My family bought food fresh and in small quantities from the local market, bakeries and butchers. Quality bread, produce, meats and cheeses were a must. My father prepared gourmet meals for a family of six, complete with garnishments. Dinner was a semi-formal family affair. Semi-formal meaning we were expected to use proper table etiquette. We ate as a family around a solid oak table and the conversation was always fun Read More …
The Wonders of Food Preservation As delicious as fresh produce straight from the garden can be, most of the time we hobby gardeners have too much to eat all at once, and we must choose what to do with the extra! Some give their surplus garden bounty away. The other day, a co-worker of mine offered to buy my extras from me. But the best choice in my mind is to preserve them for winter eating! There is nothing like the satisfaction of knowing I have a freezer full of Read More …
High bush cranberries are harder to make use of than their low bush cousins. They have a pit inside of them that makes them less appealing to throw in a batch of muffins or over the morning granola and are, at least to my tastebuds, tarter. Despite these limitations they are all over our neighborhood. Most people won’t reveal their super secret berry picking spots, but for high bush cranberries you can walk along many power-line cuts in Fairbanks for easy access to prime berry picking. In just under 30 Read More …
by Katie Craney, an Alaska Master Gardener All of the hard work has paid off, its harvest time! I’ve found that I enjoy planting my garden just as much as figuring out ways to keep the freshness and flavors of summer and fall going through the winter. As a gardener and forager, I spend so much time planning and waiting for the right time to pick that I feel I owe it to myself to get the most out of every effort! It can feel a little overwhelming during harvest, Read More …