November is no time to rest up while your garden tasks go undone. Many places have seen their first frost, others soon will plus there’s plenty of tasks to consider that have zero to do with frost, so if you’re behind keep up with these general gardening tasks.

If you haven’t protected plants from frost you need to jump on that. Gauzy floating row covers protect plants but allow light, air and moisture in. If you have prized plants bales of hay placed around said plants provide a thicker layer of protection. You’ll also need to mulch more. Mound up mulch …read more

I’m starting to get into the autumn mindset: Our cooler days are just a few weeks off, and I’m already looking forward to dinners that don’t involve the grill or “cold fixins” like salads and sandwiches since it won’t be so miserable to turn on the oven!

So I’m going through and doing my annual “fall cleaning” with my recipe folder, and the one section that I pay a little more attention to is my desserts. I have a habit of printing off pretty much any recipe that catches my eye, or ripping out a magazine article of something that looks …read more

Nothing beats the aroma of baking apples on a crisp fall day, except maybe getting to eat one! With apples coming into season and backyard gardeners and farmers harvesting by the bushel, the healthy snack becomes a delicious treat!

September 17th is the perfect date for National Apple Dumpling Day. The yummy pastry really couldn’t be easier to make, and chances are you’ve got everything you need for it right in your pantry. They’re said to have originated in the northeastern United States and are popular among the Amish, who have them for breakfast or as dessert after dinner. If you’re …read more

When the weather starts getting cooler I start craving fall flavors. Today I have several recipes that can blend together into one dish, or be used to create three different dishes. Turkey roll ups with the turkey itself as the roll, stuffing, and a homemade chicken stock.
You can use the stuffing and the chicken stock to make the turkey rolls, or have the turkey, and stuffing separate, and use the stock to make a hearty soup.
These great fall flavors are courtesy of  Todd Adelman, Director of Nutritional Services for Block Institute. Todd is the co-author of the James Beard Award …read more

Fall, in addition to being the time of year when the leaves change and the weather turns mild, is the beginning of Flu Season.
I’m sick. Not fever-sick, but I feel extremely yucky. I’m making up a batch of chicken soup right now. I always add extra chicken to my soup recipe. It makes a richer broth and there’s leftover chicken that I can use for another dish.
Here’s my recipe…….
Chicken Soup
*2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
*1 cup onions, diced
*1  & 1/2 cup celery, chopped
*1 & 1/2 cup carrots, sliced into thin rounds
*5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
*2 Bay leaves
*1 teaspoon fresh oregano
*1 teaspoon fresh …read more

Autumn is my favorite season. I love the colors, I like the rain, I even like when autumn turns super gray for weeks on end (blame it on an Oregon upbringing). However, many people get a little fussy about the gray, rain, and clouds. There are lots of non-gray times in the fall but a couple of long rainy weekends and some people start wishing there was more color around. If you garden, you can add some pops of color that will brighten even super gray days.
Check with your local extension office to learn about the best colorful plants for …read more

If you’re like me, you count down the days until September 1st. Not only does it mark an (unofficial) turn of the seasons with cooler weather, crisper air, and falling leaves, it also means pulling all of my autumn decorations out of storage and decking out the house in reds, oranges and golds!

Naturally, my thoughts also turn to warmer fare, and what cooler evenings mean for dinners, and cooler mornings mean for caffeination!
One of my favorite ways to “celebrate” is to grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Starbucks usually rolls theirs out around September 1st, and many other more local …read more

Visitors to San Francisco’s Chinatown next month will have the opportunity to enjoy the 19th Annual Autumn Moon Festival.  Moon Festival celebrations are not yet commonplace in the US, although they’ve been held in Asia for over a thousand years.  The festival is a changing of season event, a time to give thanks for a plentiful summer harvest, and the changing of the moon and the seasons.  Often equated to a sort of “Chinese Thanksgiving,” it’s a way to mark the passing of one season to the next, and to give thanks for the abundance of life.
Of course, just like …read more

Two of my children started school this past Friday, the other doesn’t start until Tuesday. Why the gap? Two are transition days, or that is what they are calling them so the kindergarteners and Junior High kidould get use to the new school surroundings. But even they have a holiday on Monday, err, a day off I guess would be more accurate. I questioned the school on why the day off and they replied, “We have paperwork to fill out and gives the kids one last day of summer.” To me, this is just one big headache because come Monday, …read more

With cooler temperatures quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about keeping our four legged friends warm when they’re outside.

When I was growing up, our dogs always lived outside full-time. They had a dog house and on nights where it was especially cold they’d come into the garage, but they were never allowed in the house.
I can’t imagine doing that with my own dogs, but they’re pretty small and tend to shiver when the wind blows and it’s still 100 degrees out, so that’s not saying much! I have to give them credit for even venturing out to do …read more