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On June 16, 2014, Year of THE Flood, we were hit with hail.  Sioux Falls had already experienced a very damaging hail event a few weeks earlier.  A large percentage of Sioux Falls’ cars were damaged, dinged, and dented.  Spring gardens were destroyed.  Roofs needed replacing. This hail event is the first in my life-time…

I received a recent thank you from my daughter for her birthday gifts from June, and in it she included a light apology for what she perceived as a small housekeeping faux pas.  During my recent visit, their home in southwest Minneapolis, like most, received some heavy rain (and a 12-hour overnight power outage).  Not…

June 1st already and it is still raining most days.  For newly planted garden seeds that’s a bonus, and for many like me who suffered turf damage due to last year’s drought, this even and gentle rain is just wonderful to help newly planted grass get off the ground (no pun intended).  I’ve had to…

I ended my last season a but abruptly due to a few health concerns, but am back in the garden saddle for another year.  My venture into the yard this afternoon was to clean up after my English springer spaniel (she joined me just before Thanksgiving and is now just eight months old) and do a bit…

What a gorgeous rain yesterday!  By my estimation, it started around 5:15 AM (in my part of town) and remained steady until almost 10AM.  At 10:15, I could still hear the water working its way down my gutters.   JuJust a lovely, quiet soaking and I swear everything growing from the parkway to the greenway behind…

Had I known we would have one of the hottest, driest Julys in decades I would have thought twice about planting tomatoes in containers; keeping them evenly watered has taken some effort, but it appears to have been successful. The fruit is finally free of the blossom end rot damage found in the first tomatoes,…

Last week I pressure canned six pints of mixed yellow wax and Blue Lake green beans with the pressure canner I purchased last August.  It was my first experience with a pressure canner, and I admit to being intimidated, approaching the process as one might poke an old wasp nest on the ground with a…

Click here to hear our radio ad for the Farm to Feast event.

Two articles in the Argus Leader recently featured the Falls Park Farmers Market. Click below to read the features.

As we round the corner into mid-summer, I thought it might be a good time to offer a few observations about this year’s plunge into container-grown tomatoes and peppers. I have roughly fifteen pots divided between the two, and so far things look pretty good with only a few concerns. The tomatoes are full of…