Should I Try Tomato Grafting?

...graft tomatoes onto potato plants (two crops in one!) as well as graft tomatoes onto eggplants for plants that are more hardy in soggy soils. In the bad idea department, you can graft tomatoes onto tobacco (for nicotine laden fruit) and jimsonweed (for poisonous fruit–note this strange incindent). The Illinois Extension service has detailed tomato grafting instructions and notes on root stock selection here. So what do you think? Intrigued? Comme...

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Behind the Scenes at Root Simple is a World of Big Pumpkins, Pomegranate Catapults and Man Crates

...Wilson Band, plus everything pomegranate. “We’ll have vendors selling the fruit itself, plus pomegranate trees, pomegranate-scented candles, jellies and anything else you could think of involving pomegranate, and probably some things you didn’t know could incorporate the fruit,” Bray mentions. Will they aim the pomegranate trébuchet at the skydivers? Or does the Geneva Convention prohibit that? Hello Kelly and Erik! My name is Alexandra, and I’m...

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The Fine Art of Determining Peach Ripeness

...ess to a few tools that can make ripeness determination easier such as this expensive gadget that measures firmness or a brix meter for determining sugar content. These tools could only be justified if you were planning on growing, shipping and selling fruit. More useful for us backyard growers is this gallery of peach fruit color stages. I’ve been picking them a little on the green side and letting them ripen inside in order to stay ahead of the...

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Our New Home Economics

...n what you like to eat and what bulk items you have access to. Do you have fruit trees or a vegetable garden? Do you go fishing or hunting? Do you live in an apartment or small house with no yard? There’s not a one size fits all approach. But buckets full of stuff you eat on a regular basis works for almost everyone. In my own case this crisis has highlighted food related practices in my life that are useful and those that aren’t. Bread making? Us...

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George Rector: M.F.K. Fisher’s Dirty Old Uncle

...“A Touch of Eggomania”), not least because it has introduced the term “hen fruit” into our lives: For eggs Benedict, you need Hollandaise sauce, an additional contribution of the hen fruit to the pleasures of the palate, and to the confusion of cooks. Hold on to your hats and we’ll round that curve. Add four egg yolks, beaten to the thick, lemon-colored point, to half a cup of butter melted in a double boiler. Stir as you add the eggs and keep sti...

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