Hello all! Just wanted to write a quick post to remind everyone that the Chicago Green Festival is this weekend at Navy Pier. CobraHead will be exhibiting in booth 1621.

The Green Festivals are organized by Co-op America and Global Exchange. They emphasize not just "green" trends, but also social and economic justice and fairly traded goods. The Green Fest will feature live music, renowned speakers, green films, a kid zone, organic food (and beer and wine!), and, of course, a variety of innovative green products (like the CobraHead!).

Bring the whole family, and join us for a fun-filled weekend!

We have been eating our homegrown shiitake mushrooms for about a week now but April 29th was the first day I picked a few spears of asparagus. They weren't very tall but who can wait to have that first taste?! We'll soon tire of the asparagus after 3-4 straight weeks of eating it every day but right now that green stuff tastes wonderful.

Speaking of green stuff I also harvested the first of the nettles. They seem to be quite prolific next to the compost pile. I've read a lot of good things about nettles and their spring tonic effect and even tasted them before but this is the first time I harvested and cooked them myself.

I snipped the tops (4-5 leaves) into a big bowl, washed them carefully without touching them and threw them into a pot of boiling water for about 7 minutes. The cooking does take the sting out! I then chopped it and sautéed it along with shallots, asparagus and shiitakes to add to the evening risotto. We drank the leftover liquid as a tea – at least some of us did..... it was like drinking spinach juice. Noel added honey to make it more palatable. Maybe next(?) time we'll incorporate into a fruit smoothie!!

I've been able to maintain my strawberries continuously for the 21 years we've had a garden here. My first berries were starts we got from a local lady who no longer lives in the area, Jan Lewein. They are a June bearing variety, but we have no idea of the name. The second batch was from my son Geoff, who got them from his job at Nokomis Gardens in East Troy, Wisconsin. These are Honeyeye, also a June bearer. Both varieties are excellent and we've been able to keep the beds vigorous, healthy and productive for going on 22 years.

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I usually clean out my asparagus bed in February. I don't trim back the mature fronds in the fall as a lot of gardeners do, because I read that leaving them to grow until spring gives more energy to the roots, This year, because we didn't get our typical February warm spell, the job did not get done. We had heavy snow cover until just a few weeks ago, and because of a hectic weekend show schedule, yesterday was my first real day in the garden.

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This past Saturday, Geoff and I were fortunate enough to attend the first ever Garden Bloggers Spring Fling, which took place in Austin. I had an incredibly fun time meeting other bloggers and touring gardens. Unfortunately, I neglected to make sure my camera battery was charged, so I was unable to take any pictures. On the other hand, I was free to simply enjoy the gardens.

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Hey Pacific Northwesterners (and visitors)! Please join us next weekend at the first ever Seattle Green Festival. The event will be held at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center on April 12 & 13. Noel and I will be in booth 326 in the Natural Home and Garden Section.

The Green Festivals are a heck of a lot of fun (not to mention educational), so bring the whole family!

Well, I'm a little bit embarrassed that I haven't written any blog entries lately, but I think I can get away with using the "I've been busy" excuse. It's true! I have! We all have!

Since early February, CobraHead has had an event nearly every weekend. Garden show season started off with a bang for us at the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo in Madison. The next weekend, Geoff and I were off to Virginia Beach for the Mid-Atlantic Home & Flower Show. The show was definitely more "home" than "flower", but we still had a good time. One of the fun events at that show was a dog stunt show. Every performing dog had been rescued from a shelter, and they all performed amazing tricks.

Bad Pic, Neat Trick!

Anneliese and Geoff at the Booth

While in the area, we had the opportunity to visit the Norfolk Botanical Garden. The Camellias were in bloom, and they were lovely.

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Sweet potatoes are considered one of the best foods available. They probably contain a better all-around mix of useful nutrition than any other food that one can grow in the garden. Sweet potatoes are associated with Latin America and the southern US, but they are quite easy to grow in Wisconsin and actually have been an important commercial crop here for many years.

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As I mentioned in my last post I have a new place in Austin. I am just now starting the vegetable garden. (Yes, late for Austin, but I have been on the road promoting the CobraHead for the last couple of months.) The only photo in this post is the before shot. We have to put a small fence around the yard as our dogs, Zaney and Sweet Pea, are notorious diggers among other things. The dogs' love of rotten vegetables required me to fence in the compost pile as well despite my aesthetic reservations.

I am preparing the raised beds for this garden without the benefit of any motorized equipment along the lines of the method popularized in the US by Alan Chadwick.

The spot that I chose in the backyard gets the most sun. Pecan trees and hackberries shade most of the area. The front yard actually gets the most sun, but I hesitate to put vegetables with intensive maintenance requirements in public view, given my travel schedule. The front yard will get fruit trees and herbs, but that is another project and post.

Well folks, garden show season is officially upon us. Noel, Judy and I spent last weekend at the Alliant Energy Center exhibiting for the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo. As always, we had a great time.

Unless you've been living in a cave (or maybe just a different state), you should know that this year, Wisconsin has had one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record. Last weekend was particularly brutal. Temperatures were below zero (that's minus 18 or more, to you metric types), and wind chills were up to 40 below. Snow was blowing, and the roads were dangerously icy. But did that stop the die-hard Wisconsin crowd from coming to the garden show? Not a chance. The number of people there on Sunday was certainly on the slim side, but not nearly as slim as I'd expected. Like I said, they're die hards. I think most people wanted to attend the show just to see and buy things that reminded them of any other season but winter.

This morning the lid on the compost bucket in the kitchen would no longer close, so it was time to make the first compost pile at my new home.

Unlike my dad, Noel, I prefer to build my compost in layers first with materials high in carbon, then a nitrogen layer, followed by a cap of soil, repeating the process until the pile gets to be three to four feet high. I have to mention here that I learned a large part of what I know about composting from my gardening mentor, Bruce Blevins.

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